Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Lofton is playing at a Vilma-in-his-prime level. Controlling the middle of the field. He deserves a ton of credit for his play. Might very well be the most important player on the defense right now.

Anyone disagree?

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I don't. He is pretty much in on every play, he tackles anything and everything he sees, and I don't think he's as bad in coverage as some people around here say he is.

One common thing you will see with great defenses is that all 11 players run towards the ball, no matter what. If we had 11 players that give the same effort as Lofton does on every play, our defense would be sooo much better.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Better than average player, but limited in coverage and can get caught in traffic.

B-player, very good against the run, below average against the pass.

BTW: PFF has him rated our 2nd worst defender so far this season.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I can appreciate Lofton, but I'm sure he would give his due credit to Cam Jordan (who has been double & triple teamed at times) and those guys in the middle of the D-Line like Hicks.

Just wish he was a step faster, but he is who he is. You have to credit him with helping us be the 10th best rush defense in the NFL.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Just out of curiosity, who does PFF have rated as our best defender?

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I have seen flashes of beast mode this season. Only wish he was faster.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

The last report I saw was a few games ago, but it had Parys Haralson 1st, Cam Jordan 2nd and Galette 3rd. Vaccaro was the worst, in fact he was the worst safety in the NFL.

Haralson had a ouple of sub-par games since so he may have slipped. Vaccaro's had a couple of OK games so he may have risen from last.

I'd like to see rankings now after 8 games.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Couldn't care less about PFF. After posting some of their stuff I realized that it's not that simple to evaluate a player based only on PFF stats.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

How could our best tackler be our worst defender?

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Most tackles does not mean best tackler

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

THIS^^^ Its simply another tool to evaluate performance, definitely not the final say.

A weak D-line can make a secondary look awful stat wise.

Conversely a great D-line can make a mediocre secondary look top notch.

For years people blamed our safeties much more than they should because our pass rush was woefully pathetic (the Will Smith years) and our CB's weren't all that great either. But they needed a scapegoat and Jenkins / Harper satisfied their anger.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Lofton has been on the field for more defensive snaps than any player we have over the past 3 seasons...by a wide margin.
He has led in tackles all 3 years, and this year it isn't even close (R.Bush is 2nd BTW)
He's slow, can't cover, blah, blah, blah.
Good thread- I wish everyone would get off this guy's back

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

If this is true,which I believe it is, then at least 50% of our cap money spent on defense should be invested in D linemen.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Agreed 100%. DC scheme can also make a secondary, LBer's, and D-Line look truly pathetic. The Spags 2012 year is a perfect example.

With safeties & linebackers, you can't just use stats to truly sum up their performance. Especially so with safeties...how long did the QB have to scan the entire field? Which linebacker or corner blew a coverage? Which or how many D-linemen or LBers lost gap discipline or lost contain creating bad tackling angles for safeties already pre-positioned? Did the offense exploit mismatches created against a stoopid scheme (see Spags 2012)?

"Safety" is the most perfectly named position on the field...just in case a D-lineman, a linebacker, or a corner craps themselves on a play, a safety is there to clean it up. Sometimes, you just can't continually clean up all the crap that is being dumped on them by the Front 7 and the corners. Or a DC that has them mismatched in coverage or out of position constantly (see Spags 2012).

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I liked Harper but Jenkins was just plain bad at FS. I agree with the D-line being bad.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Lofton tackles great plays hard but lacks cover skills, what would help Lofton is a cover ILB to compliment him on the inside.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Spot-on & awesome.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

When Lofton was in Atlanta, he was not good in coverage. He is much better now, and nowhere near the liability everyone claims he is.

We play a ton of nickel and dime, and he out there in both sets.
Teams throw against us 60% of the time or more, and Lofton is out there for 98.3% of the snaps. What do they 'experts' know that Ryan doesn't?

Logic question: if Lofton is bad in coverage, but is used in every passing situation, does that mean Ryan is an idiot, or that every LB we have sucks in coverage also?

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Vilma was a THREAT in coverage...Lofton is better at stopping the run. Both are very good backers but I'd still say advantage Vilma

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

There is way to much truth in that first sentence to handle. It makes a case for the entire defense

I can point out player after player that is over used due to the lack of depth on defense. there are only a hand full of backups that deserve a roster spot IMO. If that

the saints have done a terrible job when it comes to team depth especially on defense.

throw the stats out the widow in my book.

the saints can not field situational defensive package to save their lives. even when 100% healthy

even with keeping 6 safeties the saints have a below average rotation back there. i will not get started on the rest. this is personnel decisions that frankly have stunk over the past few years. i cringe ever time someone comes off the bench.

I came away from the panthers game thanking god cam was off all night.

i was not that impressed with the defense to be honest. but a win is a win and i will take it. I will accept any little baby step the defense makes to looking better. Even against a bunch of back up offensive lineman, boy if they are that good, all i can say is this: It makes a case for how bad our depth is on the other side of the ball also

Rob has a long way to go still. NFL had his number in Dallas and they have his number again in New Orleans. Blaming the players does not work year in and year out. All the players he has added has done little to improve this team. one or two players can not cover up this fact.

In Rob's case, if the issue is intelligence, he might want to coach in the Ivy league. Because as we all know most NFL players have been nursed all the way to the pros and very few could feed themselves if the had to do it on there own. Turning down health coverage for life for cash now says it all. Then cry for rule changes? Take pacifier out their mouths ditch all the rule changes and stick the pacifier back in a different orifice. boy i could go way off topic with this one .....

Front office need help also. throwing around way to much to a few players does not help. to continue backing yourself up against the cap year in and year out is not what i call a great job overall. but they have 2 years of grace period left in my book before i go off on that topic.

But a win is a win and I will take it.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I like Lofton. He's no Luke Kuechly but he's solid. Not to mention he's got a great motor and is a leader. He's a good tackler and is a run stuffing machine. I think he gets too much criticism and not enough props.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I see Lofton in on more plays then anybody on that defense. No, he's not fast. And I know he can't cover, but most linebackers can't cover. Maybe if the front 4 applied consistent pressure he'd look a little better in coverage. I like Lofton. He's always giving his best.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Lofton is a very good LB and one of the best at adjusting the D pre-snap. Very Vilma like in that regard. JV was outstanding in pass defense and below average when he was run at. Lofton is just the opposite. Both are good at their job. PFF might evaluate every player on every play but they're not as good at their job as Lofton is his.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I haven't analyzed Lofton, the way some here have, who pay more attention to the linebacker corps than I do. But, I will say this: More often than not I see Loften's name on the back of the jersey of the tackle that needed to be made. To me, he is all over the field. And, he recovered the ball on the sack/fumble of Scam Bag, so......he was a hero last game. I love me some Lofton.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I like Lofton & what he's doing, but I'd be hard pressed to say anyone was playing any better than Keenan "West Bank" Lewis right now.

-On defensive side of the ball that is...

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I like Lofton, but we need some seriously fast fresh legs in the LB core...

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Besides, Lofton and Lewis ( who totally RULED against Scam Bag ), I like Rafael Bush. He has been around the ball alot and has been come up big when big plays were about to go down. I've seen him come across the field and save touchdowns. Nobody talks about him much though.