Player Review: Jeff Saturday

by shake n bake on Feb 16, 2009 3:58 PM EST

Before this season Jeff Saturday had started 126 of 128 games since becoming a starter. He doubled those games missed this season. The splits with and without Jeff Saturday this past season are dramatic. The table below gives the Colts performance compared to their opponents season average (with the Indy games removed).

With/Without	Points Per Game	Rush Yards Per Game	Yards Per Carry	Sacks Per Game
Without	-3.05	-58.0	-1.26	-0.71
With	+4.73	-24.6	-0.23	-1.2

Saturday turns 34 before the start of next season, but 2 of the 3 Pro Bowl centers from the AFC were over 34 (Kevin Mawae, 38 and Casey Wiggman, 35). Both NFC Pro Bowl centers were 30 or older. Besides Quarterback no other position is so dependent on experience and intelligence over strength and speed.

via i191.photobucket.com

While other factors were at play, without Saturday in the lineup, Indy's offense was solidly below average, the running game was awful and the pass protection was merely good. With Saturday Indy was a well above average scoring O, was just a sub-par running team and gave up over a full sack per game less than their opponents averaged.

If the cap situation wasn't so tight letting Saturday walk would be unjustifiable. Unfortunately the front office has some tough decisions to make. Saturday has gas in the tank, but Indy may not be able be able to pay for it.

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Comments

this is one guy I dont want to see let go and I know peyton must be freaking out at the thought of it might happen

this guy is as solid a colt as anybody in the dungy era

by kinnickcolt on Feb 16, 2009 4:39 PM EST reply actions

Yep.

I think out of all of them this year, Saturday is the guy I most hope we keep.

I’d be willing to bet Peyton does a new deal to free up space to keep #63.

"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007

by peytonsthebest on Feb 16, 2009 5:24 PM EST up reply actions

I was thinking about this the other day

If we got into a situation where we could only keep Saturday or Hayden but not both, who would I want? I think I lean slightly toward Saturday, but that’s pretty much coming down to a coin flip for me.

by ctnyc on Feb 17, 2009 5:45 PM EST up reply actions

I just worry

that with the ongoing injuries the last year he is getting to the end of his career. Has he got more than a year or two left? I can’t see them signing him to a long term deal all things considered.

An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing...

by bluegirl on Feb 16, 2009 5:31 PM EST reply actions

Probably nobody would sign him to a long-term deal.

I think you’re right. He has probably another 2 good years left…

"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007

by peytonsthebest on Feb 16, 2009 5:33 PM EST up reply actions

This reminds me of #78

If Jeff leaves, it would remind a lot of when Tarik Glenn left, it would be as sad and a similar impact for the team so, i think he will remain with the colts, but they are taking too much time to announce something…

by BlueMark1821 on Feb 16, 2009 7:49 PM EST reply actions

Saturday Wants To Retire A Colt

Seems like I remember him talking about that after the Super Bowl (XLI). Ideally we’d sign him to a reasonable 2-3 year contract where he retires at the end of the deal. That would also give the young guys time to develop.

by TouchdownMonkey on Feb 17, 2009 10:35 AM EST reply actions

Technically

They could give him a legit LTBE bonus that he could actually get in the range of 2-3 million and give him the veteran minimum salary of 850k + 40k = 890k and have it only count for 460k. So they could pay him about 4 million and only be against the cap for 3.46 technically. Well, you could do anything with the LTBE numbers and still save 430k against the cap. Every little bit helps.

Jim Sorgi runs a 4.6 40. That's all I've got to say about that.

by monstersbox on Feb 17, 2009 4:35 PM EST reply actions

Correction

It wouldn’t just be 460k, they’d count the LTBE this year but it would allow them to pay it and not effect his minimum veteran salary number. Sorry if that was confusing.

Jim Sorgi runs a 4.6 40. That's all I've got to say about that.

by monstersbox on Feb 17, 2009 4:36 PM EST up reply actions