Saints Special Teams in Review

            The New Orleans Saints special teams have had some spectacular disasters this year. They have had three kicks blocked that have resulted in points for opposing teams. These have included a field goal returned for a touchdown against the New York Giants, a blocked extra point that the Denver Broncos returned for 2 points, and another field goal that resulted in a touchdown by the Carolina Panthers. And in last Thursday’s game against the Panthers, the Saints fumbled a kickoff return out of bounds at their own 1 yard line. In light of these noteworthy failures, we decided to take a look at the history of the Saints special teams in the Sean Payton era. The results are not pretty. 

            Below is a chart detailing the Saints special teams since 2006 by Football Outsiders DVOA (defense adjusted value over average), a metric that compares the result of every single play to the league average result of that play. Special teams DVOA is then broken down into five different components representing the five different areas of special teams play. Those values are expressed based on an expected points model (based on field position and game situation).    

Year	DVOA (Rank)	FG/XP	Kick	Kick Return	Punt	Punt Return
2006	0.6% (14)	2.7	-1.0	-2.9	6.3	-1.9
2007	-4.3% (25)	-5.3	-0.7	-8.9	-2.3	-4.3
2008	-0.9% (22)	-5.3	-7.5	1.3	-4.8	11.7
2009	-3.4% (28)	-9.2	1.2	7.3	-8.4	-7.8
2010	-1.5% (21)	-5.8	1.5	-3.3	4.0	-3.9
2011	1.0% (12)	-4.1	-6.2	-1.9	10.2	3.0
2012	-2.3% (24)	-4.1	-7.3	-6.2	8.6	-2.5
2013	-2.5% (24)	-13.8	-2.1	-0.5	11.1	-7.3
2014	1.6% (11)	-4.1	-2.5	4.0	13.4	-2.6
2015	-3.2% (26)	-15.4	-2.4	-2.1	3.8	0.2
2016	-3.3% (24)	-1.5	-4.8	-4.8	3.4	-1.5

            A few things immediately stand out.  First, the Saints have never finished in the top 10 in special teams DVOA since 2006.  Their average finish is 21^st. In only three seasons, New Orleans has finished with a positive special teams DVOA: 2006, 2011, and 2014, but those positive years were just barely above league average at 0.6%, 1.0% and 1.6%. The one area of special teams where the Saints seem to consistently excel is punting. Since 2010, the Saints have added between a field goal and two touchdowns worth of value based on their punting alone. That success is attributable to punter Thomas Morstead,, who apart from a difficult rookie season, has been the Saints standout special teams player. Morstead also handles the team’s kickoffs and while the kickoff ratings have not been as good as the punting ones, some of that is attributable to the play of the Saints coverage team. The other thing that stands out is the woeful performance by the Saints kickers. Since 2006, the Saints have had 10 different kickers. Their performances are listed below.

  

Saints Kickers Since 2006
Name	Seasons	FGM/FGA*	%	XPM/XPA^	%
John Carney	2006, 2009-2010	41/48	85.4 %	99/102	97.1%
Olindo Mare	2007-2007	10/17	58.5%	34/34	100%
Martin Gramatica	2007-2008	5/5	100%	8/8	100%
Taylor Hehlaff	2008	3/4	75%	9/10	90%
Garrett Hartley	2008-2013	82/101	81.2%	176/177	99.4%
John Kasay	2011-2011	28/34	82.4%	63/63	100%
Shayne Graham	2013-2014	21/24	87.5%	53/54	98.1%
Zach Hocker	2015-2015	9/13	69.2 %	11/12	91.7%
Kai Forbath	2015-2015	9/13	69.2%	33/34	97.1%
Wil Lutz	2016	16/22	72.7%	31/32	96.9%

*FGM=Field Goals Made. FGA=Field Goals Attempted

^XPM=Extra Points Made. XPA=Extra Points Attempted

            The Saints have alternated between average and horrendous play by their kickers.  After allowing John Carney to leave after the 2006 season, New Orleans shuffled through a serious of terrible kickers until they settled on Garrett Hartley in 2008.  Hartley made some decisive kicks in the Saints Superbowl run in 2009, but also dealt with injuries, suspensions, and bouts of inconsistency. The Saints finally replaced him in 2013 with veteran Shane Graham, a competent but unspectacular place kicker.  New Orleans let Graham leave as a free agent, hoping to get younger at the position, signing kicker Zach Hocker.  The Saints released Hocker mid-way through 2015 and signed Kai Forbath who did no better.  Wil Lutz, Forbath’s replacement in 2016, has similarly struggled.

            In contrast to the constant turnover at the defensive coordinator position—5 coordinators in 11 seasons—the Saints have only had two special teams coordinators since 2006.  John Bonamego coordinated the special teams from 2006-2007 and his former assistant Greg McMahon has been the coordinator since 2008.  Although McMahon’s history suggests he’s worthy of scrutiny, head coach Sean Payton has refused to blame him for this season’s struggles. These special teams failures cannot be laid solely at the feet of the players.  After so many seasons of mediocrity, it’s time to shift the focus to those evaluating and coaching those players. And maybe that means replacing the people making the decisions in the first place.