METAIRIE, La. -- So much for the idea of easing Ryan Ramczyk into his NFL career.
The 32nd pick in this year’s NFL draft was limited throughout the New Orleans Saints’ OTAs and minicamp because of a January hip surgery. And the plan when he was drafted was for him to spend the year as an understudy behind veteran right tackle Zach Strief.
Well, that didn’t last long.
Ramczyk lined up as the Saints’ first-string left tackle Thursday in his first full NFL practice, a job that unexpectedly opened up when Terron Armstead suffered a shoulder injury last month. Armstead is expected to miss at least half the season.
“It’s unfortunate that Terron had to go down. But at the same time it’s a huge opportunity for me. And I’ve gotta embrace it and make the most out of it,” said the 6-foot-6, 314-pound Ramczyk, who played for just one season at Wisconsin -- at a very high level -- after transferring from Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Ramczyk admitted of the realization that he was lining up as the starting left tackle in one of the NFL’s top offenses, flanked by players including Drew Brees, Adrian Peterson and Mark Ingram. “It’s a great feeling. And I’ve just gotta keep working and secure that position.”
Ramczyk is also very well aware that he is being charged with protecting Brees’ blind side.
“It’s a huge opportunity and it comes with great responsibility,” Ramczyk said. “So I just gotta keep working every day and make sure I can get it done.”
Although Ramczyk was mostly studying the right-tackle position when the playbook was first installed during OTAs and minicamps, he said it’s not that difficult to “just flip it in your brain.” And the physical part is easy since he’s switching back to his old position, which he said “obviously feels natural.”
Ramczyk will face competition from veteran Khalif Barnes -- who split time with Ramczyk on Thursday -- among others. And if none of them pans out, the Saints could always move left guard Andrus Peat over to tackle, as they did when Armstead was hurt last season.
Saints coach Sean Payton said for Ramczyk to earn the job, it will “require a level of consistency and trust.”
The real test for Ramczyk will be dealing with the ups and downs that are sure to start coming once the Saints strap on the full pads for the first time Saturday.
Strief -- a 12th-year veteran -- said he thinks Ramczyk has the right mental makeup to handle it. But he and other veterans have tried to prepare the rookie for the struggles he is about to endure.
“There’s just such a jump physically,” Strief said. “We tell ‘em, ‘When we put pads on, your first four reps are gonna feel like the four hardest reps of your college career, no matter who you’re playing against.’ It’s just what it is. Not only are those guys more physically talented, but there’s 90 grown men in here fighting for a job. You’ve never experienced that in practice ...
“If you’re a first-round tackle in this league, you did not lose much the year before -- and rarely ever in practice. And you’re gonna come here, and the first week you’re gonna get beat more than you did the four previous years in college. That’s a mental difficulty for guys.
“So it’s a tough transition, one that I think takes a lot of mental toughness, and I think he’s got it.”
Strief spent an extra week training with Ramczyk and some of the other Saints linemen -- including third-year pro Peat -- between minicamp and training camp. Strief invited them to join him for a rigorous program he learned from former Saints veteran Jon Stinchcomb, which simulates the type of shock-to-the-system, high-repetition workload that comes during training camp.
“I think No. 1, he’s physically very talented. I think that’s necessary. But you know, we haven’t seen him play in pads yet. So there’s, I think for him as well, tons of unknowns there,” Strief said of Ramczyk. “But I think he has the mental makeup to work through those growing pains.”
