Which Saints player would you steal for the Eagles?

Getting familiar with the Eagles’ Divisional Round opponent.

A common post the SB Nation NFL team sites have done throughout this years asks the question: “Which [opposing team’s] player would [your favorite team’s] fans take?” With the Philadelphia Eagles set to play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, it’s time to address the question and familiarize yourself with the opponent’s roster.

OFFENSE

Let’s start with quarterback. On one side, you have one of the best playoff quarterbacks of all time. On the other side, you have Drew Brees. Brees’ career playoff passer rating of 100.7 is pretty good. But it’s not as good as the guy who broke his passing records at Westlake High School: Nick Foles. The Eagles’ reigning Super Bowl MVP owns a 105.2 passer rating in five postseason games played. Would you rather have Brees or Foles? Vote here:

Either Alvin Kamara or Mark Ingram would be strong additions to the Eagles’ backfield. Kamara is the superior offensive option considering his ability to contribute as a pass catcher. The 23-year-old Kamara has been crazy productive through his first two seasons in the league. He has a whopping 3,146 yards from scrimmage to go with 31 touchdowns ... and only two fumbles. It’d be great if the Eagles didn’t have to worry about him on Sunday. Unfortunately for them, they will.

Michael Thomas is arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL. The Ohio State alumnus caught 125 of the 146 passes thrown his way (an INSANE 85.6% catch rate) for 1,405 yards and nine touchdowns. Brees has a 124.5 passer rating when targeting Thomas this season. The Eagles are probably going to have to pass the ball a lot to beat the Saints so it sure wouldn’t hurt to have an elite receiver like Thomas to work with instead of against. Philly’s secondary has played better lately but they’ll be put to the test against Thomas.

No one’s taking him over Thomas but it’s worth noting that rookie Tre’Quan Smith leads the Saints in yards per reception this season with 15.3. He went off for 157 yards and one touchdown against the Eagles in Week 11.

Is it crazy to say I wouldn’t take someone from the Saints’ starting offensive line over the Eagles’ blockers? Philly’s group is playing at such a high level right now. Plus all four non-center starters on the Saints’ offensive line are banged up to some extent. A healthy Terron Armstead is probably a better option than Jason Peters but how could I possibly take JP out of the lineup after he just won his first playoff game and he’s hungry for more?

Having a Taysom Hill on your team seems like it’d be fun. A guy who can play special teams, quarterback, running back, receiver, whatever. He’s obviously not the pick here and I think it’s possible to get too cute with his usage (do hope the Saints do this on Sunday). But what can I say, I’m a sucker for gadget players.

DEFENSE

Having Cameron Jordan would allow the Eagles’ defensive end rotation to be four players deep, which would be ideal. His 65 total pressures rank tied for ninth most in the league this season among edge players, per Pro Football Focus. Jordan almost exclusively lines up on the left side of the defense so Lane Johnson will have another tough challenge this week.

Sheldon Rankins and David Onyemata are both quality interior defenders. They rank 15th and 26th in total pressures out of 121 interior defenders. The Eagles’ interior offensive line will need to have a big game to prevent them from making Foles feel uncomfortable. Sure don’t love the idea of Foles constantly having to back pedal out of pressure.

Marshon Lattimore ranks tied for 36th out of 133 players when it comes to yards allowed per cover snap. Lattimore hasn’t been as dominant in 2018 (97.5 passer rating when targeted) as he was in his rookie year last season (51.2 passer rating when targeted). He’s still a bright, young talent.

Demario Davis is the Saints’ best linebacker. The Eagles would be fortunate to have him but he can’t be my pick when Jim Schwartz prefers having extra defensive backs on the field as opposed to extra linebackers, as we saw against the Bears.

Having Vonn Bell or Marcus Williams starting back at safety instead of Corey Graham would be ideal. The thing with Williams is that he can be vulnerable to giving up last second touchdowns that prevent your team to going to the NFC Championship Game. Seriously, though, they’re quality starting safeties.

MY PICK

Brees has been SO good at home this season (76.27 % completion for 21 TD, 1 INT, 133.3 passer rating) that it’s very difficult to not take him. The Saints would be so much more beatable with Teddy Bridgewater under center. But Brees also turns 40 in less than a week and didn’t play all that great in December (88.2 passer rating). And really, how could I bet against Nick Foles at this point?

The Saints have some nice defensive pieces but I don’t think taking a player on that side of the ball helps the Eagles a ton in this matchup. Philly is likely going to need to score a bunch of points to win. They need even more offensive firepower that can help them move the ball through the air. I’d love to have Kamara but I have to take Thomas here. He’s just so efficient and hard to stop.

YOU DECIDE

If you were deciding for the Eagles, who would you take?

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