saintsfan1976

Yep. We don't have a #2 corner. White, Bush, Robinson, Dixon, et al.... Second-tier players for the remainder of the season. This will truly be a roller coaster.

New Orleans Saints position spotlight: Secondary - ESPN

My take: It’s a neck-and-neck battle between the secondary and the defensive line for the Saints’ most disappointing position group so far this season. But the secondary has clearly undergone the most turmoil -- capped by Byrd’s season-ending knee injury in practice two weeks ago.

Byrd, who was expected to come in and take this rising secondary to another level, was struggling even before the injury. But he was hardly the only one as the Saints suffered through assignment breakdowns and missed tackles across the board. The Saints’ original No. 2 cornerback Robinson was benched during Week 2 (before returning as the nickel back after Byrd’s injury). His replacement, White, has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs since then. And fellow safety Vaccaro has been equally inconsistent, either because he was still dealing with soreness from last year’s broken ankle or because he was trying to do too much -- or both.

ESPN scouting Insider Matt Williamson’s take: “It’s been a nightmare. I think Lewis is turning into a great corner, on the positive side. But I never saw from Byrd what I saw in Buffalo, where he was a great ball hawk deep safety, played the ball in the air extremely well, baited quarterbacks, very few wasted steps. He didn’t show up at all. And maybe even more concerning, I thought Kenny Vaccaro was on the cusp of making the Pro Bowl. I don’t know if it’s injury-related, if he’s not all the way back, or he just doesn’t move as well as he used to, but he’s not doing anything well right now. Maybe the week off goes a long way [with Vaccaro]. And obviously the second corner’s a nightmare. They don’t have a second corner.”

Danno

Inconsistent? No, he's the worst starting safety in the entire NFL according to ProFootballFocus grades.

nola_swammi

I wonder how Malcolm Jenkins & Roman Harper are grading now?

aldocella1

It's hard to imagine that our Rookie corners are worse than Corey White.

Utah_Saint

Out of 142 safeties graded, Vaccaro is 142nd, Jenkins is 7th and Harper is 25th.

dizzle88

Wow.....

How did Malcolm miss so many tackles here and go to philly and be all pro?

Collectively he and harper have 6 times as many interceptions as our entire defense does

jeanpierre

Dennis Allen is available...

Mardigras9

I just can't hang a ton of blame on the DB's. With almost no pressure from the front, they are just getting abused by every QB we face.

They do share in the overall bad-D, don't get me wrong, but they will continue to get picked apart by ANY NFL QB who has an established runner and no pressure.

Cruize

The defense as a whole, including the coaching, gets a F. The Saints have some talent. It's not showing up on Sundays. I think they're thinking too much instead of keeping it simple and playing. The zone scheme isn't working. Players not fitting the scheme and certainly not executing it. Lewis is a solid #2 CB in the NFL. White is average at best. Dixon brings energy and effort. If the game ever slows down for him, he has the potential to be a solid #2. I loved Baptiste and wanted the Saints to draft him. For whatever reason, the staff does not think he's ready. Vaccaro is a playmaker. The staff allowed him and put him in position to make plays last year. This year they're asking him to play zone. Simply not his strength. Bush is a high effort over-acheiver. Nothing special. The only guy to make plays in the preseason, and one of the smartest guys on the team, Sunseri, is only seeing the field on special teams. I don't get it. He needs to assume Vaccaro's role last year or be playing safety and letting Vaccaro resume his assignments from last year. He needs to be on the field.

saintsfan1976

I think it's safe to hang blame on all aspects of the defense - players, coaches, scheme, motivation (greenbriar).