Below are the Grade Point Averages of each player that's played significant time in the New Orleans Saints' defense and special teams through the first eight games of the 2009 season, ordered from highest GPA to lowest:
DEFENSE:
Jabari Greer 3.46 (8 graded games)
Roman Harper 3.25 (8 graded games)
Tracy Porter 3.25 (8 graded games)
Darren Sharper 3.21 (8 graded games)
Malcolm Jenkins 3.11 (3 graded games)
Randall Gay 3.00 (6 graded games)
Jonathan Vilma 2.96 (8 graded games)
Pierson Prioleau 2.84 (2 graded games)
Will Smith 2.79 (8 graded games)
Scott Shanle 2.79 (8 graded games)
Sedrick Ellis 2.78 (6 graded games)
Jo-Lonn Dunbar 2.78 (3 grades games)
Scott Fujita 2.75 (4 grades games)
DeMario Pressley 2.67 (1 graded game)
Marvin Mitchell 2.34 (2 graded games)
Charles Grant 2.29 (8 graded games)
Kendrick Clancy 2.17 (2 graded games)
Remi Ayodele 2.10 (6 graded games)
Bobby McCray 1.86 (7 graded games)
Troy Evans 1.67 (2 graded games)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Thomas Morstead 3.08 (8 graded games)
Courtney Roby 2.71 (7 graded games)
John Carney 2.67 (8 graded games)
Below are the number of Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Game awards handed out in my Player Grades posts:
defense:
Darren Sharper 3
Will Smith 1
Roman Harper 1
Tracy Porter 1
Jonathan Vilma 1
Jabari Greer 1
special teams:
Thomas Morstead 2
Courtney Roby 2
Malcolm Jenkins 2
Robert Meachem 1
John Carney 1
Based on the numbers alone, I'm choosing Jabari Greer as the Mid-Season Defensive MVP. If Jahri Evans isn't a popular pick, then picking Greer over Darren Sharper should be even less of one. Keep in mind that while Sharper has had about 4 INCREDIBLE games and others that were pretty good, Greer has been steadily very good every single week. On special teams, I think Morstead getting the MVP is a no brainer. What do you think?