The New Orleans Saints dropped a heartbreaker in their 2026 home opener 35-27 against the Las Vegas Raiders. The team’s 11-point lead was quickly erased in the fourth quarter after a rash of four consecutive turnovers, but the Saints’ first three quarters had them looking like the contender they’re trying to become.
Those first three quarters may be what’s to credit for this week’s Pro Football Focus grades, which heavily favored New Orleans as a strong performer despite their fourth-quarter mishaps.
Here are the highest- and lowest-graded Saints players that took at least 20 snaps in Sunday’s loss.
Highest Graded
- WR Chris Olave – 90.0
- TE Noah Fant – 89.3
- LB Danny Stutsman – 82.9
- EDGE Chase Young – 81.1
- DL Khristian Boyd – 79.1
It’s not often that the top-four players are separated by only 8.9 points, but that was the case after the team’s Week 3 performance. Olave had his fifth 100-yard receiving game with quarterback Tyler Shough who had the 14th of his career. Meanwhile, Fant notched his first two-touchdown game, and is now already one touchdown catch away from his career high of four touchdown receptions in a season.
Defensively, despite a curious roughing the passer penalty, Stutsman had a strong performance thanks to his pressure generation and coverage work. Young notched his second-consecutive multi-sack game by getting the Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins twice. He is now tied for No. 3 in the league with 3.5 sacks through the first trio of games.
Boyd’s grade comes after one of his best regular season games as a pro. He had one sack and added a pair of big tackles for a loss as well. The big-bodied nose tackle is finding his way in Defensive Coordinator Brandon Staley’s system.
Lowest Graded
- S Justin Reid – 28.2
- EDGE Cameron Jordan – 45.6
- WR Bryce Lance – 49.3
- DL Vernon Broughton – 50.2
- RB Travis Etienne Jr. – 56.1
On the lower end, the team’s top boundary safety ends up with the lowest grade after being credited by PFF with six receptions surrendered, including one touchdown, for 74 receiving yards and 150.3 passer rating on those targets. Those are stats grading him as the nearest defender, rather than the primary player in coverage. He was also whistled for an unnecessary roughness penalty in the end zone.
Jordan being the second-lowest graded player but still coming in at 45.6 is a good sign for New Orleans as a whole. But it’s still a lower grade than his standard. Jordan rushed the passer 21 times and was only credited with a single pressure.
Lance saw his number impacted with low pass-catching grade after coming up empty on the reception column despite three targets. He was not, however, credited with a drop. His offensive teammate Etienne finds his way to a “low” grade as well, but may have put together his best game as a Saint to date.
Unfortunately for New Orleans, a hamstring injury could potentially send Etiennme to the sideline for a period of time depending on the severity of the injury with which he exited the game.
Broughton’s grade is again a middle-of-the-road one that ranks low because of the grading for this week’s players because it didn’t match his first game as he charted no pressures or run stops. He also did not miss a tackle in this matchup.
