New Orleans Saints 2014 Offensive Grades
Nov 30, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) celebrates a touchdown with tackle Terron Armstead (72) and tackle Zach Strief (64) during the second half at Heinz Field. The Saints won the game, 35-32. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports
The offensive line has struggled the past two seasons. In 2013 the unit gave up 37 sacks, and in 2014 they allowed 30. The sack percentages of 5.4 and 4.2 are the most Drew has seen while in New Orleans and we started to see it leak into his play.
Not all of the offense’s problems fall directly on the shoulders of the big men. Still, the NFL is a game that is won in the trenches by very large men. High flying passing attacks and athletes might make the highlight reels, but only if there is a strong offensive line to allow those great plays to happen.
Starters:
Armstead had very high expectations coming into 2014, and while he didn’t necessarily play at the All-Pro level some levied on him prior to the season began, he was far and above the most consistent piece of an unsteady offensive line. The New Orleans Saints rushing attack benefited from Armstead more than anyone, as it posted a 6.3 YPC average when running to the left and outside on 64 attempts. Pass rush specialists were able to give Armstead some trouble,but he is only in his second year in the league and has started only 16 regular season games. Injuries towards the end of the year brought a little bit of worry, but hopes are that he will be fine when 2015 rolls around.. LT. New Orleans Saints. TERRON ARMSTEAD. B+
New Orleans Saints. BEN GRUBBS. D+. Ben Grubbs will be 31 when the 2015 season starts. After this past season’s performance there is no guarantee he will be playing for New Orleans. Like his fellow guard on the other side of the line, Grubbs struggled in almost every game this season. Grubbs’ worst woes came in the rushing attack where the Saints offense saw a dip down to 4.1 YPC running in Grubbs’ gap. Pass blocking was better for the aging guard, who performed better than Evans in that regard, but still had a poor season all around.. LG
F. I mentioned Grubbs’ age as a contributing factor to his down play this past season so it is only fair to do the same for Goodwin. He just turned 36. Nagging injuries throughout the season, combined with poor performances, force me to give Goodwin the worst grade for all of the offensive linemen. Tim Lelito performed at a higher level (though not considerably higher) when he came in for an injured Goodwin, and it was always curious to see Jonathan continually get the nod over the younger player. However, Goodwin’s time in the NFL simply seems to have runs it’s course. Even great players usually have bad endings if they stay in the league too long.. C. New Orleans Saints. JONATHAN GOODWIN
D-. Jahri Evans made the Pro-Bowl this season so it might be odd for many non-Saints fans to see this grade, but those who watched Evans play every Sunday saw him consistently get beat by younger, faster defensive linemen. Evans still performed fairly well in the run game, but New Orleans is a passing team. Because of this, Evans receives a lower grade than Grubbs on the other side. Evans’ agent recently reported that he played through injury all season and underwent a minor surgery to correct the issue after the season ended. Next season Evans will be 32, and I’m not sure how much more the arguably best G in Saints history has left in the tank.. RG. New Orleans Saints. JAHRI EVANS
C+. Strief was the only above 30 player the offense had who still managed to consistently perform well. Coming off of a season where Pro Football Focus rated him as one of the best RTs in the NFL, he followed it up by having another solid season. As always, the large Strief struggled with smaller and faster pass rushers, but the RT position is typically always more of a run first player anyway. In that regard, Strief powered forward allowing a 4.8 YPC for the running backs going to his outside shoulder. While not as impressive as Armstead’s numbers it certainly is nothing to shake a stick at.. RT. New Orleans Saints. ZACH STRIEF
Reserves: (Players who saw limited snaps/playing time)
C+. It is difficult to grade Lelito’s performance. Offensive linemen see a lot of snaps in a full season, and Lelito simply doesn’t have that many compared to guys like Evans and Strief. In the couple of games we did get to see Lelito play and fill in for Goodwin he seemed to perform admirably. With New Orleans potentially going through an overhaul along their offensive line it is likely we will see more of Lelito, but the same expectations that were placed on Armstead shouldn’t be given to Tim.. C. New Orleans Saints. TIM LELITO
New Orleans Saints. BRYCE HARRIS. C-. With Armstead having injury problems at the end of the season (and Strief earlier on) Harris saw the field just enough to deserve a grading. Another young linemen the Saints have had sitting in waiting, he filled in both tackle positions at various times during the season. He filled in well at times, but at others he was completely lost and a liability.. OT
Next: Wide Receivers: Old Cadillac and New Lambos