We’ve named a new No. 1 in our New Orleans Saints player power rankings going into Week 6, and he pulled it off by scoring just one point more than his predecessor. Linebacker Pete Werner has risen to the top spot this week after a fiery start to his second pro season, bumping his All-Pro teammate Demario Davis out of No. 1 and down to No. 2; three different ballots had Davis-Werner at Nos. 1 and 2, but a fourth ballot gave Werner enough of an edge to take over. And, again, Davis isn’t falling far: he trails Werner by just a single point. Odds are he’ll take his seat at the head of the table back very soon.
The new entry to the list this week is tight end Adam Trautman, clocking in at No. 25 and replacing last week’s No. 25, safety J.T. Gray (who was pushed out of the top-25 altogether). Other rises include right guard Cesar Ruiz, who has risen into the top-15, as well as tight end/quarterback/touchdown machine Taysom Hill (moving up 8 spots), left guard Andrus Peat (who moved up 6 spots), as well as running back Alvin Kamara and defense end Cameron Jordan (both moving up 5 spots).
But all of that movement up the board meant some players had to slip down. Wide receiver Michael Thomas fell 11 places while missing another game to injury, as was the case for safety Marcus Maye (who fell 8 spots). Cornerback Paulson Adebo fell 10 spots after a really rough game. Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk is still inside the top-10, but he’s fallen 5 spots. There’s some internal deliberation about whether players missing games to injury should be considered at all, so that’s influencing things.
That’s all of the big movement this week. Let’s explore the top 25 Saints players going into Week 6:
25. TE Adam Trautman (Last week: N/A)
24. CB Paulson Adebo (Last week: 14)
23. QB Jameis Winston (Last week: 22)
22. LB Kaden Elliss (Last week: 24)
21. LT James Hurst (Last week: 21)
20. S Marcus Maye (Last week: 12)
19. WR Jarvis Landry (Last week: 18)
18. P Blake Gillikin (Last week: 20)
17. WR Michael Thomas (Last week: 6)
16. DT David Onyemata (Last week: 16)
15. K Wil Lutz (Last week: 13)
14. RG Cesar Ruiz (Last week: 23)
13. LG Andrus Peat (Last week: 19)
12. QB Andy Dalton (Last week: 15)
11. DE Marcus Davenport (Last week: 11)
10. S Tyrann Mathieu (Last week: 9)
9. TE Taysom Hill (Last week: 17)
8. CB Marshon Lattimore (Last week: 7)
7. RT Ryan Ramczyk (Last week: 2)
6. C Erik McCoy (Last week: 3)
5. RB Alvin Kamara (Last week: 10)
4. WR Chris Olave (Last week: 5)
3. DE Cameron Jordan (Last week: 8)
2. LB Demario Davis (Last week: 1)
1. LB Pete Werner (Last week: 2)
