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Why did the Saints make a run to the playoffs for the first time in 4 years, while posting their first winning season since 2013? There were two stories that came out of New Orleans last year as reasons for the success of the 2017 Saints. The first was the run-game production (fueled by exciting rookie RB Alvin Kamara), and the second was the great performance of a young defense. Drew Brees and his tremendous season took a back seat.
That’s right, I said tremendous season.
Oh, you didn’t think he had a good year?
You must be a “cumulative” stats person.
Some 100% fantasy football people focus only on the scoreboard of their weekly leagues, and think that it defines the quality of a player.
Brees-the-Fantasy-QB: 2017 Season
If you’re one of these people, you probably are focused on things like Brees passing for only 4,334 yards, his lowest total since his last year in San Diego in 2005.
You also probably noticed his 386 completions, his lowest total since 2009.
And you really probably hated his 23 total TDs, his lowest total since 2003.
The reality is, if you’re a 100% fantasy football person, you probably didn’t like the way Brees’ season went down, because the team ran in so many TDs.
After expecting Brees to repeat his 2016 totals of 5,208 yards and 37 TDs, his 4,334 yards and 23 TDs were probably disappointing.
But we’re talking about Brees the NFL QB. Not Brees the fantasy QB.
Brees-the-NFL-QB: 2017 Season
The fact is, Brees had a tremendous 2017 season:
- His 8.1 yards per attempt was his highest since 2011.
- His 1.5% interception rate was a career best.
- His 72% completion rate was a career best and set the NFL record.
- His 3.6% sack percentage was his best since 2011.
- His 103.9 passer rating was his best since 2013.
Looking at more advanced stats, Brees’ 51% passing success rate was #1 in the league. His 56% success rate on early downs was likewise #1 in the league. He averaged 8.4 YPA on early down passes, which was #1 in the league (minimum 200 attempts).
The first argument against Brees will be the impact his dynamic RBs provided him in the passing game.
But guess what?
On non-RB passes, Brees still produced a 56% success rate, #1 in the NFL. His 8.8 YPA on non-RB passes was #2 in the NFL.
The second argument against Brees in 2017 will be the depth of target, as it wasn’t as deep as it had been in prior years (on account of all the RB-targets).
But guess what?
On deep passes (15+ yards downfield), Brees recorded an absolutely stunning 57% success rate. No other QB was even in that neighborhood. For comparison, Brady was 45%, Wilson was 40%, Rivers was 42%, Roethlisberger was 36%, Goff was 41%… I think you get the picture.
Brees posted 16.2 yards per attempt on deep passes, his highest since 2011. Brees posted a 101.9 passer rating on deep passes, his best since 2013.
Brees didn’t contribute pure volume to the Saints in 2017.
Instead he contributed pure, unabashed efficiency. And it was a sight to see.
While Brees was incredible in 2017, let’s dive deeper into the Saints offense as a whole to get a better understanding of the context surrounding his season and what we can expect in 2018.
The Saints Run Game
Let’s discuss that incredible run game. It ranked as the most efficient and fifth-most explosive rushing offense in the NFL. And the Saints achieved that ranking despite having their primary run blockers, offensive lineman and tight ends, as the ninth- and seventh-most injured units in the league, respectively.
But this run game was not as different as their 2016 run game as you may think, except for their explosiveness, which was phenomenal.
The 2016 Saints rushing attack produced a 53% success rate on runs, better than the team’s 49% success rate in 2017.
But thanks to increased explosiveness, the 2017 Saints gained 4.8 yards per carry instead of 2016’s 4.3.
From a volume perspective, the 2016 Saints had more red-zone rushes (88) than the 2017 Saints (73).
Even though the Saints were more run-heavy in 2017, that perhaps surprising volume decrease in the red zone when compared to 2016 was likely due to better third-down production back in 2016, which allowed for more red zone trips (64 in 2016 vs. 52 in 2017) as well as fewer breakaway rushing touchdowns.
The Saints Offensive Line
The Saints offensive line fell apart in 2017, ranking as the ninth-most injured unit in the NFL.
They were one of four teams along with the Giants, Bears, and Cardinals to start a unique offensive line in every single game but the only team of the four to post a winning record.
It started in the offseason, when starting LT Terron Armstead tore his labrum in June. The Saints avoided placing him on the PUP list before Week 1, which meant he didn’t automatically miss the first six games, but he would still end up missing the first four. They also lost starting RT Zach Strief in Week 1 and ended up playing most of Week 1 and all of Weeks 2-3 without two of their starting offensive linemen. Strief was lost for the season in Week 4, so the Saints made rookie Ryan Ramczyk the full-time starting right tackle. Every single starting offensive lineman missed at least two games except for C Max Unger, who played every snap. In total, Armstead missed six games, exited several others early, and played through injury in yet multiple others. LG Andrus Peat missed two games and spent time moving all around the line to fill in for other injured members. And RG Larry Warford missed two games as well.
Knowing they were in a bind with their offensive line in June with Armstead’s injury and seeing as how it only got worse right out of the gate in Week 1, it’s understandable that the Saints wouldn’t want to subject Brees to as many attempts as he had in prior years.
More Context
In one-score games, the Saints moved from 63% passes in 2016 (second-most in the NFL) to 59% in 2017 (11th-most), but they were still above the league average of 57%.
Context is king in the NFL. It’s imperative to know exactly what you’re looking at.
In 2017, the Saints led at halftime by double digits in six games. In 2016, they did so in just two games.
So, let’s look only at the first half when analyzing the biggest change in the Saints offense from 2016 to 2017.
The biggest change in their pass rate was on first down.
In the first half of games in 2016, the Saints passed on 56% of first downs (fourth-most), but in 2017 that number dropped to 46% (11th-most run heavy).
On second down, they actually passed more often in 2017 (63%) than in 2016 (61%).
On third down, they passed much more often in 2017 (84%) than in 2016 (74%).
Here’s a question:
Why would a more run-dominant 2017 Saints pass more often on second down than their 2016 counterpart, and exceptionally more on third down?
The answer is simple: Rushing gains fewer yards per play than passing.
In 2017, a more run-heavy Saints team faced an average of 7.6 yards to go on second down. That number was 7.4 yards to go in 2016.
And on third down, the 2017 Saints faced an average of 6.8 yards to go, a substantial increase from 6.2 in 2016.
Essentially, Drew Brees is so good and so accurate a quarterback that even with as brilliant of a run game as the Saints had in 2017, which gained 4.8 YPC, they were that much less efficient with their productivity than when Brees dropped back to pass.
While there are other benefits added for running the ball, the Saints offense gained fewer yards per play and thus had more yards to go after a first down run.
What were the ramifications of the Saints becoming so run-heavy on first down in 2017?
This great offense of 2017 ranked just No. 22 in third-down conversion rate (37%) as opposed to No. 1 in 2016 (49%) because they had more yards to go in 2017 (as well as having better receivers in 2016 than 2017, which I’ll cover now).
The Saints Wide Receivers
In addition to the reasons just described in detail as to why the Saints ran the ball more often last season, another equally key reason was their receiving talent.
The 2016 Saints featured a great threesome of wide receivers in Brandin Cooks, Michael Thomas, and Willie Snead. The team also had a healthy and moderately successful tight end in Coby Fleener.
In 2016, all four of these players played on at least 58% of the team’s offensive snaps, drew at least 80 targets, and caught at least 50 passes.
In 2016, the Saints used 11 personnel (three wide receivers, one running back, one tight end) 62% of the time, and even though the 2016 Saints had a great run game (third-best in the NFL), they saw the value in passing the ball often thanks to Brees and those receivers.
Last season, however, the Saints traded Cooks, and while they brought in WR Ted Ginn (who was incredible statistically), they didn’t get close to similar production from Snead and Fleener, who both missed time in camp with injuries.
On Sept. 1, Snead was hit with a three-game suspension for substance abuse, preceding missed games and practice limitations with a hamstring injury that lingered until Week 8, though he was barely even used in that game; instead, the Saints opted to use WR Brandon Coleman (48 snaps vs. four for Snead).
While this was ongoing, Fleener was used much less than in 2016 and then suffered a concussion in Week 12 and was lost for the remainder of the year. Snead’s usage increased when Fleener was out, but in terms of the big picture, Fleener and Snead were no-shows.
As such, instead of having four wide receivers and/or tight ends drawing 80+ targets and catching 50+ passes like they did in 2016, the 2017 Saints had just one draw 80 targets (Thomas, 149) and two catch 50+ passes (Thomas, 104; Ginn, 53).
2018 Outlook
The Saints offensive line is healthier now than at this point last season. The Saints will be without their more traditional grinding RB Mark Ingram the first four weeks of the season. The Saints run game is also projected to face a much stiffer slate of opposing run defenses in 2018 as compared to 2017. Meanwhile, the Saints receiving corps will be better, thanks to personnel additions.
This offseason, the Saints had the excellent fortune of acquiring WR Cameron Meredith, formerly of the Bears. Most casual observers don’t know about Meredith, as the Bears were bad and didn’t pass often in 2016 before Meredith tore his ACL in the 2017 preseason. Even though he played alongside WR Alshon Jeffrey in Chicago in 2016, Meredith was the Bears’ most successful wide receiver (56%) and delivered their highest yards per target (9.2).
New Orleans also added back Ben Watson at tight end, a player who caught 74 passes for them in 2015 before heading to Baltimore for two seasons.
I see the Saints returning to more 11 personnel in 2018.
In fact, I think there could be a substantial shift.
As such, I’m higher on Brees than most. If the team’s offensive line can stay healthier than 2017, the offense will be incredible.
But they will need to be.
I have the Saints facing a top-five schedule of defenses, including the largest shift in difficulty from 2016 of any team.
The hype isn’t around Drew Brees this offseason in the fantasy community like it has been in year’s past. The perception is, because of his lack of counting stats and his age, he’s in a state of decline.
Age is nothing we can change.
But the perception of his lack of counting stats is not an indication of Brees’ performance nor efficiency. It was a sign of his situation last season – his injured offensive line, the lack of talent at receiver and their injuries, and the sudden improvement from a young defense.
In 2018, Brees should have more production because:
- A healthier offensive line
- More talent at receiver
- Will likely use more 11 personnel
- Their rushing attack faces more difficult run defenses
- Mark Ingram’s suspension could mean less reliance on 1st & 10 rushing
- Less 1st & 10 rushing would likely mean a better 3rd down conversion rate than their #22 rank in 2017
- A better 3rd down conversion rate would mean a better chance of red zone trips
- More red zone trips means more touchdowns passes from Brees
- Their defense plays a more difficult schedule of opposing offenses
It’s more than possible that Brees’ arm is called upon more in 2018 than it was in 2017.
And then what of all of that efficiency that Brees put on display for the analytics geeks in the room but hid from the counting-stats cavemen?
With efficiency on repeat and volume turned up, the result will be more counting stats. And that will result in happier fantasy players.
