By Jordan Long
The New Orleans Saints are preparing to take on the Green Bay Packers with kickoff at 2:25 Mountain Time on Sunday. The New Orleans Saints have added to their secondary. They made a trade with the Houston Texans for cornerback Bradley Roby. This is in hopes of improving the defense.
The Saints’ secondary was pretty good last year giving up 217 passing yards per game, the 5th least in the NFL. This helped them to a 12-4 record, winning the NFC South Division. Unfortunately, their season came to an end in the Divisional Round as they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by the score of 30-20. The Saints’ defense gave up 316 yards. They didn’t allow Brady to beat them with 189 passing yards, but they couldn’t come up with the big turnover which was the difference in the game. The Buccaneers forced 4 turnovers while the Saints didn’t record any.
The Saints knew going into this year, the secondary needed to be improved. They had to find a way to create more turnovers to help the offense out. Turnovers can put the offense in a short field to march down and score points. New Orleans felt they had to add another cornerback.
Roby has been in the NFL since the 2014 season. He has played for the Broncos and the Texans. Roby helped the Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50. Roby can knock passes away, tackle opponents in the open field, intercept the football, and come on cornerback blitzes to sack the quarterback. In his career he has 75 passes defended, 311 tackles, 10 interceptions, and 4 sacks.
Last year in Houston was statistically his worst year. He totaled a career low 37 tackles and 7 passes defended. Roby came away with just 1 interception.
The Texans are in a rebuilding mode. They may not be very good feeling it was best to deal Roby to the Saints to at least get something in return. The NFL has not announced the trade compensation, but that will be revealed soon.
Roby should help the Saints’ defense. Whichever side of the ball he is lined up on, quarterbacks are going to have a difficult time throwing his way. He plays tight man to man coverage and can be placed in zone. Roby should knock the ball away which won’t allow the receiver to make a play. Even when a receiver catches the football, Roby is right there to take them down so they won’t have many yards after the catch.
This move seems like it will add to the Saints’ defense. Unfortunately, Roby will not be in the lineup this weekend. He is suspended for violating the NFL performance-enhancing drug policy that dates back to last year. Roby will be ready to go for week 2. Hopefully, Roby can help the Saints’ defense cause more turnovers and win the NFC South Division again.
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