The New Orleans Saints' offense was known for a lot of things under Sean Payton's stewardship.
To name a few, they were high-powered, featured elite QB play and put up points as efficiently as few others. They also featured remarkably long play calls, something that has been covered extensively. Most recently the subject was hit by Chase Daniel, who broke down one of Payton's plays to demonstrate the difficulty in learning a new offense.
The play: Gun - bunch right - jab 15 - stutter F - kill - 84 - Z Cowboy - Y shallow cross
Got all that? OK, now imagine trying to communicate that to your teammates in the huddle as 100,000 screaming fans do their best to damage your ear drums. With that in mind, homefield advantage seems a lot more advantageous.
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We discuss this topic at length on the latest episode of the Audacy original podcast Inside Black & Gold. Check out the segment in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
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That's also the system that any rookie quarterback would have to walk into and pick up in one offseason. Perhaps that's why the Saints have typically opted for veteran backup QBs (Luke McCown, Teddy Bridgewater, Jameis Winston), as opposed to a young draft pick learning on the job. That group includes Daniel himself, who backed up Brees from 2009-'12 and again in 2017.
"There's a lot to deal with with the rookie class," Daniel said. "This is just one play of those 50 plays they're possibly going to get in one practice. That's why they're going to hit it three separate times. Hope you paid attention."
This year's offensive overhaul is expected to change that dynamic, with Klint Kubiak's system containing much less verbose play calls.
"The hope in terms of the system is that we can kind of simplify and get guys not having to think so much and get guys playing faster," head coach Dennis Allen said after Saturday's minicamp practice, "and I think that’s part of what we’re trying to do.”
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So what might one of those play calls sound like? WWL Radio's Deuce McAllister asked Kubiak for a generic play call during an interview earlier this season.
The play: bunch right - 18 - support
For obvious reasons that's a much quicker and easier message to communicate, even if there's some wristband checking that might have to occur in the huddle.
Kubiak was a bit coy as to personnel grouping identifiers and how checks at the line will be established and communicated. The new Saints OC indicated that the tree of potential options out of certain plays was still a work in progress and would be built off of quarterback Derek Carr's preferences and skills.
"I think this time of year it’s important that you start small and you kind of call it and haul it … you build on what checks can be and you get to know the quarterback more and we get familiar with each other and what those checks can be," Kubiak said. "So I think that’s part of the relationship process between me and Derek, but we’re gonna start small and get good at something first before we start going into … advanced [things]."
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Kubiak began to install that system this week with the rookies, but he's already spent time with Carr throughout the offseason, primarily in classroom work.
"I would say that we’re a West Coast offense for whatever that means for everybody," Kubiak said after rookie camp when asked about his play calls. "We’re going to be probably as wordy as the quarterback can handle and I think our quarterback is a very smart player. He can handle a lot.”
The Saints will be getting on the field with veterans for the first time at organized team activities, the first of three sessions set to kick off on May 21. However the offense pans out, it won't just be looking different, for those close enough to hear it, things will sound a lot different, too.
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