New Orleans Saints 2015 Year in Review: Delvin Breaux
Delvin Breaux set the world on fire after a remarkable first year in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints.
Last January, when the New Orleans Saints signed cornerback Delvin Breaux out of the Canadian Football League to a three-year free agent deal, nobody anticipated the kind of year the Crescent City native would have.
Everybody kind of just said “Oh, cool. A guy from New Orleans is playing for the Saints.” At least that’s what was on my mind at the time — I knew nothing about the guy. But from the start of minicamp on throughout the preseason, Delvin Breaux was playing just as good as anybody on the team. And that momentum followed him into the regular season.
But before he ventured on over to the National Football League, Breaux faced a ton of adversity (life-threatening adversity), which is why he was named the Saints’ winner of the 2015 Ed Block Courage Award.
Once an LSU-bound prospect to go play for Coach Les Miles and the Tigers in Baton Rouge, Delvin Breaux suffered a devastating neck injury, breaking three vertebrae in 2006 during a game his senior year at McDonogh 35 High School in New Orleans. He still joined LSU, however, he never received medical clearance to play, which led to his departure and eventually his decision to give semi-pro football a shot, but not until over half a decade later.
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Between 2012-2014, Delvin Breaux spent time on a semi-pro team (Louisiana Bayou Vipers), time in the Arena Football League (New Orleans Voodoo), and eventually the Canadian Football League before signing with the Saints. Head coach Sean Payton said he couldn’t let him leave the team facility without a contract. He said Breaux’s workout was the best workout he had ever seen from a cornerback. That says a lot coming from a guy with decades of experience scouting talent.
Between hard work, dedication, proper preparation, and the physical attributes and abilities he possesses, Breaux was an absolute treasure in his rookie year for New Orleans.
Watch this amazing of Delvin Breaux put together by @WhoDat_4_Life
In 2015, Breaux totaled 45 combined tackles, three interceptions, and 22 passes defended (sixth in the NFL). He had the ninth-highest Pro Football Focus grade (+11.8) for all cornerbacks, allowing only 48.8% of the passes thrown his way to be caught. A guy who didn’t even play in college posted Pro Bowl-caliber numbers as a rookie.
There was even a four-game stretch (Weeks 10-14) where he allowed just two receptions for a total of one yard. Yes, he allowed just one yard in four games. To add to the resume, Delvin Breaux shut down Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones in both games this year, assisting in efforts in the Saints’ season sweep of their NFL South rival.
Delvin Breaux went from scrub to flirting with elite territory at an unimaginable rate, emerging as the Saints’ No. 1 corner with Keenan Lewis injured most of the season in addition to Brandon Browner‘s historically bad performance . It’s hard to argue against that when you look at the numbers.
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2015 was a huge year for the New Orleans native, and by the looks of it, he’s only going to get better. You’ll need your shades down here on ‘Breaux Island’, because his future is looking very bright playing for his hometown Saints.