Saints stay put, make solid, sensible pick in the first round

As the first round of the NFL draft moved toward the New Orleans Saints’ position Thursday night, the intriguing possibilities kept increasing in number.

The Falcons, the Dolphins and the Raiders reached for positions of need and grabbed players who generally were ranked lower than No. 24, where New Orleans was poised to pick.

That meant the Saints, assuming their rankings were reasonably consistent with the consensus rankings, would have the option to choose from multiple players whose value was higher than No. 24.

Things got more interesting when the Eagles used the 21st pick to select Baylor wide receiver Jalen Reagor, who generally was ranked behind LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson. But the Saints lost the opportunity to take Jefferson when the Vikings grabbed him with the 22nd pick.

They lost the opportunity to pick another player who appeared to be a good fit when the Chargers traded up with the Patriots to grab Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray at 23.

Still, as the Saints went on the clock, a few marquee players were in the mix, including LSU linebacker Patrick Queen and Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.

But in the end the Saints didn’t take a marquee name or someone whose availability at No. 24 was surprising. They took Michigan center Cesar Ruiz, who bypassed his senior season to enter the draft.

Ho hum.

Not a highly rated player who slipped a surprising distance, not an electrifying playmaker, and not an LSU Tiger.

Just a solid player whose value was consistent with the spot at which he was picked and someone whose presence provides versatility to a unit in need of such.

“One of the areas that we thought was important in this draft was the interior of the offensive line,” head coach Sean Payton said. “Those guys are hard to find later in the draft. We had a very high grade on Cesar.”

It’s the second consecutive year that the Saints have taken a center with their top pick, having traded up in the second round last season to select Erik McCoy, who became a starter right away and played well as a rookie.

Either McCoy or Ruiz will wind up playing guard. The Saints just invested more than $50 million in re-signing starting left guard Andrus Peat, presumably meaning right guard Larry Warford will be the player who ultimately is moved out to make room for one of those youngsters.

“We didn’t draft someone that high to come in and be a backup,” Payton said.

General manager Mickey Loomis said this week that the absence of an offseason program (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) will make it more difficult for any rookie to have as big an impact as they might have had under normal circumstances.

But Payton seemed confident in Ruiz’ ability to start right away despite the unusual circumstances, praising his learning ability.

“He made all the calls on the offensive line at Michigan and you can feel it when you watch him play,” Payton said.

Ruiz was the consensus top-rated interior lineman in the draft and Payton had identified the interior of the line as an area that needed to be addressed. So the Ruiz pick was not surprising.

The Saints could have gone for a linebacker to replace A.J. Klein or to provide insurance against Alex Anzalone having more misfortune with injury. They could have added another playmaker at wide receiver to complement All-Pro Michael Thomas and recently signed Emmanuel Sanders.

They could have grabbed Love as a potential successor to Drew Brees, who is 41 years old and quite likely entering his final season.

Payton said the draft unfolded exactly the way the Saints expected. They briefly considered trading up for one of a couple of players who started to slip but they didn’t slip far enough.

The Saints weren’t looking to trade into the top 10, just a few spots before 24 if the right opportunity presented itself. But it didn’t.

They considered trading back, but ultimately let the draft come to them, as Payton said.

The Saints aren’t scheduled to pick until the 68th pick Friday night, when rounds two and three take place, though Payton said they will explore the possibility of trading up for the right player.

He added that New Orleans has to address linebacker in “some way, shape or from.” Doing so in the draft would be preferable, but it could still be done in free agency.

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