Looking back at the 2020 NFL Draft, many selections in the first round were confusing and questionable decisions. Due to the pandemic, the scouting process was changed entirely, and NFL teams could not complete the normal amount of draft homework that was done in past years. Some notable mistakes that may have been avoided in past years were the Detroit Lions selecting Jeff Okudah at 3, the Philadelphia Eagles selecting Jalen Reagor just one pick before the Minnesota Vikings took Justin Jefferson,
and the Las Vegas Raiders entire draft class. Although examples like these are glaring, many other teams could not avoid making their own mistakes, so let’s look at the New Orleans Saints.
At pick 24, the Saints selected center Cesar Ruiz out of Michigan. Even back in 2020, there was some confusion around the selection because the Saints had a starting center, Erik McCoy, who was just coming off an impressive rookie year in 2019. What made it even more confusing was that Ruiz only played the guard position five times in college. Usually, teams will draft a tackle or guard and potentially move them to center, but the other way around is rare. The Saints had a history of drafting offensive linemen and moving them from their college position. Andrus Peat is a prime example of this, back when New Orleans selected him in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. The team tried to move Peat around the offensive line, but that experiment was a failure. This was an obvious mistake and should have been a learning lesson, but that was not the case.
Early in the 2020/21 season, the New Orleans Saints started Cesar Ruiz at RG, and that is where the offensive lineman has played since, even with struggles. Ruiz faced a clear learning curve, and the blocking struggles were detrimental to the team. Over the next three years, from 2021 to 2023, Ruiz’s game saw slight improvements, but when Eric McCoy was out of games, Ruiz regressed. Going into the 2024 season, with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak set to implement his zone run scheme, the offensive line’s lives became a bit easier. We saw this in the first two games of the season, where the offensive line was amazing, specifically Eric McCoy and Cesar Ruiz, who looked like a dominant tandem on the inside. As we also know, this came crashing down in week 3 against the Eagles, where McCoy left the game with a groin injury and missed the next seven weeks. Once again, there was a clear fall-off in Cesar Ruiz’s game (when healthy) during the time that McCoy was out. It’s understandable when an offensive line takes a bit of a step back when the starting center, who is also a captain on offense, goes out with an injury, but Ruiz goes from a decent starter to a glaring issue. Still being 26, the hope has been that Ruiz can continue to develop at RG, and the Saints have shown their commitment to this by giving him a 4-year, $44 million extension back in 2023, when Ruiz was still 24. The fact that I am currently writing this means this development has not worked out, and so far in preseason, Ruiz is struggling.
So far, the New Orleans Saints have played two preseason games, and in both matchups, McCoy has been out. Per PFF, in these two games, Cesar Ruiz has ranked 120th amongst all guards in offensive grade, which is only four spots higher than former Saints first-round pick Andrus Peat, who is at 124th. Even when looking away from player grades, Ruiz was nearly unplayable against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was with Taliese Fuaga at RT and Torricelli Simpkins III, who has played really well in the preseason, at center. With McCoy back in the lineup, there is a good chance that Ruiz’s game improves, but if either McCoy is out or Ruiz does not improve from preseason, the Saints may be looking for a new RG next offseason. This would be a difficult situation for New Orleans to be in, with significant investments already put into the offensive line and an existing hole at LG.
