By Ross Jackson
After a stellar Week 11 performance by New Orleans Saints rookie left tackle Taliese Fuaga, another huge test looms.
Fuaga performed extremely well against the Cleveland Browns last Sunday, with most of his pass blocking snaps coming against elite defensive end Myles Garrett. Per Pro Football Focus, Fuaga took 30 pass blocking snaps. Cleveland failed to produce a single pressure. He took at least a dozen snaps matched up with Garrett in the process.
Taliese Fuaga vs the Browns:
⚜️ 30 pass-blocking snaps
⚜️ 0 pressures allowed pic.twitter.com/k06ehY72Ry— PFF NO Saints (@PFF_Saints) November 21, 2024
This week, the Saints’ first-round pick will enjoy some much-needed respite with the bye week. But as he returns to the field in Week 13, he will draw another big challenge.
Los Angeles Rams rookie defensive end Jared Verse has been outstanding. Per 33rd Team, his 18.8% pressure percentage is the highest among edge rushers in the NFL. He and fellow rookie lineman Braden Fiske have been a relentlessly disruptive pair.
It’s impossible to block these guys ☣️ https://t.co/mgZI4as32e pic.twitter.com/YxTbJSAXr3
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) November 21, 2024
Verse has spent over 60% of his snaps lining up on the right edge, which is the offensive left end. From that alignment, Verse’s pressure percentage, per Next Gen Stats, has leapt to 22.4%. He has also secured all 4.5 of his sacks from that position as well.
After an outstanding performance against the Browns and Garrett, Fuaga will get an opportunity to follow up next week with another. That result will be welcome for the Saints who are on a two-game winning streak and have done a good job, both through pass protection and creative offensive play calling, keeping quarterback Derek Carr clean.
New Orleans will need their offense churning and running smoothly against Los Angeles, who will be expected to put up a healthy amount of points against the Saints’ defense.
