Welome To Jabari Greer's Island

Jabari Greer, not Darren Sharper, may have been the New Orleans Saints' most important off-season free agent signing in 2009.  Quiet as it is kept, Greer is ranked 2nd to the New York Jets Darelle Revis with 4.7 yards allowed per pass attempt by Football Outsiders.  He shutdown Larry Fitzgerald and Sidney Rice. Yet he gets little respect from the national media.  The Times Picayune's Mike Triplett of the analyzes the "underrated" impact of Jabari Greer's performance for the Saints:

"Greer had two interceptions this season and returned one for a touchdown. But his specialty was preventing big plays.  Greer allowed just one touchdown pass -- a controversial 68-yard bomb to Atlanta's Roddy White, who appeared to push Greer away before making the catch.  Even including that catch, Greer allowed just 201 yards and 4.9 yards per attempt during the regular season, according to NFL analyst KC Joyner, who writes for ESPN.com, The New York Times and other outlets.  Joyner said 41 passes were thrown Greer's way, and 26 of them fell incomplete. The others were either completed or drew penalties."

"That is a success rate of 63.4 percent for the defense. Stats Inc. came up with a similar number, saying Greer was "burned" on only 37.9 percent of passes thrown his way, which ranked second in the league behind Revis' 37.0."

If you noticed in the NFC Championship and the Divisional Playoff games, Greer eliminated the big play potential of Sidney Rice and Larry Fitzgerald respectively.  Rice's only touchdown was given up by Saints LB Scott Shanle.   Brett Favre mostly targeted CB Tracey Porter (one too many times for Vikings fans).  

The Saints defense to slid to the 25th ranked defense in the NFL mostly due to Greer's groin injury and his absence for several games.   Based upon his performance in the lineup, Greer would have eliminated more than 10% to 15% of the big plays suffered by the Saints in his absence.  Greer has a daunting task on Sunday.  He will face New Orleans native and Colts standout receiver Reggie Wayne.   Greer usually plays 5-8 yards away from a defender on pass plays. Gregg Williams may consider having Greer to play more of a "bump-and-run" style of defense to disrupt the timing of Manning-to-Wayne passes.   Either way, the NFL should take note that Jabari Greer will definitely create an "uneasy" feeling for the Colts in the Super Bowl. Mike Triplett also added this analysis from Football Insiders with his report on Greer:

"By that measure, Greer also ranked second behind Revis, with a success rate of 69 percent. The Football Outsiders dig even deeper when analyzing cornerbacks, creating a "success rate" that measures incomplete passes but also has a weighted formula that considers how many yards are allowed on first, second, third and fourth downs.  More important, Football Outsiders analyst Bill Barnwell said the Saints' team success rate dropped significantly on Greer's side of the field in the seven games he was out of the lineup."

""It's not an exact science, " Barnwell said, explaining that it's impossible to tell when a cornerback was out of position when he was supposed to be in coverage, or when teams chose not to throw at a cornerback because his receiver wasn't open.  "But if you want to say he's the second best corner in the league, the case is definitely there, especially when you consider the performance when he was out of the lineup. He definitely belongs in the top five, six or seven.""

Greer Island is not too shabby for an NFL cornerback.   It is believed that Greer should have been selected to the Pro Bowl if he did not miss most of the season due to the groin injury.  It is certain that Peyton Manning and the Colts are aware of Greer's influence in the Saints defense. Therefore, in Super Bowl 44, the world will witness for themselves a very good, if not outstanding cornerback in the NFL.   So world, welcome to Greer's Island.

Kyle T. Mosley

SaintsNews.net