This is a gut punch. The New Orleans Saints put right guard Cesar Ruiz on injured reserve with a foot issue, likely ending his season — and taking one of this year’s more dependable players out of the lineup for the final three games left on their schedule. Ruiz had achieved a streak of 31 consecutive starts for New Orleans, the longest active streak on the team; his 869 snaps played on offense this lead the team.
Ruiz came on strong this year under the tutelage of new offensive line coach Doug Marrone, and he was arguably the most steady player for the Saints up front in 2022. He certainly made strides over his past performance. Snap-by-snap charting at Pro Football Focus found Ruiz allowed just 17 quarterback pressures on 516 reps in pass protection this year; for context, they dinged him with 31 pressures on 610 pass pro snaps in 2021 and 27 of them on 481 plays as a rookie in 2020.
Hopefully he can make a clean recovery and continue to level up in 2023. The Saints need Ruiz to be part of the solution moving forward. This year he proved he can avoid being part of the problem. Now we just need to wait and see if he can take the next step. In the meantime, look for his backup Calvin Throckmorton to fill in for Ruiz at right guard to close out the 2022 season.
