Can the rebuilt offensive line help the Saints have a top offense in 2024?

Entering this offseason, priority No. 1 for the New Orleans Saints was to rebuild the offensive line. The unit wasn’t necessarily bad last season, but there was room for improvement, and a lot of moving pieces. Andrus Peat entered free agency and signed with the Las Vegas Raiders and James Hurst retried. Additionally, Ryan Ramczyk’s knee didn’t respond to surgery like everyone hoped.

All in all, the Saints could be entering next season with three new starting offensive linemen. They’ve made a few additions to the unit this offseason, but the question is if they were the right additions. Will New Orleans have a competent offensive line in 2024? Obviously, only time will tell, however, there’s definitely reason for fans to be concerned.

Saints offensive line is still a question mark

The selection of Taliese Fuaga with the 14th-overall pick was a great one. Let’s assume that he can be an adequate day-one starter at left tackle. Even with him in place, there are still a few question marks along the line. Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz will return at center and right guard, so those spots are good. Other than that, things are looking shaky.

New Orleans doesn’t have an established left guard and it’s unclear if Ryan Ramczyk will be able to play or not. If he can’t, New Orleans is in trouble. If he can, that will make things easier for the Saints, and they’ll only have to worry about the left side of the line. The team will likely be able figure out some combination of Fuaga and Trevor Penning at left tackle and left guard.

Penning was benched last season after opening the season as the starting left tackle, but it’s important to remember that he’s only entering year three. He could still have a productive career, especially at the guard spot. If he can thrive at guard, and Fuaga can transition to being a professional left tackle, while Ramczyk stays healthy, the line would be good. However, that’s several factors that have to fall into place.

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