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NEW ORLEANS, La. – The decision by former New Orleans Saints’ Center, Max Unger, to retire at the conclusion of the 2018 season, made the center position an area of importance heading into the 2019 NFL Draft.

Unger was traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the New Orleans Saints in 2015, and was named to the Pro Bowl in his final NFL season.

So with their first pick of the 2019 draft, the Saints selected Texas A&M Center, Erik McCoy in the second round.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 15: Erik McCoy #78 of the New Orleans Saints lines up on the line of scrimmage during the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 15, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

McCoy started all 16 games in his rookie season with the Saints, a feat that Unger says is more difficult than people may think.

Unger says, “The guy came in there and just played his butt off. I watched him quite a bit. I talk to Dan (Roushar), our coach, off and on and he just had nothing but really good stuff to say about how Erik played. It was impressive. The guy came in, I think he started every game, right? At center, that’s hard to do especially in this offense and Drew (Brees) coming into the huddle and calling the plays at about 100 miles an hour. A lot of people have a lot of high expectations for him and really that whole group. I know that we have Cesar (Ruiz), we drafted another guy in the first round and I think that the expectations obviously pretty high for a first round draft pick coming in and playing.”

To hear what Unger has to say about the way Erik McCoy handled himself during his rookie season with the Saints, click the link above.