This is cool: two New Orleans Saints defenders were recognized on the midseason All-Pro Team from Pro Football Focus, with veteran linebacker Demario Davis continuing to play at a high level while cornerback Paulson Adebo emerged as one of the team’s breakout stars through the first half of the season.
Here’s what PFF analyst Gordon McGuinness had to say about Davis through nine games, slotting him ahead of New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams on the first team:
Davis continues to shine later in his career, ranking fifth at the position in PFF run-defense grade and 10th in PFF coverage grade. He has also missed just 3.3% of his tackle attempts this season.
And here’s the scoop on Adebo, who got the first team nod ahead of Jets superstar Sauce Gardner:
Adebo is quietly turning in an impressive season for the Saints, trailing only the Bears’ Jaylon Johnson in PFF grade at the position. He has yet to allow a touchdown in coverage and has four interceptions and five pass breakups to his name.
But there’s one questionable omission from PFF’s list: Rashid Shaheed. The Saints’ return specialist was snubbed in favor of Kavontae Turpin (Dallas Cowboys) and Charlie Jones (Cincinnati Bengals). Here’s how they compare to Shaheed in the return game:
- Turpin: 10 punt returns for 68 yards (6.8 yards per return), 6 kickoff returns for 190 yards (31.7)
- Jones: 8 punt returns for 150 yards (18.8) and a touchdown, no kickoff returns
- Shaheed: 15 punt returns for 231 yards (15.4) and a touchdown, 14 kickoff returns for 289 yards (20.6)
Turpin may be returning kickoffs at a better clip than Shaheed but his smaller sample size skews the numbers, and 63 of his 190 yards came on a single return. Jones has an edge in yards per punt return but again, he’s fielded half as many punts as Shaheed. PFF got this one wrong. Hopefully the Associated Press will get it right when they vote on All-Pro teams at the end of the season.
