WhoDat!656

Rewind: Power Rankings, the New Orleans Saints nickname, MVP odds, more

Seer1

Huh?

dizzle88

Think you've posted the wrong article buddy

WhoDat!656

IDK why the link isn't posting.


The final offensive position of note on my positional breakdown of the Saints roster is the offensive line.

Currently rostered offensive tackles: Terron Armstead, Zach Strief, Bryce Harris, Tavon Rooks, Marcel Jones, Thomas Welch, Jason Weaver, Manase Foketi and Ty Nsekhe.

Currently rostered interior offensive linemen: Jahri Evans, Ben Grubbs, Tim Lelito, Jonathan Goodwin, Matt Armstrong and Senio Kelemete.

Roster Changes

Four out of the five starting linemen from the playoff loss to Seattle return, with the notable exception being center Brian De La Puente (who was signed by the Bears in free agency). Tackle Charles Brown, who started the season protecting Drew Brees’ blindside left in free agency too (now a New York Giant). The Saints signed center Jonathan Goodwin in free agency and picked up tackle Tavon Rooks in the sixth round of this year’s NFL Draft. Undrafted free agency saw the Saints sign center Matt Armstong, and the rest of the field consists of practice squad guys and backups.

Position Outline

Run Blocking

The Saints are universally known as a pass-first offence. Despite head coach Sean Payton’s frequent promises to incorporate more of the running game into his play-calling, it has failed to materialize. Unsurprisingly, that has been due to a lack of faith in the run game – they ranked 26th in the NFL in yards-per-rushing-attempt, with 3.8.

However, the running game experienced a resurgence towards the end of the season, with Payton calling on average 30.5 runs a game through the last 4 games (@ Panthers, vs. Buccaneers, @ Eagles and @ Seahawks). It coincided with the emergence of Terron Armstead at left tackle (John Sigler breaks it down here and here).

So let’s have a look at how the Saints performed when rushing the ball in certain directions last year (statistics compiled by Pro Football Focus):


Statistic

Rushing Direction


DL

CL

BL

AL

AR

BR

CR

DR


Rushing attempts

42

25

47

61

71

36

43

79


Rushing yards

176

80

218

249

387

131

101

335


Yards per carry

4.2

3.2

4.6

4.1

5.5

3.6

2.3

4.2


YPC before contact

2.4

1.6

2.4

1.7

2.7

1.3

0.8

1.7


Here, the rushing directions are shortened to two letters – the first is the gap the running back attacks, and the second is the side of the offensive line (L = left, R = right). For example, BL is the left-hand side B-gap.

What is most interesting to see here is that, apart from the runs to the A-gap on the right, most rushing attempts to the right of the offensive line weren’t particularly well-blocked. right tackle Zach Strief’s Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade was marginally negative, which indicates mostly average run blocking prowess for a tackle. However, as right tackles are predominantly road-pavers, they often face the defensive ends/outside linebackers that are stouter against the run. Did he deserve his new contract?

The right A-gap is interesting to compare with the left A-gap – the running plays went down those gaps more than any other, and yet there’s a whole extra yard being blocked for running backs per attempt down the right A-gap. However, both players who manned the right guard position this past season (Jahri Evans and Tim Lelito) graded negatively in run-blocking, according to Pro Football Focus. So we’ll chalk that one down to coincidence.

Blocking on the left-hand side of the line was better than the right, and this was largely down to the strengths of the two players who manned the left tackle position through the season – Charles Brown and Terron Armstead. Both LTs were graded negatively by PFF in pass-protection and positively in run-blocking. Again, this is an example of the Saints bucking the trend – most NFL teams have a pass-protecting left tackle and a road-paving right tackle.

Football Guys use a statistic called Adjusted Line Yards, which adjusts a team’s yards-per-carry for down-and-distance, situation, opponents, etc. According to them, the Saints had the 7th-best run-blocking unit in the NFL – a far cry from the 26th-overall yards-per-carry.

According to Football Guys, the Saints ran a smaller-than-average proportion of running plays over the guards/center (45% of rushing attempts compared to the NFL-average 54%) and also ran a smaller proportion over the left tackle (11% compared to the NFL-average 13%). However, they often ran outside the left end and right end (14% and 11% respectively, compared to the NFL-averages 11% and 9 % respectively).While this is evidence of the Saints play-calling for the speed/shiftiness of Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas, it also speaks volumes for the ability of the offensive linemen to pull and block on-the-move. In fact, blocking on-the-move is close to being a pre-requisite for Saints offensive linemen because of how often they use perimeter runs and screens.

Pass Protection

More important to the Saints than to most other NFL teams is an offensive lineman’s ability to pass-protect. The best player on the team is undoubtedly Drew Brees, and maximising his production is paramount to the team’s success. It’s why the narrative of building the Saints’ protection from the inside out to give him a clean pocket rings so true (the Saints have 2 of the top 5 most expensive guards – according to Over The Cap – emphasising the importance they place on the position).

Right guard Jahri Evans gave up only 18 pressures (2 sacks, 4 hits, 12 hurries) on 607 pass-protection snaps, yielding a Pass-Blocking Efficiency (a statistic created by Pro Football Focus) of 97.7 – only 3 guards had a better PBE. Left guard Ben Grubbs wasn’t far behind though: he ranked 14th of 59 qualifying guards with a PBE of 96.9. He allowed 28 pressures (3 sacks, 5 hits, 20 hurries) on 699 pass-protection snaps. Only Cincinnati and Green Bay have both starting guards with top-15 PBEs.

I’ve mentioned earlier that they seem to like left tackles that are dominant run blockers (but pass-protection at the position is nonetheless extremely important). At right tackle, Zach Strief had a career year in pass-protection. He gave up 33 pressures (3 sacks, 4 hits, 26 hurries) on 647 pass-protection snaps; good for the best PBE (96.1) of all right tackles in the NFL. In fact, Strief’s pass-blocking grade was bettered only by Joe Thomas (Browns left tackle) and Trent Williams (Redskins left tackle) of all offensive tackles in the league. Did he deserve his new contract? Yes, and there’s no doubt about it. While we saw that his run-blocking wasn’t up to scratch, it goes to show just how much Sean Payton values pass-protection.

Lastly, ranking by PBE, Jonathan Goodwin was 22nd of the 30 qualifying centers whereas Brian De La Puente was 6th. That strikes me as odd, considering that they let De La Puente walk without offering him a contract. Tim Lelito, albeit playing at right guard, was awful in pass-protection, giving up 9 pressures (including 4 sacks) in only 96 attempts – a PBE of only 91.9. So it seems like the Saints are looking to focus on run-blocking at the center position. Will Osgood describes center Jonathan Goodwin in more detail here.

2014 Outlook

Last year, the offensive line was largely stable, with only two real issues affecting the starting line-up: Tim Lelito stepping in at right guard when injuries sidelined Jahri Evans occasionally, and Terron Armstead eventually succeeding Charles Brown at left tackle after he proved to be a glorified turnstile against Robert Quinn (Rams).

This year, 4 of the 5 positions have players pencilled in already: left tackle Terron Armstead, left guard Ben Grubbs, right guard Jahri Evans and right tackle Zach Strief. At the center position, the battle between Tim Lelito and Jonathan Goodwin will go on into the preseason.

The Saints kept 8 offensive linemen on their 53-man roster last year, and 9 in 2012. In 2013, it included the 5 starters, 2 extra offensive tackles and a backup interior lineman. In 2012, they kept 3 offensive tackles for depth. This year, I expect them to stick with 8 guys on the roster.

Since the Saints never keep more than two interior offensive linemen rostered for depth, it’s safe to say that Senio Kelemete has a huge uphill struggle to make the 53. As for Matt Armstrong, his tenure with the Saints likely depends on the battle at center between Lelito and Goodwin; If Lelito wins, Amstrong has a better shot of making the roster because I find it unlikely that they’d roster Goodwin as a backup.

At tackle, the Saints have 9 guys fighting for 4 spots on the roster. With Armstead and Strief locks, that leaves 7 tackles fighting for 2 positions. While not exactly a lock, rookie tackle Tavon Rooks certainly has an inside lane for one of those 2 backup positions.

Of the rest, Jason Weaver, Ty Nsekhe, Manase Foketi and Thomas Welch face overwhelming odds to make the final roster. The last tackle spot, in my opinion, with come down to sophomore Marcel Jones or 3rd year man Bryce Harris.

Final Verdict

Joining left tackle Armstead, left guard Grubbs, right guard Evans and right tackle Strief in the starting line-up will be center Jonathan Goodwin. Tim Lelito will back-up the interior O-line, with Matt Armstrong and Senio Kelemete both being cut (Armstong may stick around until the last cuts). Tavon Rooks will snag one of the 2 backup tackle spots, with the other going to Bryce Harris. Marcel Jones will be re-signed to the practice squad, with the other 4 (Nsekhe, Weaver, Welch and Foketi) being outright cuts. I can see Foketi making the practice squad too, though.

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

Seer1

A subsidy of espn?

Danno

I don't think marcel jones is eligible for the practice squad anymore

hagan714

the OL has it's starters in place with only center still up in the air for now.

the rest is the same ol same ol. the old what cheap player will emerge?

were polishing right now not build a structure. If the center position holds Drew should be half the battered man he was last year by season ends.

Rugby Saint II

Just imagine if we could get this line to play like they did in '06.................