Saints Opening Week Depth Chart Released

The New Orleans Saints will open their 2020 regular-season-schedule this Sunday when they play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC South Division showdown.

On Monday, the Saints' unofficial opening week depth chart was released.

Now, understanding that depth charts can, and normally do change, at numerous times throughout the year, there are actually few surprises in this one for the Saints.

Drew Brees is obviously listed as the starting quarterback, with Alvin Kamara at running back, and Michael Burton at fullback.

The wideouts are Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, with Jared Cook at tight end.

The listed starters are the offensive line are Erik McCoy at center, flanked by rookie Cesar Ruiz at right guard and Andrus Peat at left guard, with Terron Armstead at left tackle and Ryan Ramczyk at right tackle.

Maybe the only question on the offensive side was whether or not Ruiz, the Saints' first-round draft choice, was going to play center or guard.

Long term, he still may be a center, but he'll apparently start at right guard on Sunday.

On the defensive side of the football, Sheldon Rankins and David Onyemata are listed as co-starters at defensive tackle, with Malcolm Brown the starter at nose tackle.

Those interior defensive linemen are flanked by Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport at defensive end.

The listed starters at linebacker are Demario Davis, Alex Anzalone, and Kaden Eliss.

The secondary is comprised of Marshon Lattimore and Jenoris Jenkins at the cornerback slots, with Marcus Williams and Malcolm Jenkins at the safties.

On defense, maybe the only question was at the Sam linebacker position, which Eliss, a 2019 7th-round draft choice out of Idaho who missed most of last season with a knee injury, will apparently get the first crack at, with Kiko Alonso on the PUP list.

The specialists are placekicker Wil Lutz, punter Thomas Morstead and long snapper Zach Wood.

Again, depth charts will change throughout the season, and some will even change during the week, so expect the one in Week 6 to look at least a little different.

Another thing you shouldn't fall into the trap of reading to much into are the backups.

For example, Taysom Hill is listed as the second-team quarterback, while Jameis Winston is listed as the third-team quarterback. That may only be in a short term situation.

If Brees would go down to an injury and miss multiple games, as he did last season, it likely, although not certain, that Winston would get the start(s) in that situation.

So, yes, the depth chart can, and likely will change, especially unofficial ones like this one, but it's always fun to view.