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Saints 2019 Year in Review: Marshon Lattimore
From day one, Marshon Lattimore earned the respect of his teammates and opponents in the NFL and quickly became a household name in New Orleans. The former Ohio State Buckeye and current cornerback for the New Orleans Saints, has been playing at a high level since 2017. Lattimore continued that trend in 2019.
Looking at the numbers, Lattimore had rankings of 65.6 in overall defense, 63.2 in run defense, 74.3 in tackling and 65.7 in coverage according to pff.com. While these numbers don’t jump off the page as staggering, one must keep in mind that Lattimore plays as a CB1. He ends up facing the best receiver on the field for the opponent every week.
Not only does Lattimore face the best of the best, he plays in a pass-happy division. To put that in perspective, 4 of the top 9 receivers (and 5 of the top 13 receivers) play in the NFC South. Lattimore faces the likes of Julio Jones (ATL), Chris Godwin (TB) and DJ Moore (CAR) for nearly half of the year. Despite the All-Pro opponents (Jones, Godwin), Lattimore managed to make his second Pro Bowl in three seasons.
Lattimore enters the 2020 season in the fourth year of a four-year contract (there is a fifth-year option). It stands to reason that he and the Saints will soon be seated at the table, renegotiating a more lucrative deal.
In a poll run on Twitter, this is how the fans saw Marshon Lattimore’s 2019 performance:
Poll question:
— John Butler (@Saintjohnbutler) January 12, 2020
How would you grade Marshon Lattimore’s 2019 season? Feel free to comment why you chose the grade you did.
Again, some of your comments may be used in an upcoming article.
Some fan comments included:
He played at a Pro-Bowl level, if that’s not an A than people’s expectations are too high.
B: He has certain type of guys who he just struggles with and that’s okay. He is not an ELITE/generational cornerback but he is really really good and can shut down many #1’s
I said B. He is a solid (and at times, a shutdown) corner. However, he got abused in the Vikings game and then showed his ass on the sidelines, which I wasn’t a fan of.
He was incredible all season, but the final exam is weighted differently than every other assignment you get.
He can be so much better than what he’s shown the last two seasons. His rookie year was his best and he still could be better. That’s how high I believe his potential is.