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Six members of the New Orleans Saints earned recognition on the 2019 PFF NFL All-Pro Team from Pro Football Focus, with five of them making the cut as first-team PFF All-Pro’s. The Associated Press All-Pro teams are built by ballots from journalists covering the NFL from around the country; PFF’s version is assembled by in-house metrics informed by countless hours of film study.
Wide receiver Michael Thomas, right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, linebacker Demario Davis, kick returner Deonte Harris, and special teams ace J.T. Gray were each first-team selections. Free safety Marcus Williams received a second-team nod as a flex defender, behind Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. Here’s some of what lead analyst Sam Monson wrote to justify Davis’s inclusion as a PFF first-team All-Pro:
There wasn’t a whole lot pointing to an All-Pro caliber season coming from Demario Davis heading into this season. His previous two seasons were the best of his career, but neither had even topped 76.0 overall. This year, he has broken the 90.0 mark in overall grade and has grades of at least 80.0 in every facet of play PFF measures. Davis set or matched career-best marks for total pressures (28), pass breakups (8), passer rating allowed (87.9) and yards per reception allowed (6.2) and made significant impact plays for the Saints in some of their biggest games this season.
It’s great to see Davis get this kind of praise, especially after he was overlooked for the Pro Bowl. Hopefully the Associated Press voters will also recognize his sky-high level of play this year, because he performed as well as any other linebacker in the league. It’s been a while since we could say that about a Saints linebacker.
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