Willie Gay didn’t see a single defensive snap against the Los Angeles Rams. The first explanation you’d think of is the New Orleans Saints played more defensive backs to stop Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. It sounds good until you look at how Week 13 actually transpired.
The truth is the Saints couldn’t stop running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum on the ground. The Saints’ poor run defense was their biggest struggle on Sunday, and Willie Gay still didn’t see the field. You’d think he’d join Demario Davis and Pete Werner at some point.
Joe Woods replacing Dennis Allen as the defensive play caller directly coincides with a drop in Gay’s snaps. In the past three games, Gay’s snaps have went from 13 to 6 to 0. That consistent fall suggests Woods doesn’t see Gay as valuable an asset as Allen did. At the same time, we aren’t seeing other linebackers get those snaps. Davis and Werner were the only Saints linebackers to get on the field against the Rams.
Sunday’s game was the most glaring example of Gay’s absence. It’s hard to point at this being an aberration or the product of game planning when the snaps have dropped consistently. At this point it appears Gay is being phased out of the defense.
