New Orleans Saints draft Cesar Ruiz with 24th pick in the 2020 NFL draft

With the 24th pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints draft center Cesar Ruiz from the University of Michigan.

With players like Patrick Queen, Kristian Fulton, and Jordan Love still available, the general manager Mickey Loomis and head coach Sean Payton opted to shore up the New Orleans Saints’ offensive line by adding a talented center.

Last year’s rookie center, Erik McCoy, had a pretty good season last year but had originally played guard.

Adding Ruiz to an already talented offensive line gives Drew Brees an incredible young center to lead the line and allows McCoy to shift to guard. Or they could do the opposite, putting Ruiz at guard and keeping McCoy at center for what could be Brees’s last season.

This also may answer some questions about Larry Warford, allowing the Saints to move on from him in a possible trade before he becomes a free agent after next season.

Ruiz was rated as the best interior offensive lineman in the draft by Daniel Jeremiah. His mock draft projected Ruiz to go 26th overall to the Dolphins, so the Saints taking him at 24 is not a huge stretch when looking at the mock drafts.

Saints fans were generally unhappy about not drafting a defensive player, LSU’s Patrick Queen in particular. While there is a need in New Orleans for a linebacker, Payton and Loomis obviously felt a strong need to add to the offensive line.

Regardless of how fans feel about this pick, we should trust our coach and GM to make the best decisions based on what they see as the biggest needs of the team.

The Saints will likely look to address other needs like linebacker and possibly even the quarterback of the future, later in the draft. Don’t be shocked if they take a receiver in the third round either.