This weekly piece will focus on individual Saints performances from the previous game. Rather than assigning grades, we will assess a player’s stock–that is, how he stacked up to expectations and the level of worth we then perceive that player to have as the gameplan is being developed for the following week. That being said, your Saints and Sinners for week 1. . .
Saints
Drew Brees: It is hard to think Brees’ stock could actually rise from its previous levels, but Brees’ performance in Green Bay was the brightest spot in a bright night for the offense. Brees spread the ball around while amassing 419 yards and 3 touchdowns, and most importantly, threw no interceptions. It looks like (knock on wood) Brees has overcome whatever discomfort he was feeling from his knee difficulties that so often were blamed for his high interception total in 2010.
Robert Meachem: Meachem kicked off the Saints 2011 scoring with a spectacular 31-yard TD reception behind his head. Meachem showed his potential, and he will be asked to continue to live up to those expectations now that Marques Colston will be sidelined for at least a month with a broken collarbone.
Darren Sproles: Sproles did exactly what the Saints hoped he would do by scoring on special teams and providing a spark on offense late in the game as the Saints were attempting to mount a comeback. Sproles showed he is the type of player who can keep a drive alive when all other options are taken away–a role that will be crucial for the Saints in future games against top defenses.
Sinners
Patrick Robinson: To put it lightly, Robinson didn’t look good on Thursday night. He was victimized by Greg Jennings all night long. As I’ve said previously, I’m not quite sure why Robinson was assigned to Jennings in the first place, but you play the cards you’re dealt, and Robinson was unable to hang. That said, I don’t think most of us expected Robinson to be able to shut down one of the best WRs in the NFL at this early point in his career, but after this game, it may be awhile before he gets another chance.
Shaun Rogers/Aubrayo Franklin: The least the Saints could have done while Aaron Rodgers was performing surgery on the Saints secondary would have been to stop the bleeding on the ground. Rogers and Franklin were brought in for this sole purpose–to make opposing offenses one dimensional and allow the Saints to survive with extra DBs on the field. The strategy didn’t work, and the Saints allowed almost as many yards as their 2010 average, which had them in the bottom half of the league in run defense. I am reserving judgment until I see the Saints in a game other than the opening-night-defending-superbowl-champs-emotional-frenzy game at Lambeau, but if this defense expects to improve, these two guys need to step up and lead the way.
Interior O-line: Some mention has to be made of the short-yardage disaster from Thursday night, and I’m choosing to do it via the veterans involved rather than the rookie. Mark Ingram is a guy who can take the smallest hole and turn it into a yard. While some of this falls on Ingram, the fact that he went 0-3 tells me that he really had no room to run. It was easy to see Ryan Pickett and B.J. Raji undercut the Saints interior linemen en route to stuffing Ingram, and Jahri Evans, Olin Kreutz, and Carl Nicks have to be able to hold their ground in the trenches if they expect to see the Saints dismal short-yardage game improve.
