New Orleans got a tough update in training camp on Sunday, and it immediately put more pressure on the Saints’ interior offensive line plans. Head coach Kellen Moore said Dillon Radunz has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his knee, an injury that is likely to wipe out his season.
That’s a major setback for a depth chart that already doesn’t have much veteran help in reserve at a lot of spots. Radunz had been lined up as the sixth man on game days, the kind of lineman who could slide in at either guard position when needed. With him out, the Saints have to reshuffle how they want to get through the year.
That’s where rookie Jeremiah Wright comes into the picture. The fourth-round pick out of Auburn has worked at right guard with the third-string offense and, by all accounts, has held up well in team drills.
But he’s also been dealing with his own issue: a shoulder injury that has kept him out since Aug. 5.
Moore called it “day to day,” and Wright has now missed three days of work.
For New Orleans, the timing matters. Wright needs the reps, and the Saints need someone they can trust behind Cesar Ruiz. The team had planned to move Ruiz to center with the second-string offensive line for two days of practice, but Radunz’s injury changed that plan.
For now, William Sherman is the second-string guard sitting between Ruiz and Wright on the depth chart. Sherman did start a couple of games late last season when Ruiz was out with an injury, though the results were uneven. The Saints would clearly prefer to get Wright back on the field sooner rather than later and start moving him up the pecking order.
In Other News...
Saints Injury Pileup Is Raising An Early Roster Concern
Training camp always has a way of testing a rosters patience, and New Orleans is feeling that early. The Saints have already dealt with a handful of injury bumps as camp gets underway, and the concern is less about any single practice scare than the cumulative effect on a team that cannot afford to lose much depth. The offensive line is a particular area to watch, where any absence tends to ripple quickly through the rest of the offense.
Chris Olaves wrist issue added another brief scare before he was back on the field, which at least spared the Saints a longer wait for clarity there. But the bigger picture remains a little uneasy, especially with Bryan Bresee among the players the team has been forced to absorb into its injury mix. New Orleans is still early in the evaluation phase, yet the tone of camp has already shifted toward how well the roster can withstand the kind of attrition that tends to show up before September. [Read more 🡒]
Drew Brees Put New Orleans Emotions Front And Center Again
Drew Brees used his Hall of Fame moment to bring New Orleans back into the center of the story, and in the process he reminded everyone why his career with the Saints meant more than wins and losses. During his enshrinement speech, Brees reflected on the city, his years in black and gold, and the bond that grew between quarterback and community as he became one of the defining figures in franchise history.
He also revisited the shadow Hurricane Katrina cast over the city and the lessons it forced about love and resilience, underscoring how much New Orleans had to rebuild and how much trust it placed in him along the way. Brees spoke with real emotion about his role in that recovery, including the work of the Brees Dream Foundation, which became part of the citys reconstruction story as much as his play on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Suddenly Have A Cam Jordan Concern They Can't Ignore
Cam Jordan has been one of the few constants in New Orleans for more than a decade, and the Saints pass rush has long been built around his presence. Drafted by the club in 2011, he is now entering his 16th NFL season and is tied for the second-longest tenure with one team among active players. His reliability has been part of the story, too, since he has missed only two games in his career and sits atop the Saints all-time sack list with 132.
The concern now is that Jordan is dealing with a hamstring issue that popped up in practice and has already kept him off the field. Even if there is no clarity yet on how serious it is, any missed time from a player with his history changes the look of New Orleans defense in a hurry. For a veteran who has been so durable for so long, this is the kind of situation the Saints cannot simply brush aside. [Read more 🡒]