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Saints finally find a vision for edge rusher with Hauoli Kikaha
Nice piece that talks about the Saints 2nd rounder, and how Payton regrets cutting Ninko.
Nice piece that talks about the Saints 2nd rounder, and how Payton regrets cutting Ninko.
One of Sean Payton’s biggest regrets in his 10 years as the New Orleans Saints’ coach was that he let defensive end/linebacker Rob Ninkovich get out of the building – twice – before Ninkovich ultimately became a standout player for the New England Patriots.
The problem was that the Saints never had a good “vision” for the smaller, “tweener” edge rusher types when they ran a 4-3 defense from 2006-2012. But with defensive coordinator Rob Ryan now running a more versatile, flexible defense with a 3-4 base scheme, the Saints finally saw a fit for Washington outside linebacker Hau'oli Kikaha – my favorite pick of their draft so far.
...
Ironically, NFL.com compared Kikaha to Ninkovich in its pre-draft scouting report.
“To [Ryan’s] credit and his success, there’s a vision, there’s a fit. It makes sense,” Payton said. “The mistakes we made [with Ninkovich], obviously were in a vision. We were in a 4-3 defense and we didn’t do a good job of having a right vision for the player, because certainly he’s an exceptional player.
...
As for Ninkovich, Payton once again admitted, “My hands are dirty [twice],” since he cut him twice after originally drafting him in 2006. New Saints assistant GM Jeff Ireland also cut Ninkovich once in Miami.
“About everyone in the room passed on him either one time, two times or three times,” Payton said. “He’s a tremendous football player. It’s what keeps you awake at night in training camp when you’re reducing your roster. You hope someday when you’re finished you don’t have a ton of those players haunting you. To Rob’s credit, he’s had a great career.”
The problem was that the Saints never had a good “vision” for the smaller, “tweener” edge rusher types when they ran a 4-3 defense from 2006-2012. But with defensive coordinator Rob Ryan now running a more versatile, flexible defense with a 3-4 base scheme, the Saints finally saw a fit for Washington outside linebacker Hau'oli Kikaha – my favorite pick of their draft so far.
...
Ironically, NFL.com compared Kikaha to Ninkovich in its pre-draft scouting report.
“To [Ryan’s] credit and his success, there’s a vision, there’s a fit. It makes sense,” Payton said. “The mistakes we made [with Ninkovich], obviously were in a vision. We were in a 4-3 defense and we didn’t do a good job of having a right vision for the player, because certainly he’s an exceptional player.
...
As for Ninkovich, Payton once again admitted, “My hands are dirty [twice],” since he cut him twice after originally drafting him in 2006. New Saints assistant GM Jeff Ireland also cut Ninkovich once in Miami.
“About everyone in the room passed on him either one time, two times or three times,” Payton said. “He’s a tremendous football player. It’s what keeps you awake at night in training camp when you’re reducing your roster. You hope someday when you’re finished you don’t have a ton of those players haunting you. To Rob’s credit, he’s had a great career.”
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