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The New Orleans Saints offensive line took a hit on Wednesday when starting left guard Andrus Peat underwent surgery to repair a broken arm, putting him on the sidelines for about six weeks. So where do they go from here?
Peat’s immediate replacement is backup guard Will Clapp, who filled in for him during Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Clapp is a second-year player out of LSU with experience at both guard and center, though the Saints prefer him at guard. He allowed a few sacks to the swarming Falcons defense after being rushed into action.
Another name to watch out for is Patrick Omameh, who has been the final active lineman on most game days despite slotting in as a reserve after Clapp. He has started full seasons before at both left and right guard, though he didn’t play at a particularly high level. The experience he does have at starting often in the NFL can’t be undersold.
Additionally, the Saints can try and get some return on the investment they made in free agent blocker Nick Easton. New Orleans inked him to a four-year, $20 million contract earlier this year, though only the first year was guaranteed at the time of signing. However, Easton has been active for just three games this season, limiting his appearances to the special teams units. He obviously didn’t make a great impression on the coaching staff during the offseason.
Other candidates the Saints could look to on their roster include three rookies: Ethan Greenidge (a former left tackle for Villanova who started 43 games), Derrick Kelly (a Florida State product who played 34 games at both tackle and guard), and John Leglue (a local from Tulane who has played all five positions, plus long snapper).
To recap, here is how snap counts have shaken out for each of New Orleans’ offensive linemen through nine games, suggesting something similar to the in-house depth chart:
- T Ryan Ramczyk, 609 (100%)
- G Larry Warford, 609 (100%)
- C Erik McCoy, 603 (99%)
- T Terron Armstead, 598 (98%)
- G/T Andrus Peat, 527 (86%)
- G Will Clapp, 161 (26%)
- G Patrick Omameh, 16 (2%)
- G/C Nick Easton, inactive
- T Ethan Greenidge, inactive
- T/G Derrick Kelly, practice squad
- T/G John Leglue, practice squad
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