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jeanpierre

BY ROD WALKER | rwalker@theadvocate.com Dec 28, 2018 - 3:06 pm

Andrus Peat went to college at Stanford, so he's had plenty of tough assignments before.

But the one he had on Sunday was one of the toughest in his four years in the NFL.

He started the game at his normal position of left guard. Then he made the switch to right tackle for two plays when Ryan Ramczyk was injured. Then he switched to left tackle when Terron Armstead got hurt.

"It was pretty tough," Peat said. "I had done two before, but never three. So it was hard, but at the same time when you're out there you and they tell you to slide over, you just have to do it."

Those who line up on the offensive line with Peat know how difficult it is. Switching from guard to tackle is tough. Switching from the left side of the line to the right side is even tougher.

"Is it tough?" said right guard Larry Warford. "Oh my God. It's like trying to write with your left hand if you're right hand dominant. People don't understand that you can't just flip from a guard to tackle or from one side to another. If I try to get in a left hand stance, I'm all out of whack because I have been playing on the right side the whole year. For a guy to be able to pick it up and do a good job of it is tough."

It's especially tough having to make a position switch in the middle of game, playing one position on one play and another on the next.

"At that point you're just trying to survive," Warford said. "That shows what type of player he is. You pretty much have to flip the playbook in your head right in the middle of the game. It's just him being a savvy player and getting the job done. That's just Peat."

Ramczyk has had to make the switch before, moving from left tackle to right tackle.

"But if you go from guard to tackle, it’s different, Ramczyk said. "You have different combinations, you have different set patterns. That’s not an easy thing to do. It shows a lot about him as a person and a player, that he can deal with that and then succeed at those positions.”

There will be even more reshuffling the deck for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. Warford, Terron Armstead and Jermon Bushrod have all been ruled "out" for the game.

"We have a great group of guys and we have had to move some of those guys around throughout the year and they've handled that well," said offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael."

Versatility has been pertinent for an offensive line that has had its share of injuries this season. It's helped the Saints stay cohesive when it loses some of its pieces to have moveable parts like Peat.

"He has some good position flexibility," Sean Payton said. "Ryan Ramczyk is the same way. If you’re dressing seven linemen for a game, which is really not a lot and you get in a pinch with injuries, you hope to have some guys that have position flexibility.”

The health of the offensive line will be key for the Saints to make a run towards the Super Bowl. The lone has fared well for the most part this season. But Drew Brees was under a lot of pressure in Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of the 17 times Brees was pressured, only two of those pressures were allowed by Peat, despite playing three different positions.

"The main thing is just getting into a rhythm," Peat said. "It feels different going to the other side because I'm just so used to having my left foot back. So when I go over there I have to flip everything and it feels different in your hips and everything. But once I get into a rhythm, I'm fine."

Besides, he's had harder assignments before.

So how does having to play three positions in the same game compare to those classes he took at Stanford?

"Well, it's not THAT tough," Peat said.

It's not that my way is the right way, I just make the right way my way...

jeanpierre

If he wasn't having to jump between LG and LT so much, he'd already be a ProBowler...

Wouldn't be surprised if he sees the commitment and false hope the Saints FO puts in Armstead and he goes somewhere else to get a starting LT gig...

...and surpasses Armstead not only in Complete Games Played, but in quality as well...

homerj07

"Versatility has been pertinent"

Peat has been ragged on by the forums before. This puts his play into better perspective

jeanpierre

Yep, it's often the guy getting asked to sacrifice for the team who goes unappreciated by the media talking heads...

Cruize

The only concern about Peat is his health.

Rugby Saint II

I like to eat. He's a pancake blocker. He did come in soft and it took him a year to toughen up which he did nicely in my opinion. He broke his leg at the end of the season last year and had some difficulty returning to form this year. I don't think he's an injury liability at all. I think he's a better guard than tackle but he gives it everything when he's on the field.