The New Orleans Saints have multiple major holes to fill after two season-ending injuries, and one solution will be simpler than the other.
Rookie Devin Neal is expected to step into a bigger role to replace Kendre Miller (torn ACL), but the Saints were still in the process as of Monday evening of making a decision on who would step in at center to replace Erik McCoy (torn biceps). Kellen Moore said the goal was to have a decision made by Tuesday to allow for a full week of practice with the new alignment.
"We have a few tools as far as, you know, guys who played center before in this league. .. I think it’s important that we make that decision by tonight/tomorrow, so that allows us to practice and get those guys ready to go for Sunday," Moore told Mike Hoss and Bobby Hebert.
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The options, barring any mid-week signings, include veteran Luke Fortner, RG Cesar Ruiz and UDFA Torricelli Simpkins. It was Fortner who took over against the Bears and he would figure to be the most likely option, with 34 starts under his belt during his three seasons with the Jaguars. Fortner was acquired in the preseason trade that sent DT Khalen Saunders to Jacksonville.
Ruiz played center throughout his college career at Michigan and has filled in at center before, but that hasn't been the case for the past several seasons as he's focused on guard. Simpkins also played center early in his college career, but has since focused on guard. He did step in during the preseason opener to replace Will Clapp, who went down with a season-ending injury.
"I think certainly those guys have been trending well, you know, it’s gonna be a new combination and so we’ve got to get those guys working together."
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As far as Neal, despite not getting much run early in his career coaches and teammates have raved about his intelligence as a young player. Neal had his training camp and preseason limited by a hamstring injury. He took on seven snaps and one carry against the Bears, while also returning kicks. The Saints could also look to Velus Jones Jr. on the practice squad for an increased role, or bring in an option on the free agent market or from another team's practice squad.
"We were excited about the potential for him to get more and more reps moving forward," Moore continued, "and I think he’s going to have a lot of success out there.”
How the Saints handle replacing those two players will be a major storyline in Week 8 when the Saints (1-6) return home to face the NFC South-leading Bucs (5-2) in New Orleans first divisional game of the year. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.
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MORE FROM MOORE
On Chris Olave in Week 7
“Chris, ... I thought he played really, really well. Obviously he had some challenges the previous week, just a couple drops, but he had a ton of production. In this game he was able to put it all together and made some really big-time, impact plays, some contested catches down in the red zone, which I thought were huge, the big play down the field. A lot of positives for him. I’m really happy for him – really excited for him.”
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On Spencer Rattler's turnovers
“It was an unfortunate game, obviously, the fumble, obviously is a controlled variable, you’re in the pocket, you’ve got to be able to secure it there. He knows that, and then after that with the … interceptions, we were just behind on one and a couple plays, the one deep, you know, post safety is able to make a play when it’s kind of late in the process, you’re trying to get it over the top and we’re trying to make a big play, but obviously we’ve got to be smart, protect it there, especially in that situation and give ourself a couple more downs to keep moving the ball, because we had been moving it fairly well. Once we got that touchdown at the end of the second quarter I thought there was some progress being made, we’ve just got to protect the ball moving forward.”
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On Quincy Riley's interception/DB play vs Bears
“I thought our corners took a step this week. I thought there was a lot of positives there. Quincy obviously led the way with the interception, the 3rd and 17 interception, you know, reading the pattern and making – trusting yourself and making a jump on it, so he’s a ball guy. He’s a ball production guy, he always has been. That’s what’s gonna get – keep him having more and more opportunities as we progress and so I feel like there was some positives on that back end. They had to cover for a little while, there was some plaster situations, which means we’re telling them they have to stay covered because the quarterback is in the scramble drill, the play is taking longer than normal. They did a really good job of keeping those guys covered up and not giving up the explosive plays in those scramble situations.”