By Jordan Long
The New Orleans Saints have a new defensive coordinator. Kris Richard and Ryan Nielsen handled the duties as co-defensive coordinators last year. Neilson became the defensive coordinator for the Falcons on January 27th. Richard on the other hand was fired on February 1st. This left a void. Joe Woods now becomes the Saints’ defensive coordinator.
Woods has been a defensive coordinator before in the NFL. He was with the Denver Broncos from 2017 to 2018. Woods left the Broncos to become the defensive backs coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 2019. For the past three years, Woods served as the defensive coordinator for the Browns.
This past season the Browns ended at 7-10. The defense gave up 331.2 yards per game, ranking 14th in the NFL. When it came to passing, teams had a difficult time gaining yards through the air, permitting 196.2 yards per game 5th in the NFL. Looking at those numbers, Woods should have been able to stay with the Browns.
What cost him his job was the run defense. The Browns had a hard time stopping the run. Teams could run the ball at will, which would tire out the defense. Woods had no answers, even when he tried to make in game adjustments. The Browns allowed teams to run for 135 yards per game. The Browns canned Woods on January 9th.
The Saints knew they needed to hire a defensive coordinator. They felt Woods was the best candidate out there. Woods is familiar with Saints’ head coach Dennis Allen when Allen was the Head Coach of the Raiders in 2014. Woods was the defensive backs coach under Allen. Unfortunately, Allen was fired 4 games into that season when the Raiders stood at 0-4.
The Saints are hoping Woods will improve this defense. The Saints would like nothing more than to earn a playoff spot in 2023. Woods’ defensive play calls could lead them there.
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