The New Orleans Saints lost Erik McCoy shortly into their game with the Philadelphia Eagles, and the impact of his absence was felt early and often. His injury forced Lucas Patrick to move from left guard to center, with Olisaemeka Udoh stepping in. The entirety of the interior offensive line struggled, including right guard Cesar Ruiz. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter proved too much for them to handle.
But the ramifications of McCoy’s absence went beyond those battles at the point of attack. Former Saints offensive lineman and current WDSU analyst James Hurst explained why this was the case. Hurst was a member of the team just last year, so he saw McCoy’s abilities first hand. And he says the Saints’ struggles go deeper than McCoy’s skills.
McCoy’s position is as important as his talent. Hurst relayed the importance of a quality center: “It’s really tough to lose a center in the middle of the game. He does so much with identifying the defense, communicating with the quarterback, setting the blocking schemes for the offensive line and tight ends.”
Losing McCoy in the midst of a game amplifies the impact because the player who fills in hasn’t gone through any of the week’s preparation. He’ll naturally be behind on much that contributes to the success of the offensive line. Patrick being a guard means he didn’t even get many second-team reps doing this.
So many other players are dependent on the center (both guards next to him, the quarterback receiving the snap, and everyone else he’s protecting in the backfield), which is why the position impacts the entire offensive line. This gives hope that some of the issues can be smoothed over with practice reps.
It’s like Hurst said at the end of his explanation, though. He added, “(McCoy is) a very, very good football player on top of that.” Those talents are just hard to replace. Hopefully McCoy can get back in the lineup sooner rather than later.
