Lucas Patrick’s switch to Center after McCoy left (17 Viewers)

[GrandAdmiral]

They said Patrick has more experience in the system and is the reason why he took C.

Could've fooled me. It was not good at all.

 

[St. Widge]

Yesterday made me wonder how much McCoy makes up for how terrible Ruiz is. Watching him all game, he looked like a rookie at best. I expected Patrick to struggle a bit, but was highly disappointed at how terrible Ruiz played.

I don't think Ruiz is great but I think some of it is that the scheme relies on combo blocks and without McCoy the continuity is messed up and the right line calls aren't necessarily being made. There was one play where Ruiz and Udoh both pulled in opposite directions and ran into each other in the middle of the line. That seems more likely to be a messed up line call rather than either of them being that bad. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just can't imagine there is a play call where you have both Guards pull in opposite directions. But, I do think McCoy and the scheme cover up some of Ruiz's issues.

 

[BreesusSaves]

McCoy calls the protections and audibles to the line's blocking scheme pre-snap. On top of that his blocking was literally the best Center in the league in the two game sample size we have.

That's just not a guy a team can replace midgame.

Not counting the end of the first half kneeldown, 17 of the Saints 72 yards of offense in the first half came from the three plays McCoy was in the game. That's 23.6% of the team's total first half yardage. The Saints had 99 yards of offense going into the fourth quarter. Essentially 17% of the Saints offense through three full quarters came on just three plays with McCoy in the game.

The offense literally hit a wall the moment McCoy left the game. It wouldn't be until the fourth quarter the offense would finally find some life, but then the defense would pull an all time classic Saints move.

 

[B4YOU]

I was surprised we didn't move Ruiz to center.

This is what I said during the game. Leave the left side alone, move Ruiz to center, and roll protection to the right side. Ruiz played terrible all game.

 

[longtime lurker]

The coaches have a week to figure this out as best they can. I hope there are some terrific OLs in the next draft.

2025 NFL Draft: Offensive tackle superlatives

Trevor Sikkema breaks down the offensive tackle superlatives for the 2025 NFL Draft class.

www.pff.com

https://www.draftnation.com/articles/2025-nfl-draft-top-10-guards

There are a few…hopefully the stars align again and we can continue to rebuild that line. Now here’s to finding that perfect player who can play in Kubiak’s system.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

Ruiz was drafted to play center. The original plan was to move McCoy to guard.