Blocking receivers

Chris Olave smiled when the question hit his ears.

It was not the kind of smile that concealed or signaled discomfort. He smiled genuinely, perhaps even excitedly when asked about his new and increased blocking responsibilities.

Now, Chris Olave is about 6 feet tall and maybe weighs 185 pounds. He wasn't smiling because he is now going to be asked to throw his body into the path of defensive backs and take on wear and tear that is going to help spring someone else to glory—or at least he wasn't smiling just because of those things. No, he got excited because of what the blocking responsibilities represent.

If Olave and his 6-0, 180-pound teammate Rashid Shaheed have to go out and do the dirty work, and that becomes a pretty significant part of their jobs, that means the Saints are selling a lot more run looks to the defense, which means a few things.

Defenses won't be able to tell what will happen based on who is on the field, and there were a few tells last year. When Shaheed took the field last year, there was a 73.7% chance that New Orleans was throwing the ball. If things are a little more unpredictable and undetermined, the defense must respect all possibilities equally, which can open things up for the offense. Get a safety creeping down, catch a cornerback peeking into the backfield, and suddenly your receivers have advantages.

If defenses have to respect the run, everyone has to move down a little bit, which can create opportunities in the passing game. And opportunities are good things. That means the offense can run some play-action looks, get the defense to bite, and take advantage down the field a little more easily. More play action is a good thing. Derek Carr had a 106.3 passer rating last year following a play-action fake. The receivers know they want to be on the field when those plays come.

Being asked to block more represents general change, and right now, general change is good. The players are excited about the new scheme, see the results, and know that this offense could make them all look better and put up better numbers. Those things lead to more wins, more money and better results. The math is the math.

So, that smile? It was the smile of a man who saw big things coming his way.

"It's gonna be a huge payoff," Olave said. "Our offense is based off play action, all the end breakers, all the yards after catch. So, we gotta go in there and block and take the next step and be able to be great for our team."

The mentality is essential. To be good at blocking, you have to embrace the dirty work. There's technique involved, of course, but it comes down to wanting to put yourself between you and the other man. And that's what the Saints have been preaching in their receiver room.

Receivers coach Keith Williams has let his players know that he'll watch their effort on those plays the same way they'd judge players on how they run routes on every other play. If they don't put in the effort, they won't play.

"It's want to and your expectation level of yourself," Williams said. "It's just like anything. There's parts of your job that may not be your favorite, but it's part of your job. So you have to understand that and put the same effort in to your least favorite parts as you do the things you really enjoy.

"But you don't have to talk them into it too much because it's a give and take. We hope AK cares about blocking the blitzing backer when it's a post. And then you go in on the film, and you watch yourself being wide open on the post, and there's a missed block by the running back, and it looks like it's a lack of effort; you're not going to feel very good about that."

Blocking has never really been a big part of Olave or Shaheed's game. In fact, coming into the league, Olave's blocking was the thing criticized most about his game. New Orleans didn't rely on him to do much of it during his first two seasons, but it will now become more important than ever.

Dennis Allen likened this aspect to a pass rusher needing to be willing and able to defend against the run to play on third down. You won't get to do it if you don't embrace it. So, the players are embracing it and plan to put in the work.

"I'm gonna do whatever it takes to be on the field," Shaheed said. I gotta do it if I want to be able to make the plays that I want to. It's a big part of our offense and that's gonna be a big part of our play-action game as well."

So, it's time to get used to it. The receivers will have to embrace creating some glory for the other players to get their own. Everyone lifting each other to create better opportunities sounds like an easy thing to embrace.

It's something to smile about.