WhoDat_SB44
Pimpin' Ain't Breesy!
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QB: A, Drew was great. He threw some great balls and got penalties on others. He had very few bad passes. It would be an A+ if not for that horrible option play on a crucial 3rd & goal. Other than that, it was vintage beast Drew Brees.
RB & FB: B-, Ingram had some nice runs when the line made some holes. He averaged 4.8 yards a carry, so not bad at all. Cadet had some bad drops, but a couple may have been bad throws. He was targeted one pass more than Thomas and IMO that should not be the case unless most were check downs. But most seemed to be plays for him. I would rather see what CJ Spiller could do on those same plays. He was a beast at Clemson in the passing game. Hightower didn't do much at all and I would rather Lasco or Spiller get his carries. Kuhn did a good job blocking, had a couple carries, and passes thrown his way. Solid.
WR: A+ Cooks, Snead, and Thomas had great games. If we get performances like that from those 3, we should be in great shape on offense. Both Snead & Thomas caught all their targets. Cooks was phenomenal and looks to be taking that next step to super star status. I wish they would of gave him another run or two since he got 11 yards on his only attempt. Snead just needs to take care of the ball, but great play by Thomas to keep running even tho the play wasn't to him. Coleman and Lewis didn't see much action and I don't expect to see them much.
TE: C, Fleener was ok. Drew threw that one early behind him. He had 4 targets with only 1 catch. It seems that he and Drew just need more time to get on the same page. Drew threw for 420+ yards, so not everyone is gonna have huge games week in & week out. Didn't see much from Hill or Manhertz.
Offensive line: A, To me, they surprisingly had a GREAT game. They gave Drew the time he needed and opened up some decent holes for Ingram. Armstead was his All Pro self. Peat had arguably his best game in the Black & Gold. Unger didn't do anything to get noticed which is good. Evans looked good and healthy. Strief had a good game as well. They dealt with Mack and Irvin pretty damn well. BRAVO!!
Defensive line: D- They looked pretty terrible all game long. They got gashed in the run & pass game. No one stood out at all. If they can't get any kind of pass rush like they did in this game, then it will be a long season. Not gonna mention anyone by name cause they all played about the same.
Linebackers: C+. They played slightly average for the most part. We really missed Ellerbe out there. JL didn't look so hot and got ran over a few times. He looked like one of the worst MLBs in the league, like he graded out last season. Stephone Anthony, where was he at? I think he only had like 13 snaps yesterday. He only had one tackle, but it was for a loss. He needs to be on the field more IMO. Michael Mauti shouldn't get almost double the snaps Anthony got. If we are not gonna play with a SAM all that much, then he needs to move back to MIKE. I would have a lot more confidence with him in the middle than JL at this time. Robertson was by far the best linebacker on the field yesterday. He led the team in tackles, with 2 of them coming for a loss. He is a keeper for sure, but got screwed on that pass interference call. Hope that makes him angry and he takes it out on Eli Manning & the G men. Mauti was on the field a lot more than I thought he would be or wanted him to be for that matter. Didn't really notice Stupar.
Corners: C+. They did a pretty decent job up until the 4th quarter. Delvin Breaux was the player we saw last year. Did a great job until he was injured. We will miss him the most out of anyone. Easily the 2nd best player on the defense and may even be the best. Think he would of made the leap to being one of the top corners in the league this year, so it's a shame he got injured. PJ Williams had a solid game IMO, for being his first career start and having to go against Amari Cooper. I think he will be a stud for us and form one of the best corner tandems in the league with Breaux in a few years. DeVante Harris had a decent game in the slot. For an undrafted rookie, I think he held his own and I wish they would of put him on Crabtree once Breaux went down. Ken Crawley didn't have the greatest of games, but he is an UDFA corner that was thrown into the fire. In his first NFL game, he had to play Crabtree and the veteran receiver ate his lunch. Now with Breaux's injury it looks like Crawley will be our 3rd corner, so hopefully he steps up rather quickly or we will be in trouble back there. But we could have Josh Norman back there and it wouldn't matter if we can't get a pass rush much less a consistent one. Let's hope Sterling Moore and whoever they sign(more than likely Finnegan) will contribute in a very positive way!!
Safeties: C, would of likely been a B, if not for Byrd taking a horrible angle on that 75 yard TD run. That play can't happen and was the play that broke the game wide open which swung the momentum big time towards the Silver & Black. I would like to see Vonn Bell and Erik Harris possibly get more snaps as the season goes on cause this will likely be Byrd's last season with the Saints. Likely? What am I taking about, it WILL be his last. If not then I hope they try Bell at corner since we can now use all the help we can get there. I thought Kenny Vaccaro may have had his best game since his rookie season. He looked great IMO and that's a great sight considering the blow we took at corner. Didn't really see Harper that much, but hope he plays some linebacker maybe with Ellerbe out. I think I may rather see him out there more, if Mauti is gonna get as many snaps as he did Sunday.
Special teams: D+, If not for Morestead, I would of likely have then a F. He averaged right at 48 yards on 2 punts, so he did his job. I guess the coverage units were decent, but I can't really remember. Marcus Murphy was average to below average on his returns. He had one were it seemed he just ran straight into a pile of players. Another at the end were he wasted precious seconds that could of really helped. I almost hope we replace him soon. I like that he is dangerous back there, but he's also dangerous in the wrong way. It's scary everytime he catches a kick cause you worry he won't hold onto the ball. Now poor Will Lutz. He started off looking absolutely wonderful. He was kicking perfect kick offs to the 1 yard line. He made his extra points and his first 2 field goals(one being a 42 yarder). The other he made was rather lucky since it was hit but some how had enough juice to make it over. Not sure if that was his fault, not getting enough under it or just a great play. Then he misses a crucial 50 yarder just to the left by mere feet it seemed. He starts kicking off in the end zone for touchbacks(not sure if it was designed that way tho). Then we get in range for a 60 yarder to win the game and he kicks it exactly the same as his last miss(it looked almost identical so guess he's consistent lol). I was hoping he wouldn't overcompensate from the last kick, but he didn't compensate at all lol. I still have faith in the kid. It was his first NFL game, with a new holder, and a new team for like a week. I know he has a HUGE leg and neither miss was really bad or shanked.
RB & FB: B-, Ingram had some nice runs when the line made some holes. He averaged 4.8 yards a carry, so not bad at all. Cadet had some bad drops, but a couple may have been bad throws. He was targeted one pass more than Thomas and IMO that should not be the case unless most were check downs. But most seemed to be plays for him. I would rather see what CJ Spiller could do on those same plays. He was a beast at Clemson in the passing game. Hightower didn't do much at all and I would rather Lasco or Spiller get his carries. Kuhn did a good job blocking, had a couple carries, and passes thrown his way. Solid.
WR: A+ Cooks, Snead, and Thomas had great games. If we get performances like that from those 3, we should be in great shape on offense. Both Snead & Thomas caught all their targets. Cooks was phenomenal and looks to be taking that next step to super star status. I wish they would of gave him another run or two since he got 11 yards on his only attempt. Snead just needs to take care of the ball, but great play by Thomas to keep running even tho the play wasn't to him. Coleman and Lewis didn't see much action and I don't expect to see them much.
TE: C, Fleener was ok. Drew threw that one early behind him. He had 4 targets with only 1 catch. It seems that he and Drew just need more time to get on the same page. Drew threw for 420+ yards, so not everyone is gonna have huge games week in & week out. Didn't see much from Hill or Manhertz.
Offensive line: A, To me, they surprisingly had a GREAT game. They gave Drew the time he needed and opened up some decent holes for Ingram. Armstead was his All Pro self. Peat had arguably his best game in the Black & Gold. Unger didn't do anything to get noticed which is good. Evans looked good and healthy. Strief had a good game as well. They dealt with Mack and Irvin pretty damn well. BRAVO!!
Defensive line: D- They looked pretty terrible all game long. They got gashed in the run & pass game. No one stood out at all. If they can't get any kind of pass rush like they did in this game, then it will be a long season. Not gonna mention anyone by name cause they all played about the same.
Linebackers: C+. They played slightly average for the most part. We really missed Ellerbe out there. JL didn't look so hot and got ran over a few times. He looked like one of the worst MLBs in the league, like he graded out last season. Stephone Anthony, where was he at? I think he only had like 13 snaps yesterday. He only had one tackle, but it was for a loss. He needs to be on the field more IMO. Michael Mauti shouldn't get almost double the snaps Anthony got. If we are not gonna play with a SAM all that much, then he needs to move back to MIKE. I would have a lot more confidence with him in the middle than JL at this time. Robertson was by far the best linebacker on the field yesterday. He led the team in tackles, with 2 of them coming for a loss. He is a keeper for sure, but got screwed on that pass interference call. Hope that makes him angry and he takes it out on Eli Manning & the G men. Mauti was on the field a lot more than I thought he would be or wanted him to be for that matter. Didn't really notice Stupar.
Corners: C+. They did a pretty decent job up until the 4th quarter. Delvin Breaux was the player we saw last year. Did a great job until he was injured. We will miss him the most out of anyone. Easily the 2nd best player on the defense and may even be the best. Think he would of made the leap to being one of the top corners in the league this year, so it's a shame he got injured. PJ Williams had a solid game IMO, for being his first career start and having to go against Amari Cooper. I think he will be a stud for us and form one of the best corner tandems in the league with Breaux in a few years. DeVante Harris had a decent game in the slot. For an undrafted rookie, I think he held his own and I wish they would of put him on Crabtree once Breaux went down. Ken Crawley didn't have the greatest of games, but he is an UDFA corner that was thrown into the fire. In his first NFL game, he had to play Crabtree and the veteran receiver ate his lunch. Now with Breaux's injury it looks like Crawley will be our 3rd corner, so hopefully he steps up rather quickly or we will be in trouble back there. But we could have Josh Norman back there and it wouldn't matter if we can't get a pass rush much less a consistent one. Let's hope Sterling Moore and whoever they sign(more than likely Finnegan) will contribute in a very positive way!!
Safeties: C, would of likely been a B, if not for Byrd taking a horrible angle on that 75 yard TD run. That play can't happen and was the play that broke the game wide open which swung the momentum big time towards the Silver & Black. I would like to see Vonn Bell and Erik Harris possibly get more snaps as the season goes on cause this will likely be Byrd's last season with the Saints. Likely? What am I taking about, it WILL be his last. If not then I hope they try Bell at corner since we can now use all the help we can get there. I thought Kenny Vaccaro may have had his best game since his rookie season. He looked great IMO and that's a great sight considering the blow we took at corner. Didn't really see Harper that much, but hope he plays some linebacker maybe with Ellerbe out. I think I may rather see him out there more, if Mauti is gonna get as many snaps as he did Sunday.
Special teams: D+, If not for Morestead, I would of likely have then a F. He averaged right at 48 yards on 2 punts, so he did his job. I guess the coverage units were decent, but I can't really remember. Marcus Murphy was average to below average on his returns. He had one were it seemed he just ran straight into a pile of players. Another at the end were he wasted precious seconds that could of really helped. I almost hope we replace him soon. I like that he is dangerous back there, but he's also dangerous in the wrong way. It's scary everytime he catches a kick cause you worry he won't hold onto the ball. Now poor Will Lutz. He started off looking absolutely wonderful. He was kicking perfect kick offs to the 1 yard line. He made his extra points and his first 2 field goals(one being a 42 yarder). The other he made was rather lucky since it was hit but some how had enough juice to make it over. Not sure if that was his fault, not getting enough under it or just a great play. Then he misses a crucial 50 yarder just to the left by mere feet it seemed. He starts kicking off in the end zone for touchbacks(not sure if it was designed that way tho). Then we get in range for a 60 yarder to win the game and he kicks it exactly the same as his last miss(it looked almost identical so guess he's consistent lol). I was hoping he wouldn't overcompensate from the last kick, but he didn't compensate at all lol. I still have faith in the kid. It was his first NFL game, with a new holder, and a new team for like a week. I know he has a HUGE leg and neither miss was really bad or shanked.
