The New Orleans offense hasn’t been able to operate as designed through the first quarter of the season.
The Saints are a team that likes use to multiple tight ends on the field and run various route concepts with different personnel. An injury to Michael Hoomanawanui during the offseason was a blow for the offense. And a subsequent ankle injury to tight end Josh Hill has forced New Orleans to operate primarily out of three-receiver sets.
Instead of having a pair of players who are threats in the receiving game, when the Saints have deployed more than one tight end, it’s typically been Coby Fleener and Chris Manhertz, who is still developing as a route runner and has yet to be targeted. And seeing those two on the field together has been rare.
Overall, the Saints have used two or more tight ends on 41 snaps, which is one of the lowest marks in the league. New Orleans has used its three-receiver personnel on about 175 plays. That type of ratio is uncommon for this team. While the impact is obvious in the running game and limits the number of play-action opportunities, it also changes how the passing offense operates.
The good news is that Hill should be back on the field in the coming weeks.
“When you got two tight ends, and you get certain coverages with two tight ends that sometimes (you wouldn’t with three receivers),” wide receivers coach John Morton said. “We’ve probably been a little bit more 11 personnel (one tight end, three wide receivers) more than what we’re used to. But getting Josh Hill back is going to pay dividends for us because we can do a lot more things.”
It might seem like hand-wringing over nothing since the Saints offense is producing at a comparable pace in terms of yards and big plays from last season. But the team struggled, at least by New Orleans’ standards, to move the ball through the air against the San Diego Chargers (207 yards) and New York Giants (263).
There are likely several reasons behind this, some of which might be the result of how the team was defended or the quality of competition. But part of the reason might be because of the limited personnel packages available.
The Saints introduced a three-tight-end package last season after acquiring Hoomanawanui via a trade with the New England Patriots. It’s not something someone would consider a passing package, and New Orleans often used it to set it up big shots down the field since the personnel encourages teams to stack the box and defend against the run and leave a single safety deep.
New Orleans often gets looks that can be advantageous for passing while in 12 personnel (two tight ends, two receivers). If you look at some of the shots the Saints took down the field last season, many came with multiple tight ends on the field, and Brandin Cooks was often the beneficiary on these plays.
Against the Lions last season, he had gains of 13, 27 and 29 yards operating out of looks with two or more tight ends. He also scored a 54-yard touchdown against the Panthers, a 38-yard touchdown against the Titans and a 26-yard touchdown against the Giants from these sets.
Cooks’ 98-yard touchdown against the Raiders in Week 1? It came out of 12 personnel, with eight defenders in the box and a single-high safety.
While Cooks gets open and routinely makes big plays from other personnel groupings, and against all types of coverages, these looks help open things up for him and the other receivers. Not having it as part of the arsenal is taking something from the offense, and it has changed how the Saints dictate some matchups.
“I think it would be very normal for defenses to run certain things, three-tight-end is certainly different,” coach Sean Payton said. “If you are in your heavy, three-tight-end (package), I think there are a certain two or three ways defenses are going to play you. That would be much different than if you were in a three- or four-wide look.
“It’s just a matter of what you’re trying to accomplish with the tight ends. Are you out there trying to run the ball with some play action or are you in those sets with the mindset of throwing first?”
The other thing about not having tight ends available is that it has robbed New Orleans of some ability to disguise and surprise defenses in the passing game. The Saints don’t have a lot of plays that are run just from one specific personnel grouping. There’s overlap, and some of the concepts run within three-receiver sets can also be run with two or three tight ends on the field.
An example of this came against the Carolina Panthers during Week 13 last season. In the first quarter, the Saints ran a passing concept out of both 11 and 13 personnel. The first play, which resulted in a 14-yard touchdown to Ben Watson, had the receiver to the left running a post route, the slot receiver to the right running a post, and the outside receiver running up the sideline. Watson went up the seam.
Later in the game, the Saints ran the same route concept on the right side of the formation with Hoomanawanui, the inline tight end, running up the seam, Watson running the post, and Cooks going up the sideline. Hoomanawanui caught the ball for a gain of 19.
At the very least, not being able to switch up some of the personnel packages has taken some the guesswork out of the equation for defenses.
“But certainly your personnel, the first thing we look at cut-up wise on a team is a personnel formation page to see how they play 11, three by one, two by two, how they play 12, two tight ends, how they play 13 (three tight ends, one receiver),” Payton said. “So a lot of it is how they see you and what they feel like you are trying to do with it.”
Hill caught only 16 passes last season for 120 yards, but getting him back could, indeed, pay dividends for the offense.
