Signing with a new team is often an opportunity to improve, with players sometimes benefiting from working alongside different teammates and getting instruction from coaches with fresh perspective.
Few players have seen that boost more than New Orleans Saints right guard Larry Warford, who is in his third year with the team after starting his career with the Detroit Lions. He’s represented the Saints in the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons, and has already started his campaign for a third consecutive appearance after a dominant season-opener against the Houston Texans.
On Wednesday, the analysts at Pro Football Focus recognized Warford on their NFL Team of the Week for Week 1. He was the only player from the Saints-Texans game to be featured, having proven himself an asset in pass protection and by getting aggressive on run plays. Warford bullied a talented Texans front that includes superstars like J.J. Watt, sometimes assisting right tackle Ryan Ramczyk on double-team blocks against him.
Here’s what PFF analyst Gordon McGuinness had to say about Warford’s performance:
Warford was outstanding for the Saints in Week 1, allowing just one hurry from 45 pass-blocking snaps, and zero sacks or hits. He was even better as a run-blocker, producing a PFF grade of 92.1 on 21 run-blocking snaps.
