With the 24th pick in the first round, New Orleans selected Michigan center/guard Cesar Ruiz on Thursday, April 23.
- Ruiz is the 10th Michigan player selected by New Orleans. He is the first former Wolverine selected by the Saints since receiver Adrian Arrington was picked in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
- Ruiz is the first former Michigan player selected in the first round by New Orleans.
- This was the fourth time in franchise history that New Orleans has selected a player with the 24th pick in the NFL Draft, joining linebacker Alvin Toles (1985), fullback Craig Heyward (1988) and defensive end Cameron Jordan (2011).
- Davenport is the 12th offensive lineman selected by New Orleans in the first round, joining guard John Shinners (1969), guard Royce Smith (1972), guard Kurt Schumacher (1975), tackle Stan Brock (1980), tackle Jim Dombrowski (1986), tackle William Roaf (1993), guard Chris Naeole (1997), tackle Kyle Turley (1988), tackle Jammal Brown (2005), guard/tackle Andrus Peat (2015) and tackle Ryan Ramczyk (2017).
- The 6-foot-4, 316-pound Ruiz was a three-year letterman, who appeared in 36 games at Michigan, making 31 consecutive starting assignments to finish his career. He opened five games at right guard in 2017 and 26 straight at center the past two seasons.
- As a junior in 2019, Ruiz started all 13 games at center including his third consecutive bowl game with the start against Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl. Ruiz was selected as an All-Big Ten second-team selection by the conference coaches, as he was the highest-graded pass blocking center in the country according to Pro Football Focus.
- It marks the second consecutive year the Saints have selected an offensive lineman with their top pick in the NFL Draft, after center/guard Erik McCoy was selected in the second round out of Texas A&M in 2019.
- A native of Pennsauken, N.J., Ruiz was the Rivals No. 1 center recruit coming out of IMG Academy in Florida where he played from 2015-16
- Ruiz majored in Afro-American and African studies at Michigan.
- The Saints have four picks remaining in the 2020 NFL Draft. They are scheduled to pick in the third round with the 88th pick Friday evening.
