The 2024 season was a bad one for the New Orleans Saints, with the team finishing 5-12. However, throughout the many disappointing weeks of football, there were some positive moments for New Orleans, and players who gave fans a reason to be excited.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently tried to highlight one of those players. Thomas Valentine, a contributor for PFF, recently named the most improved player for all 32 teams. For the Saints, Valentine argued that veteran center Erik McCoy was the team’s most improved player.
That selection certainly comes as a surprise to Saints fans, because McCoy was already pretty good, and he barely played this past season. Still, he’s the player that PFF landed on.
PFF names Erik McCoy as the Saints’ most-improved player in 2024
Valentine acknowledged that McCoy played in less than half the games this season, but still included him on the list because of his dominant grade amongst centers when he was on the field.
"McCoy played in just seven games in 2024 but led all centers with a 94.2 grade, the highest grade for a center since Jason Kelce earned a 94.4 grade in 2017. McCoy played just 293 snaps in 2024, but his 1.9% pressure rate allowed was the fourth-lowest among centers, and he allowed zero sacks in 154 pass-blocking snaps. On top of that, McCoy really excelled as a run-blocker, earning a 94.5 run-blocking grade, leading the position."Thomas Valentine (PFF)
It was clear the Saints were a different team with McCoy on the field. When the 2023 Pro Bowler was healthy in the first two weeks of the season, the offense had tremendous balance as it put up over 40 points in the first two games. McCoy going down in Week 3 was the start of everything going wrong for the Saints, and he was just the first key player to sustain a significant injury.
When the 2025 season starts, New Orleans will be hoping that McCoy and everyone else can stay healthy, so the Saints can deliver all season long instead of just two weeks.