The New Orleans Saints sit 51 days away from their 2025 regular season opening game. They’ll host the Arizona Cardinals as the start to their 59th NFL season and first under new head coach Kellen Moore. Wearing No. 51 for the Saints is one of the team’s returning players, Cesar Ruiz. A guard on the team’s hopeful improvement on the offensive line, Ruiz is also the subject of our Saints Player of the Day.

Name (age): Cesar Ruiz (26)

Height, weight: 6-foot-3, 316 pounds

College: Michigan Wolverines

Relative Athletic Score: 9.07

Drafted: Round 1, 24th overall in 2020 (Saints)

2025 salary cap hit: $5,866,000

After attending Camden High School in New Jersey, Ruiz would transfer to the famed IMG Academy in Florida for his final two years of high school. There, he was an Under Armour High School All-American in 2017 that decided on Michigan from several national offers. As a true freshman in 2017, Ruiz started half of the games for the Wolverines at guard. He won the job at center the following season, playing every game there for the next two years. In 2019, Ruiz was a Rimington Award finalist and second-team All-Big Ten selection.

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In need of an interior lineman, the Saints selected Ruiz with the 24th selection of the 2020 NFL draft. He was the only interior blocker taken off the board in Round 1. Ruiz would appear in 15 of 16 contests during the regular season as a rookie, making nine starts then two more in the playoffs. Since 2021, Ruiz has started 60 of a possible 68 outings for New Orleans. Most at right guard, but some at center as an injury fill-in. He was the only player to play every offensive snap for the Saints in 2021.

Despite inconsistent play, New Orleans awarded Ruiz with a four-year contract extension early in 2023. At just 26, he’s part of a youthful offensive line for the Saints that includes three other first round picks drafted since 2022. Cesar Ruiz is expected to be part of vast improvements up front for New Orleans in 2025, with his run blocking being a specific strength.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Cesar Ruiz is the Saints Player of Day 51