By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — The five-game fallout of the New Orleans Saints has been one of the NFL’s biggest surprises. After a two-win start to the season that started with 91 points scored, tied for the second-most in NFL history over the first two games of a season, the team has mustered 86 over the last five. Things have been a struggle for a beaten up and downtrodden team looking to turn things around in a hurry.
Here are the highest and lowest Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades for players with more than 15 snaps in the Saints’ loss to the Broncos.
Top 5
LB Anfernee Orji – 92.0
CB Marshon Lattimore – 77.4
WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. – 71.5
S Jordan Howden – 68.7
DE Carl Granderson – 62.9
Orji absolutely deserves his high grade. He was one of the team’s few bright spots. From training camp standout to impact moments on the field on both special teams and defense, the young linebacker is staking his claim for more and more opportunities. Orji had 4 total tackles in this game along with 2 tackles for a loss.
Lattimore was targeted just once, allowing a four-yard catch, per PFF. That means he has only been targeted 12 times per the site so far this season. The 2017 Defensive Rookie of the Year is playing some of the best football of his career. It’s unfortunate how everything else has been going around the team in the meanwhile. Lattimore suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter and did not return to the game. The Saints will hope to get him back out on the field against the Los Angeles Chargers next weekend.
The Saints were dramatically thin at wide receiver and needed contributions from a bunch of new faces. Wilson Jr. being the veteran of the group led the team with 57 receiving yards catching 6 of his 7 targets, including one touchdown reception.
Howden played every snap on defense for the second week in a row. In this one, PFF has the second-year safety charted as the closest defender for 2 targets, forcing a 39.6 passer rating when targeted. He also led the team in total tackles with 8 while missing no tackle attempts.
Bottom 5
QB Spencer Rattler – 42.1
S Tyrann Mathieu – 41.7
DE Chase Young – 39.7
CB Alontae Taylor – 36.1
DT Nathan Shepherd – 34.3
When your bottom five graded players include your quarterback and four key defensive players, things probably didn’t go the way you wanted as a team. Rattler is hard to evaluate on a day where he saw quick pressures (less than 2.5 seconds) on 14 dropbacks. Mathieu could have boosted his day a bit had he not dropped a gift of an interception for Broncos quarterback Bo Nix and defensive line play struggled again this week thanks mostly due to the run defense. Denver posted their season highs in both yards before contact and yards after contact in this game, per Next Gen Stats. Not a great sign for your trenches.
