Who’s responsible for Saints leading the NFL in false start penalties?

Self-inflicted wounds have held the New Orleans Saints back all season, and they’ve manifested nowhere better than in penalties. Procedural fouls and pre-snap infractions have haunted the Saints every step of the way in 2022, and they still haven’t improved in recent weeks.

The Saints rank fourth in the league with 80 penalties and seventh in penalties per game (6.7), and they’ve been fouled more often for false starts (22, which leads the NFL) than anything else. Their second- and third-most common infractions are defensive holding (12) and offensive holding (10), which equal the number of false starts put together. This has been a unique problem for them.

So who is responsible? The coaching staff deserves a lot of blame for not picking up on this trend and taking action early on. It’s been a problem along the offensive line and at other position groups. Whatever they’ve tried in practice to work on it hasn’t taken effect. But the players are at fault too — especially repeat offenders. Here are all of the Saints players who have been fouled for false starts this season, :

OL Calvin Throckmorton, 56 snaps per false start

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

5 false starts on 280 snaps

TE Adam Trautman, 160 snaps per false start

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

2 false starts, 1 illegal shift on 319 snaps

TE Juwan Johnson, 169 snaps per false start

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

3 false starts on 506 snaps

TE Taysom Hill, 201 snaps per false start

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

1 false start on 201 snaps

RT Ryan Ramczyk, 251 snaps per false start

AP Photo/Danny Karnik

3 false starts, 1 offensive holding on 753 snaps

LT James Hurst, 339 snaps per false start

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

2 false starts, 1 illegal use of hands on 678 snaps

LG Andrus Peat, 447 snaps per false start

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

1 false start, 1 offensive holding foul on 447 snaps

C Erik McCoy, 561 snaps per false start

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

1 false start, 2 offensive holding on 561 snaps

RG Cesar Ruiz, 755 snaps per false start

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

1 false start, 1 offensive holding, 1 ineligible man downfield on 755 snaps

Additionally, three players were fouled for false starts on special teams:

• LB Zack Baun (1 false start on 280 snaps)

• S J.T. Gray (1 false start, 1 offensive holding, 1 out of bounds on kick return on 234 snaps)

• DB Bryce Thompson (1 false start on 69 snaps)

Story originally appeared on Saints Wire