We shouldn’t put too much stock in simplified player grades from Pro Football Focus, but the analytics service does create an opportunity for recapping some of the most impactful performances from Week 2’s New Orleans Saints game – both the good and the bad.
To thin out some noise from too-small sample sizes, I’m only listing players who were on the field for at least 33% of snaps with the Saints offense or defense. This better reflects who was on the field most frequently. Let’s get to it.
Top 5 offense (minimum 22 snaps)
- C Erik McCoy: 79.8
- WR Michael Thomas: 75.8
- RG Cesar Ruiz: 75.4
- LT James Hurst: 68.6
- TE Juwan Johnson: 66.0
McCoy and Ruiz were really impressive on Sunday, paving the way for some big gains on the ground and winning his matchups with Vita Vea and Akiem Hicks (until Hicks exited the game with an injury). It’s just one game, but this really feels like something Ruiz can begin to build off of.
Thomas won his battles with Carlton Davis, converting a first down on all three of the receptions he made when covered by Tampa Bay’s top cornerback, also scoring a late touchdown. The lone incomplete pass sent his way when matched up with Davis was broken up by the defender.
Johnson again saw more snaps on offense (53) than Adam Trautman (33), matching Trautman’s reps as a run blocker (15 each) while remaining the team’s go-to option on passing downs at tight end. I’ll wait a little longer to let the sample size continue to grow, but Trautman appears to have been displaced as TE1.
Bottom 5 offense (minimum 22 snaps)
- QB Jameis Winston: 46.9
- SR Jarvis Landry: 53.5
- RB Mark Ingram II: 53.7
- RB Tony Jones Jr.: 54.2
- TE Adam Trautman: 55.8
Three interceptions from Winston are going to result in a bad grade, no matter how much the pain in his back is impacting his functionality. He was missing routine throws and struggling with accurate ball placement on multiple open looks to wide receiver Chris Olave, who was torching the Tampa Bay secondary to little avail. Back injury or not, he’s got to perform better. He can’t be the reason they’re losing games.
Landry had a really tough matchup with Antoine Winfield Jr. in the slot, and the youngster largely got the better of him. Winston targeted Landry 5 times, and he did catch 4 of those passes, but none of them converted a first down and he didn’t log a catch when lined up against Winfield specifically.
As for the running backs: Ingram ran hard, gaining 60 yards on 10 carries and forcing 4 missed tackles, but his fumble came in such a high-leverage moment that it can’t be undersold enough. It is a little odd to see Ingram hit so hard, though, given his success as a runner outside of that negative play (critical as it was). He stepped up often as a blocker in picking up Tampa Bay blitzes, even if the pressure overmatched him once or twice.
Top 5 defense (minimum 22 snaps)
- LB Pete Werner: 88.4
- LB Demario Davis: 79.9
- DE Cameron Jordan: 78.2
- LB Kaden Elliss: 77.1
- DE Carl Granderson: 72.6
Werner was phenomenal again on Sunday, with all 6 of his tackles constituting defensive stopcs (meaning the offense typically gained half or fewer of the yards needed to convert a first down). He was tested 4 times in coverage and only yielded 6 receiving yards. He’s quickly climbing the ranks among pro linebackers.
Jordan lost this round to Buccaneers right tackle Tristan Wirfs on passing downs, which isn’t too surprising given Wirfs is one of the best players at that position of his generation. But Jordan did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage and winning on running downs. He isn’t the pass rusher he once was, sure – but he’s still a critically important all-around defender for this team.
Elliss came up big in pass coverage, with both of the targets sent after him falling incomplete (he got a mitt on one of them for a pass deflection). Granderson also produced a couple of stops in high-leverage situations. The Saints defense played their hearts out for much of the game and deserve credit for keeping it close even as the offense collapsed.
Bottom 5 defense (minimum 22 snaps)
- FS P.J. Williams: 32.9
- NB Justin Evans: 41.4
- DT Kentavius Street: 47.5
- CB Bradley Roby: 51.0
- DE Marcus Davenport: 59.4
Williams was limited to exposure against Tampa Bay (he only had 16 snaps in pass coverage, and barely qualified for this list with 23 defensive snaps in total) but Tom Brady still went after him three times, and had some success with gains of 23 and 28 yards, converting a first down and scoring the Bucs’ only passing touchdown. He is a fine role player but Williams struggles with speed, and seemed to panic when matched up one-on-one with Breshad Perriman in scoring position.
As well as he performed a week ago, Evans struggled when matched up with his old teammate Mike Evans. That was a mismatch Tampa Bay exploited twice – both of Evans’ pass targets were completed for gains of 41 and 13 yards, each converting a first down. The other five passes sent his way were all completed, sure, but only one of them converted a first down. You’d like to see him compete more effectively in those situations, but at least he’s limiting how much damage is being done after the catch.
Davenport was hit with a very low run defense grade (42.3), suggesting he was losing a lot of ground in that phase, but he was disruptive and would have put up solid numbers on passing downs against a lesser quarterback than, you know, one of the greatest to ever sling it. He created a couple of pressures and forced Brady to pull the trigger quickly. I’m just saying that I wouldn’t have graded him this poorly based on what I’ve seen.
Special teams and notes
Tight end Juwan Johnson continued to earn reps on kick returns and coverage, as well as the field goal kicking squad … defensive backs J.T. Gray and Alontae Taylor made some players covering punts, stymying Tampa Bay returns and forcing fair catches where they would have liked to try a return instead … linebackers Zack Baun and Andrew Dowell, along with Gray, were tied for the most special teams snaps played (23) … returns specialist Deonte Harty got some good looks on kick returns, picking up gains of 32 and 33 yards on his two tries … Wil Lutz made both of his kicks this week, including an extra point attempt and a 31-yard field goal … Blake Gillikin averaged 4.41 seconds of hang time on his 5 punts, dropping them at the opposing 23, 33, 34, 14, and 38 yard lines, but only 3 were fairly caught, and a penalty on Gray for going out of bounds didn’t help.
Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk had an uncharacteristically poor day in pass protection, yielding two sacks – the first time he’s allowed multiple sacks in a single game since his 2017 rookie season. He was also charged with allowing 5 pressures on the day, which would be only the third time he’s done that since 2019, but as NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill observed two of those pressures weren’t very impactful: the plays resulted in gains of 22 yards to Juwan Johnson and 51 yards to Chris Olave. Ramczyk has talked before about struggling with the greater depth Winston drops to than Drew Brees once did, but he’s a pro and will continue to adjust to it.
He only played 19 defensive snaps and so didn’t qualify for this exercise, but rookie cornerback Alontae Taylor made a fast impression upon entering the game once Marshon Lattimore was disqualified. He was only targeted once, batting the pass away, and earned a 91.1 overall grade for his efforts on defense. It would be nice to get a longer look at him if Bradley Roby and Paulson Adebo weren’t slotted in ahead on the depth chart, but for now we’ll just express gratitude for strong depth at a premium position.
