There wasn’t much to be excited about when watching the New Orleans Saints last year, but one player did solidify his status as a star with maybe his best season yet (when healthy).
Pro Football Focus’ Thomas Valentine recently went through each NFL team to find their most improved player and for the Saints, it was actually someone that was already a standout player: center Erik McCoy. Here is what Valentine had to say about McCoy’s year:
The Saints started the 2024 season hot before dramatically cratering for the majority of the season. Ultimately, there wasn’t much to wax lyrical about, but McCoy‘s play at center was one of the rare bright spots. He 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.
The former second-round draft pick is a hard player to discuss after last year. While McCoy was outstanding when on the field, he was just rarely on it. He is not at all to blame for the dysfunction on the offensive line, but not having an established leader at center definitely didn’t help. McCoy had to undergo groin surgery early in the season and then injured his elbow after returning.
McCoy has now missed at least four games in just as many seasons as he has been healthy. He played all 16 games in 2019 and 2020 plus all 17 games in 2023, but was limited to 12 of 17 games in 2021, 13 of 17 in 2022, and a career-low 7 games this year. Injuries have been a recurring theme for the entire offensive line, but one full year in the last four is not what New Orleans wants out of a star player.
Moving forward, him staying healthy and playing at a high level is the best case scenario. The Saints could also consider, however, testing his trade value and give their rebuild a nice boost. Trading an injury-prone player for more than they may be worth has worked out with the Marshon Lattimore deal so far, so it shouldn’t be ruled out for McCoy.
