It’s hardly any secret why the Saints are 1-4 going into this bye week. The Saints are bottom feeders in rushing yards (28th overall) and total defense (32nd overall, or dead last). The defensive woes are evenly distributed with poor run defense (32nd) and poor pass defense (29th). The Saints currently give up 456 yards a game, and are on pace to give up 7,296 yards this season. The NFL record for most yards allowed (or the worst defense in NFL history) is 6,793 by the Baltimore Colts in 1981. That’s right, the Saints’ defense is on pace currently to be the absolute worst defense in NFL history. Not just barely, either, they are on pace to obliterate the ’81 Colts’ standard for ineptitude by over 500 yards. Granted that’s just through 5 games and a lot can happen with 11 games to go, but this defense has been as dominantly bad as their offense was historically good last year.
When you look at what this team does really poorly the lack of rushing yards (75.2 yards per game) is a little less alarming that you might think. Their average yards per carry is mediocre/middle of the pack at 18th. So it’s less about the fact that they can’t do it at all, and more about the fact that they’re not really trying. That’s not a lack of ability as much as a lack of commitment, and that falls on Pete Carmichael Jr. as a playcaller. The other areas don’t paint as pretty of a picture. The Saints are 32nd is rush yards allowed and 30th in rush yards per carry. They are 29th in total pass defense and 30th is yards per pass allowed. QB’s have a 104.5 passer rating against the Saints, which is 30th overall. The Saints are also dead last in the NFL in 1st down percentage at 45.1% by a healthy margin. Oddly enough, as much as we blast them for having no pass rush, sacks are the one statistic they stack up best in on defense – 16th overall. So there is only one defensive category where they are as high as 16th overall, and every other category they are 20th or lower. Many categories they are 32nd overall.
Going to PFF grades for a moment, which grades individual player performances to maybe help explain which players are struggling the most, the Saints’ run defense grades out at 25th overall in run defense, 31st in pass rush, and 31st in coverage. The only players on the Saints’ current roster that have positive grades through five games are Brodrick Bunkley, Akiem Hicks, Johnny Patrick and Junior Galette. The players with the worst grades are Malcolm Jenkins (-11.4), Corey White (-7.7), Cam Jordan (-6.0), Curtis Lofton (-5.6) and Will Smith (-5.1). Surprisingly, Curtis Lofton is by far the highest graded player on defense on my scale, although I had Hicks/Patrick and Galette graded highly as well and the weaker players graded poorly. Corey White is the 2nd worst graded corner in the entire league (behind Corey Webster of the Giants & LSU) and Jenkins is the 2nd worst graded safety in the league (behind Michael Griffin of Tennessee). Malcolm Jenkins grade is in the top 5 worst of the entire league of all graded defenders. The more specific you get, though, the worse it gets. Cam Jordan is dead last in graded 4-3 DE’s in pass rushing. Scott Shanle and Will Herring are tied for 3rd worst of all graded 4-3 LB’s in run defense. Scott Shanle is the 3rd worst grade for 4-3 linebackers overall. Corey White is rated dead last of all corners in coverage specifically.
So it’s not just one guy, it’s a number of guys failing in every singular aspect of defense. A lot of fans like to blast their defense as the “worst ever”, but so far this defense really is the “worst ever”. As in, no other team has ever been able to compile a collection of players more incapable of rushing, covering and stopping the run. It’s pretty remarkable really, especially when you consider how much money has been spent on all these players. It’s not like the Saints went with a bunch of undrafted free agents here. They feature 5 first round picks (Jordan, Smith, Robinson, Jenkins, Ellis), a 2nd round pick (Harper), 4 high ticket expensive free agents (Hawthorne, Bunkley, Greer, Lofton) and a 6-7 year veteran starter (Shanle).
It’s pretty clear this defense isn’t going to be fixed. They are so bad we’ll be stuck watching the Saints get gashed all season long, but there are three things I would do immediately:
1. Bench Malcolm Jenkins. You heard me correctly. Start Isa Abdul-Quddus at free safety and see what he can do. He cannot possibly be any worse. If nothing else, start him for a couple games and then go back to Jenkins. Maybe this would motivate Jenkins to play better.
2. Bench Corey White. Johnny Patrick is back out there healthy and playing again. Give the youngster all of White’s reps. Or put Elbert Mack, the veteran, out there. I don’t really care.
3. Blitz more. The Saints already know they can’t get to the quarterback and they can’t cover… so that means huge chunks of yards are going to be given up no matter what. The Chargers game is a perfect example of what blitzing will yield. Heavy chunks of yards given up – aka no change. BUT, the benefit of blitizing is that you’ll occassionally get a sack or a turnover, like in the Chargers game. I would consider benching Cam Jordan too and starting Junior Galette. I realize that will affect run support, but so what? If that means you have to play Brodrick Bunkley more and rotate less to compensate, so be it.
There is no easy fix for this defense, though, and we should expect an uphill battle for Drew Brees and the offense all season long.
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