Tag: Cesar Ruiz

Saints announce inactive players for Week 4 game vs. Falcons

Demario Davis and Cesar Ruiz were ruled OUT early. The New Orleans Saints have announced their full list of inactive players

On Friday, the New Orleans Saints ruled out two key players prior to the matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. Demario Davis and Cesar Ruiz are out for this game, Davis will miss his first game ever due to injury, and that puts Willie Gay in the lineup next to Pete Werner as they attempt to contain Bijan Robinson. Ruiz’ injury in addition to Erik McCoy on injured reserve means the Saints will be without two interior offensive linemen this week.

Chris Olave suffered a hamstring injury Friday that led to his status being in doubt, but at least Taysom Hill will be available. Hill missed last week’s game with a chest injury, and WDSU analyst James Hurst believes the offense was vanilla without Hill.

Atlanta, on the other hand, is much healthier than the Saints. Right tackle Kaleb McGary is the only player who didn’t practice due to injury Friday. He’s ruled out along with their own starting center being on IR.

Here are the inactive list from each team:

New Orleans Saints inactive players:

  • LB Demario Davis (hamstring)
  • G Cesar Ruiz (knee)
  • WR A.T. Perry (hamstring)
  • TE Dallin Holker
  • DT John Ridgeway III
  • QB Spencer Rattler (emergency third quarterback)

Atlanta Falcons inactive players:

  • OT Kaleb McGary (knee)
  • RB Jase McClellan
  • DL Brandon Dorlus
  • OL Jovaughn Gwyn
  • OT Brandon Parker
  • DL Ruke Orhorhoro

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Saints rule out Demario Davis, Cesar Ruiz on final injury report vs. Falcons

The final Week 4 injury report has the Saints ruling out a couple of starters against the Falcons, with Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave both questionable:

There’s a long list of absences and situations to watch on the final Week 4 injury report. The New Orleans Saints ruled out a couple of starters including linebacker Demario Davis (hamstring) and right guard Cesar Ruiz (knee), having already placed center Erik McCoy (groin) on injured reserve. Backup wide receiver A.T. Perry (hamstring)has also been ruled out.

Several others are questionable —  most prominently running back Alvin  Kamara (hip/ribs), but also veteran wideout Cedrick Wilson Jr. (ankle). On top of all of that, wide receiver Chris Olave (hamstring) suffered an injury during Friday’s practice session, so he’s questionable to play, too.

It’s not like Atlanta is in much better shape. The Falcons already ruled out starting right tackle Kaleb McGary and they’ll be playing Storm Norton in his place; Norton is a former member of the Saints practice squad. Like New Orleans, they’re also down their starting center, with Drew Dalman having gone on injured reserve earlier this week.

Here’s the full injury report from each team:

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Saints vs. Falcons could be a battle of battered offensive lines

The Saints and Falcons’ starting centers are both on IR, and each team had another starting lineman miss Wednesday’s practice:

The New Orleans Saints enter the game versus the Atlanta Falcons with big -time health questions on the offensive line. They aren’t alone, either. The Falcons listed just one player on their injury report for Wednesday, but it was right tackle Kaleb McGary.

McGary did not participate at all on Wednesday. Their center Drew Dalman wasn’t listed on the injury report because he’s on injured reserve. Just like New Orleans, Atlanta is in danger of being down two starting offensive linemen in Week 4.

The Saints know Erik McCoy is out for an extended amount of time. Cesar Ruiz and Landon Young also made appearances on the injury report and their future is uncertain. Young was limited with a foot injury, and a knee injury kept Ruiz out of practice altogether.

Ruiz’s importance becomes elevated due to McCoy’s absence. You can’t have two interior offensive linemen miss a game and be confident you’ll still be strong up front.

Pressure through the middle compromises everything this offense wants to do, but the same is true for Atlanta. Both teams know they’ll be without their center and could be without a starter on the right side. This game could easily come down to who gets the best health news, and who can take advantage of their opponent’s missing players.

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Saints could play Falcons without all five of last year’s offensive line starters

There’s been turnover along the Saints’ offensive line. Now Cesar Ruiz has a knee injury, and if he can’t go all five of last year’s starters will be out on Sunday:

This is worth watching. Right guard Cesar Ruiz missed Wednesday’s New Orleans Saints practice with what head coach Dennis Allen said was a knee injury. And as Nola.com’s Rod Walker noted, if Ruiz can’t play on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, the Saints will be without all five of their starters from last year’s offensive line.

Center Erik McCoy is going on injured reserve with a groin injury. Last season’s left tackle, Andrus Peat, is currently playing for the Las Vegas Raiders. The left guard will either be Oli Udoh, Landon  Young, or Nick Saldiveri, none of whom played many snaps there on last year’s team. Ruiz’s replacement at right guard would be anyone’s guess. And right tackle Trevor Penning was benched last season after initially playing left tackle.

Some turnover was needed given how poorly the Saints’ offensive line performed a year ago, but this is excessive. Being down one starter is bad enough; that it’s McCoy, the unit’s best player, getting sidelined for six to eight weeks is even worse. Working without Ruiz as well would only exacerbate their problems.

We’ll watch out for updates carefully throughout the week. Ruiz was able to play through his knee issue last Sunday but that may not be the case for him in their next game. Hopefully he’s able to go and do a better job slowing down the Falcons than we saw last week against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Saints’ next three games will be a challenge for the interior offensive line

The Saints will face Grady Jarrett, Chris Jones and Vita Vea over the next three weeks, and they’ll have to do it without Erik McCoy:

The New Orleans Saints will be without Erik McCoy for 6 to 8 weeks. Against the Philadelphia Eagles, the impact of his absence was overly evident.

The triumvirate of Lucas Patrick, Oli Udoh and Cesar Ruiz struggled against the Eagles. The next three games will feature repeated challenges for the group. Grady Jarrett will be on the other side this week for the Atlanta Falcons. New Orleans travels to face the Kansas City Chiefs and Chris Jones in prime time after that. Vita Vea is dealing with an injury but could be available in time for the next game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Former Saints offensive lineman James Hurst explained the trickle-down effect of McCoy’s injury. His role includes leading and directing the rest of the unit, not just blocking the man in front of him. The responsibility comes with a week’s worth of preparation that’s difficult to supplant mid-game.

The Saints will be down their best offensive lineman and leader of the unit just in time for the most challenging stretch of defenders for the interior offensive line. The Saints must look to find McCoy’s replacement quickly.

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James Hurst on why Erik McCoy is almost impossible to replace mid-game

Losing Erik McCoy early against the Eagles was almost a worst-case scenario. Former Saints offensive lineman James Hurst explains why:

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.

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Erik McCoy injury would be a ‘red button’ type of loss for Saints

Erik McCoy was injured against the Philadelphia Eagles. Concern for the offensive line is on red alert for any time that he misses:

Games early in the season always tend to result in some sort of overreaction, however, I don’t think it would be reactionary at all to say the New Orleans Saints offensive line would be in huge trouble if Erik McCoy had to miss some time.

Facing a player like Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter exacerbated the issue, but it went deeper than that. There was a point where Cesar Ruiz and Oli Udoh ran into each other in the backfield. Think Jordan Howden and Marshon Lattimore colliding on Dallas Goedert’s field-flipping catch, but as offensive linemen.

McCoy is the leader of the unit and you can’t help but think those plays don’t happen with him there. It’s a trickle down effect with his absence. Lucas Patrick moves to center, and now you’ve downgraded at center and left guard. Ruiz looked bad too, but that could reasonably change. Udoh performed too poorly to receive the benefit of the doubt.

So McCoy missing pretty much the entirety of the game showed he may be one of the five most important players on this team. He’s their best offensive linemen and the glue holding the rest of the unit together.

The interior of the offensive line is dramatically worse without him. It may not disrupt the offense as much as it did in Week 3, but it will have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the offense.

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Alvin Kamara excelling despite facing second-most loaded boxes

Defenses are selling out to stop Alvin Kamara and it isn’t working anyway. This is a testament to his offensive line:


Here’s an impressive New Orleans Saints stat for you. Alvin Kamara has ran for the sixth-most yards on the ground in the NFL and scored the most touchdowns despite seeing the second-most attempts with eight or more defenders in the box.

Defenses load up the box specifically to stop the run, and it happens 45% of the time when Kamara carries the ball. Everyone knows what the Saints want to do, but this tactic hasn’t been effective in stopping the Kamara.

Why? Taliese Fuaga, Lucas Patrick, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Trevor Penning are five reasons. The impact of the unit is seen through the near three yards before contact per carry against the Carolina Panthers by all Saints running backs.

You don’t beat heavy boxes purely on the strength of your running back. Kamara has phenomenal contact balance, but even with that he can’t consistently beat the odds by himself.

The front line is doing a good job resetting the line of scrimmage and getting to the second level to block linebackers. That’s why he’s been so successful despite running against heavy boxes on nearly half of his attempts.

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Cesar Ruiz is the NFL’s fastest offensive lineman this season

Cesar Ruiz hit 17 miles per hour on Alvin Kamara’s 57-yard TD, making him the fastest offensive lineman in the NFL this season so far:


The New Orleans Saints Week 2 victory over the Dallas Cowboys was a fun one with many stats to go over throughout the day. One of the most fun ones is actually from right guard Cesar Ruiz, who is the first offensive lineman on the season to hit 17 miles per hour or more, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

This speed came on the 57-yard touchdown reception by Alvin Kamara where he had some exceptional blocking ahead of him, and while he was running untouched on the right side of the field, Cesar Ruiz was keeping up with him essentially until the very end.

New Orleans’ offensive line has been pretty outstanding through the first two games, and seeing the effort Ruiz put into this play to continue to block for his teammate was impressive. Having that type of blocking upfield in case a safety comes over the top is a huge benefit to prevent any late hits or miscues, and just ensuring that Kamara gets into the endzone without any problems. It’s no wonder Kamara remarked that it felt more like a practice rep than a live play.

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Saints’ rebuilt offensive line is their biggest Week 1 pivot point

Taliese Fuaga is the player with the most potential to raise the ceiling for the Saints’ offensive line. But Trevor Penning’s struggles make it a pivot point:

Taliese Fuaga is the player who has the potential raise the ceiling more than any other man along the New Orleans Saints offensive line. If that seems like too much pressure to put on a rookie then blame Erik McCoy. His consistent praise of Fuaga this offseason has elevated the expectations heading into Year 1.

Fuaga will be tested to face some of the most talented pass rushers in the NFL. After the season opener, there’s a four game stretch where Fuaga could line up against Micah Parsons, Bryce Huff, Matthew Judon, and even Chris Jones occasionally.

Trevor Penning is on the other side of the line, and his struggles have made the unit a pivot point. Penning’s development is key to the improvement of the offensive line. If he can’t meet expectations, their floor drops out beneath them. Just as Fuaga can improve the unit, Penning risks crippling it.

Fuaga set himself apart plainly because there’s more belief he can go the distance. Both men’s performance affects the ceiling of the unit dramatically, but Fuaga shown more this offseason and preseason than Penning. The higher the talent, the more the ceiling gets raised.

Additionally, a new left guard means more pressure on the left tackle. Penning has Cesar Ruiz to give assistance. The left guard will still help Fuaga, but he has less of a safety net. It’s likely going to be Lucas Patrick in that spot but thee Saints have viewed Nick Saldiveri as their best option, so the veteran won’t have a very long leash. Each of these players must do well and prove the five-man lineup is not as vulnerable as it may appear.

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