Week 4: Saints @ Chargers - Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis (1 Viewer)

[Murkzilla]

https://crawfishboila.wordpress.com...-player-grades-snap-counts-analysis-chargers/

You know the drill - just posting up the link (above) to our snap counts (including run/pass split), individual player grades and analysis for all Saints who took to the field against the Chargers on Sunday.

Feel free to throw any questions at us and/or call out the grades you disagree with below. We always check back on the thread and are happy to discuss/debate the grades... (even more so this week to help pass some of the time during the bye!).

 

[insidejob]

I've come to look forward to this every week.

Keep up the good work.

WHO DAT!

ETA: I like pretty much everything I see there. Seems like a pretty fair analysis. Nobody was great but nobody was pathetic either. Glad also to see that Lelito was the only OL to grade negatively, while the rest were mainly average, it was still good enough to run the ball better and keep Brees relatively clean.

Also happy with the defensive grades. Especially Jordan and Fairley. I also think that Kruger had his best performance for us in black and gold, but then he had to go and get injured, but Darryl Tapp stepped in nicely.

All in all, another solid analysis and why I look forward to it each week.

 

[Wheelo]

Just proves how bad we need a linebacker like Ellerbe that's an experienced coverage linebacker. I like the strong nickel packages we run especially if we had our starters in the back set as: Ellerbe and Robertson up front. Byrd and Bell playing safety, with Vaccaro, Breaux, and Moore manning the main coverage. A guy can dream they'll all be on the field together.

 

[crosswatt]

Murk, two questions. You state ( and much of the analysis that I've read supports it) that Robertson was the starting MLB, but he was listed as the starter on the weakside, and Stupar in the middle. Were you going off of reports, or was there an official release from the team?

And do you by chance have a number for how many plays there were three linebackers on the field at the same time?

Good writeup again. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Murk, two questions. You state ( and much of the analysis that I've read supports it) that Robertson was the starting MLB, but he was listed as the starter on the weakside, and Stupar in the middle. Were you going off of reports, or was there an official release from the team?

And do you by chance have a number for how many plays there were three linebackers on the field at the same time?

Good writeup again. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I shared the answer with you and with images on the other thread. Robertson started at MLB in the base. However in Nickel he played WLB and Stupar played MLB. In both cases he's the guy relaying the calls but he got labeled the starting WLB because we opened up win the nickel package.

http://saintsreport.com/forums/f2/s...ssed-2nd-half-359926/index2.html#.V_aYAvkrKUl

Can't give you anything official but I'm about 100% correct thats what's going on. It's all Semantics. Stupar is the bigger of the two so playing him at the MLB position in the nickel puts him on the strong side of the formation where his size is a much better matchup against TE's. In the grand scheme of things Robertson was the guy relaying the calls and the Mike in base. So that makes him the Mike.

 

[crosswatt]

I shared the answer with you and with images on the other thread. Robertson started at MLB in the base. However in Nickel he played WLB and Stupar played MLB. In both cases he's the guy relaying the calls but he got labeled the starting WLB because we opened up win the nickel package.

http://saintsreport.com/forums/f2/s...ssed-2nd-half-359926/index2.html#.V_aYAvkrKUl

Can't give you anything official but I'm about 100% correct thats what's going on. It's all Semantics. Stupar is the bigger of the two so playing him at the MLB position in the nickel puts him on the strong side of the formation where his size is a much better matchup against TE's. In the grand scheme of things Robertson was the guy relaying the calls and the Mike in base. So that makes him the Mike.

Missed that. Good info.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

On Robertson's TD pass after watching the game I heard the announcer say that the S (Vaccaro) didn't help him either. If you watch it Vaccaro rushes over to the sideline and completely vacates his area. The problem with this is he did it too quickly and should have stayed his ground and played over the top of both throws.

I said that to say this...

SP's press conference talked about getting his best players on the field and he mentions Byrd Vaccaro and Bell specifically.

This keeps Vaccaro in the box and out of 2high deep coverage duties which he hasn't been good at throughout his career. Byrd/Bell appear to be more disciplined and will make those coverages work better.

 

[Murkzilla]

Murk, two questions. You state ( and much of the analysis that I've read supports it) that Robertson was the starting MLB, but he was listed as the starter on the weakside, and Stupar in the middle. Were you going off of reports, or was there an official release from the team?

And do you by chance have a number for how many plays there were three linebackers on the field at the same time?

Good writeup again. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Pretty much what Elias has said! The starting positions we've got listed are the players starting position in the base defense, rather than the official announced positions. So it is based on how the Saints actually set-up in base defense. With the linebackers this week, Robertson started at MLB in the base defense with Stupar at WLB. This then shifted in different packages, but Robertson was the base MLB.

And on the linebacker discussion generally, presumably Ellerbe will (finally) be healthy for the Carolina game, having practised the last few weeks. It's going to be really interesting to see how Allen sets up in base defense. My gut feeling is that we'll see Ellerbe/Laurinaitis/Mauti... But it could just as easily be Ellerbe/Robertson/Mauti, if Allen doesn't want to shift Robertson out of the lineup. Or maybe Ellerbe will only be used in the nickel package, and Allen will stick with Robertson/Laurinaitis/Mauti. I find that latter option the least appealing, on the basis I still think Ellerbe is our best linebacker. But I don't think anyone really knows how it will all look once we have a healthy stable of LBs.

I've come to look forward to this every week.

Keep up the good work.

WHO DAT!

ETA: I like pretty much everything I see there. Seems like a pretty fair analysis. Nobody was great but nobody was pathetic either. Glad also to see that Lelito was the only OL to grade negatively, while the rest were mainly average, it was still good enough to run the ball better and keep Brees relatively clean.

Also happy with the defensive grades. Especially Jordan and Fairley. I also think that Kruger had his best performance for us in black and gold, but then he had to go and get injured, but Darryl Tapp stepped in nicely.

All in all, another solid analysis and why I look forward to it each week.

Thanks man! And yep - regarding Kruger I think he definitely looked better this week. Hopefully the injury is nothing serious and he can build from it. We still really need that pass rusher opposite Cam - with Kruger, Tapp and even Edebali showing up this week it made a huge difference.