Saints' secondary ranked middle-of-the-road at Pro Football Focus

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Yikes. The New Orleans Saints built their team on the strength of their secondary, but it’s ranked middle-of-the-road at Pro Football Focus. A leaguewide checkup by Marcus Mosher at PFF put the Saints pass defense at No. 17 among the NFL’s 32 teams, with much of the blame falling on their starting cornerbacks. Here’s what Mosher wrote of their situation:
“In terms of overall talent, the Saints are near the top of the league. But they certainly have not played like it this season. Marshon Lattimore (52.2) and Paulson Adebo (34.1) are among the lowest-graded cornerbacks in the NFL. Tyrann Mathieu has been a fine addition to the safety room, but this unit has played at a below-average level through the first six games of the season.”

Adebo currently has the fourth-worst player grade among 111 cornerbacks around the league, having been charged with allowing 22 receptions on 28 targets into his coverage through just 4 games. That’s allowed the opposing offenses to gain 334 yards through the air — the highest total on the team so far. Adebo has also been flagged three times and yielded 4 touchdown catches. He’s had some bright moments, breaking up 3 passes and forcing 3 others to fall incomplete with tight coverage, but he’s been a very volatile player. It sure looks like he’s experiencing a sophomore slump in his second year in the pros.
But what about Lattimore? That low player grade feels bogus. He’s allowed 10 receptions on 19 targets to start the season, but 7 of those catches came in one game against one player: Justin Jefferson, arguably the best receiver in football right now. Outside of that single game, ceded just 3 catches on 8 targets. Jefferson accounts for 93 of the 116 yards Lattimore is dinged for allowing. He only gave up 1 catch for 6 yards in the season opener, and finished two other games without allowing a single reception into his coverage. He’s broken up a pair of passes and forced two others to fall incomplete, and he hasn’t seen anyone score a touchdown against him. If PFF’s own snap-by-snap tracking sees him performing well, why is he graded so poorly?
So while we should take the specifics in some of these player grades with a grain of salt, there’s no doubting that the Saints secondary has not met expectations. One player weirdly receiving high praise at PFF is Tyrann Mathieu, who hasn’t met expectations as an exciting free agent acquisition. Mathieu is tied for the second-most missed tackles on passing plays (3) with Bradley Roby and Demario Davis, trailing only Adebo (4). He does have the team’s only interception on the season so far, but it’s still odd to see him talked about as a bright spot when the big plays he was signed to create have not materialized. Maybe the analysts at PFF are seeing something everyone else is missing.

Either way, the Saints defense must play better. They’re a liability right now with too many chunk plays allowed through the air. You could make excuses about all of the injuries they’re dealing with (having been without Lattimore, Adebo, free safety Marcus Maye, backup safety P.J. Williams, and rookie corner Alontae Taylor at times this season) but the larger issue may be all of the turnover at safety over the summer. They miss Malcolm Jenkins’ veteran presence, and the decisions to let Marcus Williams walk away in free agency before trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson for a bag of peanuts days before the season started look like horrible mistakes.

Dennis Allen was hired as head coach for his ability to build, develop, and maintain a playmaking secondary and elite pass defense. We’re almost into Week 7 and his signature unit may be the team’s weakest link. The Saints defense ranks fourth-worst in the NFL in points allowed (158), with six touchdown receptions scored against them traveling between 28 and 67 yards. Teams know they can beat New Orleans over the top, and they’re taking advantage of it. Allen’s squad hasn’t been up to snuff. Hopefully that changes soon.