Pro Football Focus’ Zoltán Buday doesn’t believe there is an offensive line in the NFL worse than the New Orleans Saints. PFF is significantly less bullish on the Saints’ offensive line than positional expert Brandon Thorn, who ranked the unit at 19th amongst their peers.
Buday placed them 32nd out of the 32 teams. Here’s why PFF is so low on the big men up front in New Orleans:
On paper, the Saints’ offensive line features four former first-round picks. But their performance says otherwise.
Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk will likely need to miss the entire season, which will force New Orleans to play Trevor Penning at that spot after benching him in 2023.
Right guard Cesar Ruiz has failed to rank among the top 50 guards in PFF overall grade in any of his first four seasons. As a result, the Saints have to hope that Oregon State product Taliese Fuaga will hit the ground running at left tackle to improve the unit.
Last-place feels harsh, but this is also the hardest unit to project. Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz are the only truly known commodities on the offensive trenches, and PFF hasn’t graded Ruiz too highly through his career. Penning was benched after limited action and now he enters what is essentially a restart at right tackle.
On the left side of the offensive line, the Saints will likely start two players who haven’t taken significant NFL snaps. Taliese Fuaga at left tackle and Nick Saldiveri at left guard. If you like the Saints offensive line, you’re enamored by potential. There’s too many unproven players for belief to stem from much else.
