What can we learn from the New Orleans Saints’ Week 1 player grades at Pro Football Focus? For the most part, PFF validated some things that passed the eye test: the Saints have some awesome young wide receivers, highly effective veteran defenders, and a quarterback who is an obvious upgrade over who they trotted out a season ago.
But sometimes we lost the plot. It’s tough to buy what PFF is selling in a few of these performances. Let’s break it down by the best and worst grades on offense and defense:
Top 5 players on offense (minimum 21 snaps)
- WR Rashid Shaheed: 81.6 on 35 snaps
- WR Chris Olave: 81.2 on 51 snaps
- RT Ryan Ramczyk: 74.8 on 65 snaps
- LG James Hurst: 68.7 on 65 snaps
- QB Derek Carr: 68.7 on 62 snaps
It was a nice game for Carr except for when protection broke down in the red zone, outside of his self-described dumb decision on a first-half interception. He moved the ball well, threw his playmakers open, and for the most part managed the offense well.
The real story here is the receivers. Having two second-year pros performing at as high a level as Shaheed and Olave is very impressive, and it takes a lot of pressure off of other guys like Michael Thomas (66.7 grade on 52 snaps). Knowing we’ll get to watch them continue to develop in this offense is very exciting.
Ramczyk was the only blocker fans can feel good about. Hurst may have graded out well at PFF, but he yielded a sack and a couple of pressures and was taken advantage of at times when the Titans sent stunts his way. He still played a better game than we’ve seen from Andrus Peat in quite some time, though.
Bottom 5 players on offense (minimum 21 snaps)
- RG Cesar Ruiz: 32.2 on 65 snaps
- RB Jamaal Williams: 46.3 on 49 snaps
- WR Keith Kirkwood: 47.8 on 22 snaps
- TE Foster Moreau: 51.5 on 32 snaps
- LT Trevor Penning: 54.0 on 65 snaps
Yeah, these grades more accurately reflect how the offensive line performed on Sunday. Even if Penning is graded too favorably for someone who led the team in pressures allowed. But Kirkwood was at fault on a couple of blocks that Tre’Quan Smith would normally make outside, erasing opportunities for big pickups on running plays for Williams — who fumbled at the end of his longest gain on the ground to put the game away. These guys couldn’t get out of their own way.
Top 5 players on defense (minimum 21 snaps)
- LB Demario Davis: 90.7 on 63 snaps
- CB Marshon Lattimore: 81.5 on 60 snaps
- LB Pete Werner: 74.5 on 63 snaps
- DE Carl Granderson: 74.3 on 47 snaps
- DE Cameron Jordan: 72.8 on 54 snaps
Davis was phenomenal this week, and his grade reflects that. He got the better of Derrick Henry whenever they met at the line of scrimmage (and sometimes behind it, with Davis throwing him out of the club on one rep in pass protection). He’s an ageless wonder. Lattimore was also on top of his game. Granderson and Jordan tied with defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon (70.3 grade on 27 snaps) for the team lead with five pressures each. The Titans offensive line couldn’t block them.
Bottom 5 players on defense (minimum 21 snaps)
- CB Alontae Taylor: 37.1 on 43 snaps
- DT Nathan Shepherd: 42.2 on 32 snaps
- DT Bryan Bresee: 47.8 on 26 snaps
- CB Paulson Adebo: 53.3 on 63 snaps
- DT Khalen Saunders: 57.1 on 28 snaps
It’s really difficult to buy that any of these guys could have graded out worse than Penning and the other offensive linemen who struggled on Sunday, but that’s what PFF is trying to sell us. Taylor was dinged for missing a tackle and allowing 7 of 9 passes thrown into his coverage to be completed, though just 3 of those catches converted a first down.
Bresee’s poor grade is a mystery. He rushed the passer 21 times and came away with 3 pressures, splitting a sack with linebacker Pete Werner — for context, that’s the third-most pressures for a rookie defensive tackle in Week 1 around the entire league. They did criticize him for missing a tackle, but that feels like an overreaction when he otherwise did his job well.
Special teams
Four players played 21 or more snaps in the kicking game: linebackers D’Marco Jackson, Zack Baun, and Ryan Connelly as well as defensive back Lonnie Johnson Jr., who got in on a couple of key tackles covering punts and kickoffs, though he also missed a tackle and was fouled for holding. Baun blocked a punt (which went down in the gamebook as a 1-yard punt) and was graded highest on the team at 91.2.
Quarterback
Carr received a 68.4 passing grade in this game, which is above-average, and the other quarterback-specific metrics reflect that. PFF had him with a pair of big-time throws (defined as “a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window) and a single turnover-worthy play on that interception.
Carr was under pressure on 17 of his 38 dropbacks (half of them!) and sacked four times, but he managed an average time to throw of 2.89 seconds — an improvement over what we saw from Andy Dalton (2.59 seconds), Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill (both 2.64 seconds) last year. Carr navigated the rush and bought time with legs better than we’ve seen from other Saints quarterbacks in recent years, which was a criticism of him during his time with the Raiders. He averaged just 2.63 seconds per pass attempt in his Raiders career.
