Pro Football Focus Ranking Recap for Saints’ Offense

Yes, I'm a fan of Pro Football Focus. I think on the whole they do a good job, although I don't always agree with them. Over the next few days I'll be posting their grades for the 2013 season as the final part of our evaluation process before we really start looking forward. There's a good chance some news could come soon, too, like over the next couple weeks… between Jimmy Graham possibly getting franchised, Will Smith getting cut, Roman Harper maybe too, and the NFL Combine. Anyway, today we'll look at how the Saints fared offensively compared to each other and the rest of the league:

Best Graded Player: This was a tie if you include the playoffs between Zach Strief and Drew Brees (+26.5 for the season). That's right, Strief. If you don't include the playoffs, Strief graded higher than Brees.  That's a little scary when you consider he's a free agent and the franchise tag is destined for Jimmy Graham. The odds of the Saints retaining him given the current cap status are not good. The more time goes on the more convinced I become we are losing Zach Strief. 

Worst Graded Player: Charles Brown (-9.2 for the season), no real surprise here. Tim Lelito and Bryce Harris were close on his heels, suggesting the depth of the line is a major problem area. 

Some other interesting notes:

• Brees came up with the second best quarterback grade in the entire league behind only Peyton Manning. 
• Zach Strief graded as the #7 best tackle in the NFL for 2013, and the 3rd (!) best pass blocker.
• Charles Brown was penalized 12 times, and out of 76 graded tackles that was 2nd most in the entire league.
• Marques Colston graded at a respectable 14th best receiver in the league.
• Jimmy Graham graded as the #1 tight end in the league despite a -7.0 blocking grade.
• Ben Watson was the 8th best run blocking tight end in the NFL.
• Lance Moore was 6th in the NFL in % of passes targeted for him caught (71.2%)
• Ben Grubbs graded as the 10th best guard in the NFL this year and Jahri Evans came in 17th out of 81 graded guards. 
• Brian de la Puente graded 16th out of 35 graded centers.
• Darren Sproles was graded 7th and Pierre Thomas 13th out of 55 qualified graded backs. 
• Sproles was the #1 receiving back in the NFL.
• Jed Collins was 18th out of 25 graded fullbacks.