During the Saints’ rookie minicamp over the weekend, offensive line coach Bret Ingalls said it was possible that first-round pick Andrus Peat could start his NFL career at guard if that means putting the team’s best five linemen on the field at the same time.
That approach is a possibility because the Saints are unsettled on a starter at left guard after trading Ben Grubbs to Kansas City. Peat was drafted as a tackle, though, and Zach Strief thinks he knows that the rookie is ultimately going to take over for him at right tackle.
“He’s taking my job eventually,” Strief said, via the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “That is definitely happening. At some point, that’s happening. My job and my role is to make that take as long as possible. And that’s how I’ll approach it. … I don’t know that ultimately anything really changes this year for me, or for him. And maybe it does, and that’s fine too. Because at the end of the day I think that’s a result of your performance and the fair way is generally the right way.”
If Peat were to beat out Strief, the possibility of a move to guard could shift to the veteran. It’s not something he expects to happen -- “a lot of people don’t know is how good [guards] Tim Lelito and Senio Kelemete are” -- but if the Saints are committed to playing the best five regardless of current positions it would seem everything is on the table in New Orleans.