I can’t count how many times I have seen fans this year (myself included at times) wonder aloud (or on twitter) what exactly is wrong with our star rookie from last year. How has Kenny Vaccaro gone from the hard hitting dynamo we drafted last year whose instinctive play-making and tenacity made him an instant fan favorite, to Roman Harper with slightly better coverage skills and worse tackling? Well, it’s complicated but lets try to break down some of the reasons why he looks so different this year.
The ankle injury: the first thing we have to understand about Kenny’s injury that ended his year last year was that it was a lot more severe than your ‘average’ lower leg injury. It wasn’t just a strained tendon or a sprain… it was a break. Those not only take time to heal physically, but also mentally. I don’t think his tenacity was reduced by the injury, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he was subconsciously holding back early in the season because of it. More than that, though, the real impact of the break in my opinion comes in the form of loss of playing and practice time during the off-season. Kenny is still a young player and losing chemistry with his teammates will have a big impact on him (it even impacts vets). I do think last year’s injury has affected some of his ability to avoid the sophomore slump, but it isn’t the biggest reason for his decline in production this season.
Extenuating circumstances: a significant part of Vaccaro’s struggles this year are directly related to the fact that the team as a whole is struggling. In my book only 3 players on the defense have a net positive grade for the year and only one by any significant margin (Cam, Curtis, and Keenan for the record are the 3). The pass rush hasn’t existed, the defensive line in general has been sub par, and our linebackers are (with the exception of Lofton) a joke. Football is a team game and a symbiotic one at that; in other words it is a game where one player’s struggles can have a definite and immediate impact on his fellows. That isn’t to say that Kenny is without fault, but that not all of his struggles are a result of his own regression, but that of the defense as a whole.
NFL players are pretty good: This isn’t an excuse in the least, but the fact is that the Saints have faced a vastly different quality of offensive players this year as compared to last. The guys on the offensive end are paid to do their jobs as well and there have absolutely been plays where Vaccaro did his job… but so did his opponent. Once again, not the biggest factor behind his poor year, but one I do believe should be acknowledged at least.
Kenny is just a rookie: WHAT!? Are you on drugs? I’m sure some had a similar reaction to that to this, but allow me to explain. I don’t mean he is a ‘rookie’ as in a first year player, but in that this is his first year in the NFL playing the safety position. Was I there last year? Can I read? We drafted a safety right? Yes to all of the above, however Kenny barely if ever really played the safety position last year. He has a true safety skill-set absolutely, but Rob Ryan’s greatest moment of brilliance last year was in recognizing the opportunity Vaccaro presented him. He could at once get a player with all the natural tools to be a star at the strong safety position for the next decade, and in the intermediate time he could utilize that player in such a way as to mask the Saints single biggest weakness: their linebackers. That is right folks; Kenny Vaccaro in essence played linebacker as a rookie… and honestly he was the best one we had overall. What is it that made him a linebacker: he dominated the first 15 yards past the line of scrimmage, picked up backs out of the backfield and covered tight ends, shot the gaps to stop running plays before they could develop, and occasionally blitzed. You know what he didn’t do? He didn’t play the deep safety, at least not often. He wowed us all with his versatility by often playing the nickel corner spot when it was needed and doing it well, but the majority of his time was really spend playing a hybrid linebacker position. This was possible because they had two other safeties capable of playing competently at the position and so Vaccaro was free to cover up the mistakes and inabilities of the Saints linebacker corps (to be fair the defensive line also played much better which made everyone in the back 7’s jobs easier). The difference this year is that he has almost exclusively played the safety position and so he is adjusting to playing that position at the NFL level.
Too much to do: I don’t mean that he faces too much responsibility or faces too many reps. I mean that he is simply being put in position to have to make a big play way too often. The weak linebacking corp which he helped hide last year is still there, and the lack of anyone who is able to ‘dominate’ the game in any way puts him and the other secondary members in a disadvantageous position. How often do we hear about backs wanting to get to ‘the second level? A lot. The reason? They are supposed to win matchups with safeties and corners by the time they get out there, and the major holes that have been opened up have allowed backs to gash the Saints. It would gash almost any secondary and the Saints secondary is far from perfect. He is also often ‘missing tackles’ where he is coming from other areas of the field and other assignments to try to clean up plays that never should have gotten where they are. When you are in a position where you are overcompensating for something it is going to leave you vulnerable. Period.
Kenny has had a down year and has most definitely struggled at times, but let’s be real here guys. He hasn’t been put in a position to succeed by either the front office or his teammates at times (the reverse is obviously also true at times). Fans need to save their vitriol for players who are quitting or repeatedly making unforgivable mistakes. Vaccaro remains one of the hardest working players on a defense that is deficient at its two most important positions (line and linebacker). Just remember that if he played the way he did this year from the perspective I am giving you here…you would say he is a rookie still learning and not getting help from his teammates. I believe that to be the case in large part and the biggest reason he has had a down year. Let’s pray we fix our d-line and linebackers in the off-season and allow Vaccaro to do what he does best…. play fast, hard, instinctively, and wonderfully out of control.
Also I’m not sure the Saints could stop LSU with the defense they played last week so there will be no scouting report because if that team shows up Pitt will score 70.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
