Saints social media is back on their BS, as per usual, because we didn’t take a quarterback from a pretty mid class with the ninth pick. I could argue that a genuinely good offensive lineman – the likes of, say, Kelvin Banks Jr. – is what we needed before even considering a QB, and they started flying off the board pretty quickly. In fact, I’ll go ahead and argue that right now.

Picture it: Week 3, 2024. The Saints have been on fire for the previous two weeks. Not just winning, but absolutely dominating. We’re in the middle of holding our own with the Eagles, who obviously were the best team in the league. Erik McCoy goes down. At a speed that can only be described as dizzying, our remaining o line becomes a house of cards. We continue to fight, but still lose 12-15. Well, this is a formidable opponent, so surely we’ll get back on track next week, right?

Six more losses in a row follow. As the kids say, “the falloff needs to be studied.” There’s no studying needed, though. One guy on the offensive line turned out to be the keystone holding the entire Saints offense together, and it was clear as day. Cesar Ruiz was a close second in terms of performance (so of course we lost him too while he was carrying the bulk of the protection), and Taliese Fuaga was still learning the ropes. This was not a recipe for a great offense, and the results spoke for themselves.

Will Kelvin Banks turn out to be an NFL-ready generational talent like the Saints had in the past with guys like Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk? We can hope. With Ramczyk’s retirement closing the door to his return, and guys like Fuaga still continuing to develop and Trevor Penning remaining iffy at best, we need insurance. If you don’t think o line is important enough to draft at 9, I’ll cite Exhibit A: 2024 CJ Stroud.

So, welcome to the trenches of the New Orleans Saints, Mr. Banks. And I hope your baby’s feeling better.