The New Orleans Saints said that they took a quality over quantity approach in the 2020 NFL draft, but it took a while for that philosophy to bare fruit. Their top pick, Cesar Ruiz, didn’t win a starting job and struggled to move to right guard after snapping the ball at center during his college career. While there was some thought that Ruiz could compete with Erik McCoy at his natural position at center in his second offseason, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
On Tuesday, following the first Saints minicamp practice session of 2021, Ruiz said on a conference call that he’s focused on playing at right guard, which lines up with what new Saints assistant line coach Zach Strief indicated in May to the Athletic’s Katherine Terrell, saying: “It’s going to be hard to beat (McCoy) out.