New Orleans Saints 2014 Defensive Grades
Oct 5, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Louis Murphy (18) is tackled by New Orleans Saints cornerbacks Keenan Lewis (28) and Patrick Robinson (21) in the second half of their game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Many of our readers here at the Believer also tune into our online radio show entitled Who Dat Confessional. Airing on Tuesday nights, the topic of the cornerback situation has been discussed at length and in detail. Simply put the Saints have a “lonely island” opposite Keenan Lewis. There just no one on it.
Several players tried to step in an fill the hole left after the departure of Jabari Greer. It might be hard to imagine losing a single player could lead to such a collapse, but the evidence to support the case is out there. No matter where you place the blame the Saints cornerbacks were unable to effectively guard opposing wide receiving groups.
Starters:
New Orleans Saints. KEENAN LEWIS. B+. Lewis played 900 snaps this season and was the only corner the Saints could consistently rely on. I gave him just a hair under an A grade for a couple of reasons. For one, he struggled with durability this season. Secondly, he gave up some touchdowns this season we didn’t see last year. Lewis finished with less interceptions, less tackles in more snaps and had some struggles in the red zone. It might seem silly to nitpick the best player in the back-end, but it is only fair that we hold everyone to the same standard. Keenan Lewis was “slightly” better last season for various reasons, by our opinion.. CB
CB. New Orleans Saints. COREY WHITE. D+. Another Saints player posts career high in snaps(758). Back when I was with Canal Street Chronicles I broke down White’s 2013 game film and outlined why I thought White was our best option as a nickel corner. This season, due to the benching of Patrick Robinson, White was forced to start opposite Lewis. White did not step up to the challenge. His best games came against Carolina and Green Bay, but like Hawthorne he was never able to play at the same level on a consistent basis.
New Orleans Saints. PATRICK ROBINSON. C-. After getting benched following the first couple of games Robinson returned and spent most of his time as the nickel corner. In this role he performed admirably. Robinson still saw over 600 snaps this season even after being benched. The Saints might offer Robinson a contract to come back and take over the number 3 spot while they search for a solid starter on the lonely island.. CB
Reserves: (Players who saw limited snaps/playing time)
C-. No matter how much upside a player is thought to have, any UDFA who spends the amount of time on the field that Dixon did usually spells trouble for any team. Dixon showed flashes of some nice play, and his special teams play was exception. Still, even if he is a rookie he must be graded purely on his performance. As expected, he struggled against most receivers he faced. He might have the potential to correct this.. CB. New Orleans Saints. BRIAN DIXON
D+. Frederick has been in the NFL for 2 years and is already on his 2nd team with New Orleans. He was simply a name on a very bad secondary.. CB. New Orleans Saints. TERRENCE FREDERICK
Null. The 2nd round pick of the 2014 draft has come under heavy criticism from everyone around the Saints fanbase. Personally, I don’t mind draft picks, even as high as 2nd rounders, being used to draft developmental players. The problem the team has run into, and why they are under criticism, is they drafted so many developmental players when they only had 6 draft picks. SJB saw only 38 snaps and it won’t be until next year for us to see if he develops into a starting corner.. CB. New Orleans Saints. STANLEY JEAN-BAPTISTE
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