Inside the trenches: How Sheldon Rankins is adding value to the Saints defensive line [Film Study]

I am prepared for the negreps, but....

We can break this down all we want, but this was a slightly below-average defense last year, and this year we've opened with one of our worst defensive games in my memory (which is saying something) and then almost let Cleveland's pedestrian group beat us late, and they would have but for a BUNCH of missed kicks.

Surely a number of these players must be grading out below average, and some well below average. Last year we had amazing secondary play, and were still 18th, at least by the PFR metric. If you're telling me that secretly Rankins, taken 14th overall two years ago, is now a difference-maker like he should be, it's a pretty condemnatory indictment on a lot of the rest of these players.