By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — After losing their starting center Erik McCoy for 6-8 weeks after their Week 3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, offensive line injuries have only continued to pile up for the New Orleans Saints. Starting right guard Cesar Ruiz looks to be headed toward his second consecutive absence, veteran lineman Shane Limieux who stepped in well for McCoy last week has been out of practice since and now starting left guard Lucas Patrick was sidelined during Friday’s practice with a groin injury. This has led to the Saints pursuing another protector for their offensive front.
The Saints signed New York Jets offensive lineman Connor McGovern off of their practice squad on Friday. The move required New Orleans to add McGovern to their active roster, leading to the departure of wide receiver A.T. Perry, at least temporarily.
McGovern is one of three offensive linemen we highlighted at LouisianaSports.Net as viable options to replace McCoy while he starting center is out. The former Jets and Denver Broncos player has spent time with Saints offensive line coach John Benton and is familiar with the wide zone scheme. McGovern has taken the majority of his snaps at center and has over 5,000 snaps of NFL experience in total.
The Missouri alum was a fifth-round selection by the Broncos in 2016 and has started 91 of his 102 career games. While playing his college ball, he spent most of his time at left tackle. He has also taken pro snaps at left and right guard, but rarely.
The lineman’s greatest asset to New Orleans is his experience in the zone run game. Per Fantasy Points’ Data Suite, the Saints have run the most zone runs in the NFL with 89 such attempts. From an efficiency standpoint on those runs, New Orleans ranks No. 13 in the league with 4.66 yards per carry. However in Weeks 1, 2 and 4, that average jumps up to 5.17, good for No. 7 in the NFL.
When it comes to zone/gap run splits for McGovern, zone runs have taken up the bulk of his experience. Per Pro Football Focus, 53.6% of his career run blocking snaps have come in zone. During his two-year overlap with Benton in 2021 and 2022, that percentage held strong at 53.5%.
McGovern also checks a box rarely spoken of outside the draft season, his Relative Athletic Score (RAS). RAS is a composite score that contextualizes NFL Scouting Combine results and testing relative to the historical results at a player’s position. On a scale of 10, the Saints’ new piece scores highly with a 9.94 when run as a center. The high score suggests that McGovern came out of college with measureables that set him up to be at an athletic advantage in the pros. For a team that is running a wide zone scheme, that is a huge benefit.
None of this is to suggest that all of a sudden there will be no drop off from McCoy. That would be a false expectation. McCoy was ranked as the highest-graded offensive lineman in football at the time that his injury set in. But there is no doubt that this is a solid pickup from a traits and athleticism perspective. New Orleans has been hemorrhaging talent along the offensive line, and McGovern can is an experienced, familiar and athletic addition that could provide some relief where it’s desperately needed for the team.
