The results are in. The game has been won, the tape has been broken down, and Pro Football Focus has shared their player grades for the New Orleans Saints' peak performers in their preseason debut. Now, obviously PFF's player grades are not perfect. They're nothing more than a starting-point for serious analysis. So we're digging a little deeper to find why some guys graded out better than others and what they did well on Saturday.

Here are the highest-graded players on both sides of the ball who played at least 33% of snaps (14 on offense, 18 on defense) against the Cardinals:

CB Rico Payton: 91.7 on 33 snaps

It's so disappointing to not have a photo of Payton in our archives after the game he had. Payton was on the field for 33 snaps and took 29 of them out wide, with the Cardinals quarterbacks testing him six times. Of those six targets just one was completed (though it gained 10 yards to score a touchdown, 8 of those yards were picked up after the catch). Payton broke up three passes and forced a fourth to fall incomplete with tight coverage, and he wasn't penalized once. He also made a positive impact in run defense with a tackle for a 1-yard gain, plus an assist. That's a great way to put yourself on your coach's radar.

S Roderic Teamer: 74.7 on 21 snaps

Teamer did well with the reserves, playing most of his snaps at free safety (16) rather than in the box (3). His lone target in coverage was caught for a gain of just one yard, and he didn't miss any of his tackles. He looks the part of a steady veteran on the back end of the defense.

CB Shemar Jean-Charles: 74.5 on 35 snaps

Jean-Charles played more snaps out wide at cornerback (30) than anyone besides Rejzohn Wright (44), but he was targeted just once, on an incomplete pass. He was steady in coverage even if he wasn't very active in run defense.

LB Monty Rice: 72.6 on 26 snaps

Rice was all over the field when the reserves went in, especially in run defense. He totaled five tackles against the run (the most on the team), at an average depth of 2.6 yards. He was targeted once in coverage and gave up an 8-yard reception for a first down. And he didn't miss a single tackle.

S Jordan Howden: 71.8 on 28 snaps

Howden wasn't directly targeted in coverage while primarily lining up at free safety over the top (17 snaps), occasionally moving up into the box (7) or close to the line of scrimmage (2), as well as the slot (2). He had a tackle in run defense for a 1-yard gain but spent most of his night discouraging the Cardinals quarterbacks from trying anything deep downfield.

WR A.T. Perry: 70.4 on 39 snaps

Perry turned it on after a couple of inconsistent weeks at Saints training camp, catching all three passes thrown his way for 74 yards (including a 58-yarder, the play of the day) and picking up 34 yards on a defensive penalty. Interestingly, just three of his 21 routes started from the slot. We'll see if he gets moved around more often later this preseason.

WR Samson Nacua: 69.6 on 17 snaps

Nacua only played 17 snaps in this game, which ranked fourth among the wide receivers. That's a little surprising because you'd think the coaches would want to get him more work as they separate the wheat from the chaff at the bottom of the depth chart. But he ran routes on 15 of those reps and blocked twice on running plays. Nacua caught two of his four targets, gaining 19 yards and converting a pair of first downs.

LT Taliese Fuaga: 69.3 on 24 snaps

Fuaga was as-advertised. He was clean in pass protection and graded out positively on zone blocking run plays (70.3). His rating dipped on gap blocking designs (54.5) but on the whole he was very effective. He might already be the best offensive lineman on the team.

RG Tremayne Anchrum Jr.: 69.0 on 31 snaps

Anchrum took all of his snaps at right guard, and he was neither penalized nor charged with allowing a quarterback pressure. But he graded out better on four snaps as a blocker on gap concepts (67.8) than with six reps on zone blocking (54.3), which is worth monitoring. The Saints are still hammering out the depth chart along the offensive line.

QB Jake Haener: 66.8 on 29 snaps

Haener completed 9 of his 13 passes for 107 yards, leading the Saints in yards per attempt (8.2), but that was helped by his 58-yard connection to A.T. Perry. A better stat too look at is his average depth of target (9.8), which lined up with Spencer Rattler (9.7). Haener was also quicker to get the ball out (2.58 seconds, just behind Derek Carr at 2.57) than Rattler (2.58).

Honorable mentions

Linebacker Mike Rose (72.5 on 4 snaps) and cornerback Alontae Taylor (72.4 on 10 snaps) didn't meet the snaps requirement on defense, while wide receiver Chris Olave (70.7 on 8 snaps) was the highest-rated player on offense. He didn't qualify for the same reason.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: PFF's highest-graded Saints players from Cardinals preseason game