The New Orleans Saints made a bold move to get a new center in the 2019 NFL Draft, trading up in a deal with the Miami Dolphins. They landed a top prospect in former Texas A&M Aggies center Erik McCoy, who should replace Pro Bowl center Max Unger in the starting lineup following the latter’s retirement earlier this offseason.
McCoy has every qualification you’d look for. Per Pro Football Focus charting, he allowed just one sack in more than 1,500 career snaps on passing downs. That’s ridiculous — but his per-game stats are even more eyebrow raising. When the Aggies took the LSU Tigers to seven overtimes during a 2018 matchup, McCoy never left the field for 113 snaps. 67 of those were on pass plays, and he ended the game with just one pressure allowed. That’s incredible, and it clearly shows why the Saints targeted him.
Saints fans have a good one in the building. Nick Easton was signed in free agency as an insurance policy; he’ll figure to compete for the starting gig, but it’s McCoy’s to lose. Given that left guard Andrus Peat is playing on a fifth-year option, making him a free agent next season, the Saints could try to trade him for more picks and slide Easton into his spot. There’s a lot of ways they can move forward as a team, but one sure thing is that McCoy can be trusted to hold down his spot on the line.
