The Saints are rolling, but who impressed the PFF graders?
The Saints just keep winning down the stretch. The culture is building, the wins are stacking, and just as important, New Orleans is having a great time. The season has completely flipped, and Tyler Shough is the lightning rod for it all. His teammates are campaigning for him, but after another big performance on Sunday, Shough has shot up the board as a favorite for OROTY.
Let's take a look at the highest and lowest graded players from Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus:
Offense: TE Juwan Johnson (90.1) & TE Moliki Matavao (37.1)
A pair of tight ends made the highest and lowest graded players from Sunday. Johnson has been excellent down the stretch and caught all four of his targets for 95 yards. His 23.8 yards per reception was remarkable, and PFF rewarded him with the highest offensive grade and receiving grade (90.2). That's back-to-back games with over 85 receiving yards. Sunday's performance was much more efficient than his 89-yard output on eight catches against the Jets.
Other top performers include Chris Olave (87.5), Audric Estime (82.9), Shough (76.6), and rookie left tackle Kelvin Banks, Jr (76.2). Banks has shown growth as the season concludes - another great development.
Matavao caught two passes for ten yards, but PFF hit him with a 37.1 offensive grade. I suppose the graders weren't impressed by his five-yard-per-catch output? Right guard Will Sherman finished with a 41.7 grade, but a brutal 19.4 pass blocking grade. Center Luke Fortner (43.9) and left guard Dillon Radunz (48.8) weren't spared either.
Defense: LB Danny Stutsman (82.1) & DT John Ridgeway (34.2)
PFF rewarded Stutsman's sure tackling on Sunday with the highest defensive grade, the second-highest tackling grade (81.2), and the highest coverage grade (82.9). The linebacker finished with the second most tackles with six, but added four defensive stops, and allowed two catches on three targets for 16 yards. For good measure, Stutsman threw in a pressure and hurry. Truly stuffed the stat sheet.
Other top performers were Chase Young (78.8, eight pressures, six hurries, two sacks, 83.5 pass rushing grade), Cameron Jordan (77.8, six pressures, four hurries, a QB hit and a sack, 74.5 pass rushing grade, and Alontae Taylor (75.5, 86.1 tackling grade).
Even with only 22 snaps, Ridgeway was dinged with the lowest grade. He did finish with three tackles, two pressures, a QB hit, and a hurry. Carl Granderson (36.8), Jonas Sanker (45.8), and Quincy Riley (46.3) all joined the defensive tackle at the bottom of the list from Sunday.