The captain and heart and soul of the Saints' defense, middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, is listed as questionable yet again for Monday Night's game and he's officially listed as a gametime decision. Can he play? Yes. The question is whether or not he can play and be effective. And that's been the problem this year... in his attempts to play hurt this season he's been too slow and too soft from the injury to really make an impact. Pro Football Focus rates Vilma at -12.6 against the run this season, by far worst on the team. Sadly, his replacement Jo-Lonn Dunbar is second worst on the team at -7.9. The major reason for his struggles in my estimation have been his limitations in movement, mostly sideline to sideline, due to him running on a bum knee. Unfortunately, as good as he is, if your middle linebacker is slow getting to the football he's not of much use. Vilma does lead the team with a pass coverage rating of +3.6 on that same rating scale, though, so I ...
Original Story:
