The New Orleans Saints have a new quarterback in Derek Carr, and they'll need to protect him like their lives depended on it if they want to get back to the playoffs. 

Ryan Ramczyk, a former first-round pick in 2017 by the Saints, will be one of the men that particular task will be placed on, and he's still playing at a pretty high level.

Ramczyk had a run-blocking grade of 73.8 and a pass-blocking grade of 76.4 in 2022. Also, the 12 hurries he gave up were a career-low and his 20 pressures allowed were the second-fewest of his career. 

This was enough for ESPN to give Ramczyk an honorable mention nod on their top 10 offensive tackle rankings. 

Ramczyk's 79.6% run block win rate ranked 14th in the NFL. "Still a really good player, dependable, good across the board, no major weakness," an NFC exec said. "I haven't seen any decline with him. As a run-blocker, he's really high end." –Jeremy Fowler, ESPN 

Not only has Ramczyk been a very good player for the Saints he's been a reliable one. Ramczyk has started all 89 games that he's played in and the only significant time he's missed was seven games in 2021 with a knee injury. 

The Saints came into the offseason under some dire financial straits. Ramczyk helped out tremendously with a contract restructure that open up $10.3 million for the team.

Barring an injury, expect Ramczyk to be one of the better offensive tackles in football again in 2023.

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Feature image via Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports