Saints 2018 Year in Review: Andrus Peat

Ask some New Orleans Saints fans what they think about Andrus Peat, and he’s a versatile, Pro Bowl caliber offensive lineman that represents an essential cog in the offensive machine that is the Sean Payton offense. Ask others and you’ll be told he’s a first round bust and the weak link in an otherwise strong offensive line unit.

Maybe they’re both right. Maybe they’re both wrong.

As you can see from the stats below, Pro Football Reference liked Peat’s 2018 performance. In thirteen games with the Saints in 2018, Pro Football Reference gives identical “approximate value” scores to both Andrus Peat and Max Unger, the latter of whom played in all sixteen games. On the flip side, you can see Pro Football Focus was not a fan of Peat’s performance (to say the least).

Ultimately, Peat was voted into the Pro Bowl for the first time of his career, and is set to enter the final year of his rookie contract in 2019.

nAAndrus Peat - At a Glance

• Approximate Value: 11 (career high)
• Offensive Grade: 39.2 (77th)
• Run Block Grade: 39.7 (66th)
• Pass Block Grade: 47.3 (77th)
• Snap Count: 740 (70.41%) on offense & 60 (14.02%) on special teams

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

In the 2018 postseason, Peat struggled mightily against the Philadelphia Eagles front seven. It’s thought by many that the reason for Peat’s struggles was a broken hand a subsequent surgery that occurred during the Saints’ first round bye in the playoffs.

When Peat was healthy, he was an effective blocker in both the passing and run game.

Still, with the Saints facing limited cap space in the 2019 offseason, it wouldn’t be a shock to see something done with Peat. Whether that ends up being a restructure, release, extension, or trade, Peat presents one of the few opportunities for the Saints to find additional cap space to make moves to improve the team as it prepares for another Super Bowl run.