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Here’s a big piece of offseason news for New Orleans Saints fans: NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reports that defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins is working towards a training camp return from surgery last December. This was the third lower-leg injury Rankins has suffered in his first four years in the NFL, and this report suggests an answer for why Rankins has struggled so much with Achilles tendon issues.
Underhill also reported that Rankins deals with Haglund’s Deformity, basically an enlarged bone spur on the heel that puts added tension on the Achilles tendon. That constant irritation results in athletes who are more prone to rupturing that tendon, which Rankins experienced late in the 2018 season. In 2019, the Saints medical staff noticed that his other leg was at heightened risk for the same injury, and recommended he undergo preventative surgery.
Because Rankins chose to go under the knife again so soon rather than after the season, he’s benefiting from both that decision and the abbreviated recovery timeline that follows this procedure (as opposed to a full-on ruptured tendon). It all means that he should be back in action when the Saints meet for training camp, which usually kicks off in late July but may be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a situation to watch out for.
So what does this mean for Rankins’ role in 2020? If everything goes the way it’s supposed to, he should again play as a co-starter with David Onyemata at the three-technique position, seeing about 30 to 38 snaps each week. That leaves plenty of room for nose tackle Malcom Brown and backups like Shy Tuttle and Mario Edwards to rotate into the game.
But if Rankins suffers another setback or is outplayed in training camp by another lineman, it’s possible he ends up seeing a reduced role. The Saints have enough depth up front to where he shouldn’t start ahead of a better player just because of his draft status or the success he found several years ago. In a contract year and with his injury history, it’s time he stood out for the right reasons.
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