Jeremiah Wright coming in for an injured Cesar Ruiz has the potential to be one of the most important moments of the New Orleans Saints 2026 season. It may be the moment we look back and say the Saints found their right guard of the future. That’s what Wright was seen as when he was drafted, and he may get the chance to take that spot as a rookie, depending on how badly Ruiz is injured.
Unfortunately, we knew this was coming at some point during the season. You never wish for injuries, but Ruiz and Erik McCoy’s injury history suggested one of them would go down for some time. Either of those injuries likely would have presented an opportunity for Wright to step in at right guard.
We saw a sample size of the opportunity, and Wright grabbed the bull by the horns. He was never going to steal the starting role in one half of football, so Ruiz will be the starter in Paris if he doesn’t have to miss time. However, the rookie showed the potential expedite what feels like an inevitable transition if Ruiz has to miss multiple games.
The change from Cesar Ruiz to Jeremiah Wright was noticeable immediately in Saints run game
The eye test told you the Saints ran the ball better when Wright entered the game. It was the best rushing performance of the season, and their best runs came when running on the right side of the offensive line.
The difference is even more noticeable because the Saints have struggled to run the ball all season. It’s been the biggest flaw on the offense, so when Wright comes in and things get better immediately, it’s impossible not to note it. It’s a big feather in the rookie’s cap.
There’s two stats that tell interesting stories about Wright’s influence on the run game. Per TruMedia, Wright only won 60.7% of his run blocking snaps. That just doesn’t match with what the eye test said.
There were many times where Wright was turning defenders or executing strong combo blocks to widen the gap. Team success could be a coincidence, so it’s important to look at individual stats as well. Wright just didn’t look like a player who struggled in run blocking.
The team success when he came in is where Wright’s impact shines the brightest. On solely running back runs, the Saints went from 3.9 yards per carry to 4.5 yards per carry when Wright stepped into the lineup. This supports the impact of his play, and the fact that many of the best runs were on his side puts a slight question on the run blocking snaps win rate stat.
The team definitively ran better with Wright, and he clearly played a big role in that. That was his specialty coming out of college, so it’s no surprise that this is where his biggest impact has been the quickest.
Wright was no liability in the passing game either. If he sees some time as the starter, it’ll be interesting to see if he sustains this level of play. The team drafted him to be the next starting guard, so there should be no hesitation making the change once Wright has proven that’s exactly what he can be.
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