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WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — This isn’t where the star was born, but it is where it took off — and where, currently, we are seeing its latest iteration take shape. Brandon Staley’s first opportunity to call defensive plays in the NFL came here, with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. At that point, he’d only spent three seasons as an NFL position coach, all under Vic Fangio with the Bears and Broncos. Staley’s defensive structure was heavily supported by that Fangio tree, but he also incorporated a bit from his time coaching Division III John Carroll University. Staley, now the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator, carried the star position with him from John Carroll. It’s not just a slot cornerback; Staley calls it a “featured position” in his defense, a sort of hybrid player who can cover like a corner but bring a linebacker’s thump to run support. This year, Staley is trying out a new player in his featured position: Second-year defensive back Jonas Sanker, who impressed when pressed into duty early in his rookie season — at safety. It’s a big transition, but nothing that has transpired since the Saints took the field this summer has convinced Staley the job is too big for Sanker. “He's a player,” Staley said. “And what you really need in there is you need a player. You need a guy that can play and figure things out quickly, and he has that.” The Saints need Sanker to figure it out fast, but he has help, because he’s far from the only player on his own team who has made the transition from safety to star. He’s not even the first to have done it under Staley — Terrell Burgess also played some star it under Staley in 2020. Burgess’ advice is simple: “Just play free.” “He’s still a kid at heart,” Burgess said. “I remember where I was my second year in the league, still trying to figure things out. With the way he played last year, it’s giving him confidence to go in there and play just as well in the slot and make a lot of plays.” Starting safeties Justin Reid and Julian Blackmon have also, at various stages of their careers, dropped down from safety to fill in as the starting nickel. Calling back on his own experience, Reid said the biggest adjustment is not in coverage, but in how fast things happen when you’re closer to the line of scrimmage. “The closer you get to the ball, you have to react more,” Reid said. “... You have to see the puller and just go, and you’ve got to just trust it. Because if not, you're going to get sealed, you're going to get caught, right? And if you want to make a play, you got to have that quick trigger and just kind of go and let it happen.” Sanker needs to be instinctive and decisive — and not just because that is how he’s going to make a play. Burgess compared the position to the quarterback of the defense, not because the star is making the call, but because the rest of the back end is keying off the way he’s reacting. That is where these training camp practices and joint practices have been invaluable, and it is why there has not been much cross-training at other positions to this point. Sanker is putting learned experience in the bank, figuring out the best way to align against certain looks — is it better to be 5 yards off the line, or 6? And he’s getting a feel for how fast things happen. “Now he can start to solidify how he wants to play, how he's going to feel best playing,” Staley said. “And so I think that you're seeing that with him. He's been able to absorb all this knowledge from different people and then get out here and play his game.” Sanker is a willing and aggressive tackler, and should be an upgrade over last year’s star, Alontae Taylor, in the run game. He is also going to have different responsibilities in coverage than he did a year ago at safety, but Staley is not concerned about how he is going to handle that aspect of the job. When Staley looks at Sanker, he sees someone with the ideal build (6-foot-1, 211 pounds) and the right set of physical attributes. Staley noted that Sanker’s 10-yard split during the 40-yard dash — an easy way to gauge acceleration — was among the best in his class. Though Sanker has long speed, too, the short-area quickness is what matters most covering receivers in the slot. “I never would have thought this was a good idea if I didn't think he could cover,” Staley said. “I would never even consider it. I think that he's an outstanding slot cover player because he has the physical characteristics and then the skill set to be a very good slot defender.” Judging by Staley’s history, it’s probably worth trusting his judgment. He’s typically put the best player in his secondary in this role, and they’ve all had success. When Staley started out with the Rams, that meant Pro Bowler Jalen Ramsey moving from the outside — where teams could avoid him if they wanted — right in the mix near the line of scrimmage. When Staley took the Los Angeles Chargers job, it was safety Derwin James who played the star. Both Ramsey and James earned All-Pro honors under Staley. Last season, Taylor matched his career highs in interceptions (two) and tackles for loss (seven) while adding 11 pass breakups, two sacks and 83 tackles. He turned that into a rich free agent deal with the Tennessee Titans. Staley did not invent the concept of the star — it has its roots in the Cleveland Browns defenses of the 1990s, coached by Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. A lot of his own personal inspiration came from watching Hall of Famer Charles Woodson during his time with the Green Bay Packers. “When Charles went to Green Bay, (then Packers defensive coordinator) Dom Capers put him at nickel and he was the Defensive Player of the Year,” Staley said. “He gave you, as a play caller, way more options and then put way more pressure on the offensive coaches because of what you could do. “He could play man to man, he could blitz, he could play zone. If you did play base defense, he could go play corner or safety and start because he was that good of a player.” That, Staley thought, was revolutionary. It informed the way he wanted to call defenses. Now he’s putting a young and relatively untested player in his unit’s most crucial spot. And if Staley has faith in him, that’s as good a sign as any that he’s a good bet to figure it out — maybe in an evolved way. “What I've told him from the jump when we decided to do this in the winter time was the way that you're going to play this is going to be different than a lot of other people in the league are doing it,” Staley said. “Your body type's different, your engine's different. Your skill set's different, and we're going to really coach to that, design to that.”