We’ve talked a lot about the concerns at guard for the Saints this coming season on twitter and the podcast. We’re not sure who the two starters will be and we’re not sure if they’ll be serviceable. But the Saints do have competition, experience and some options. How it shakes out is just not clear. One thing is starting to seem pretty clear to me, though:
Unless a starting tackle gets injured, Andrus Peat will start at guard.
Call it a hot take, an easy to make obvious prediction, or a leap of faith… whatever you want. But I firmly believe he’s all but locked up one of the starting guard spots. The reason I think this is the Saints are three deep at tackle with Terron Armstead, Zach Strief and Peat. Sean Payton has repeatedly said the best 5 players will start on this line. You could argue the Saints are zero deep, or 3 deep at guard (depending on your evaluation of Tim Lelito, Senio Kelemete and Landon Turner). But unless something happens to Strief and Armstead in camp, where then it just makes sense to start Peat at tackle, I don’t see those guys getting benched or moved. That’s why Peat will be playing guard if they both sustain a decent level of play (mostly talking about Strief here) and stay healthy. Peat was a 1st round pick and for lack of better articulation – he better ready to assume the role of being one of the five best linemen on the team. He’s a first round pick for crying out loud.
Based on this, it’s Tim Lelito vs. Senio Kelemete for the other starting spot.
That’s the battle that will determine the other starting spot in my opinion. Kelemete’s playing time bonus contract structure was no accident, the Saints only want to pay him more if he earns the job. Kelemete has played center, guard and even started a game at tackle against the Falcons – so he’s in a good spot regardless of how this all plays out. It feels like Kelemete would be the primary reserve at all positions even if he didn’t win a starting spot. This will be a great battle to watch in camp, though it’s resolution will still leave questions. Will the winner be developed enough to finally be consistent, and will Peat live up to his billing as a 1st round pick?
But what about Landon Turner??
There’s a lot of guys in the mix here. Not just Turner. He’s a UDFA and I’m not ready to vault him above anyone else based on where many thought he would be drafted. Turner was a trendy talking point right after the draft and many fans were ready to immediately insert him into the starting lineup. That’s just not realistic. For him to beat out Peat, Lelito or Kelemete – when they have time to task, experience, and a proven record of at least being real NFL players is not a scenario any of us should expect. Remember there’s Cyril Lemon, who I was pretty impressed with last training camp, there’s Kaleb Eulls and his curious position switch, there’s center Jack Allen who comes to the Saints with a college career as decorated as Turner’s, and there’s many more youngsters we know relatively little about.
So we’re not really sure how it plays out, but my logistical expectation is that we’ll be seeing Peat and Lelito or Kelemete as your starting guards on opening day. Right now? I like Kelemete. Who do you think will be the two starting guards?
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