Top 25 Saints of 2020: No. 7, Terron Armstead

Terron Armstead gutted out another season for the Saints, and it was one of his best. New Orleans will need him to do it again in 2020.

The New Orleans Saints gear up for training camp next Monday, and will have a short timeframe along with the rest of the NFL to get up to speed before Week 1 hits. It's hard to imagine a scene where football doesn't exist and have fans in the stands with limited coverage, but it has seemingly grown into a cold reality that we're about to face in September. Hopefully, we can get past things and move into a sense of normalcy at some point before 2020 ends. However, that might be wishful thinking.

We keep looking at our top Saints players heading into the new season, and we're getting close to the Top 5. Today's spotlight has one of the two big men on the front line that will be featured in the Top 10.

The Countdown

• No. 25, Latavius Murray | No. 24, Taysom Hill | No. 23, C.J. Gardner-Johnson
• No. 22, Malcom Brown | No. 21, Marcus Williams | No. 20, Deonte Harris
• No. 19, Andrus Peat | No. 18, Cesar Ruiz | No. 17, Janoris Jenkins
• No. 16, Thomas Morstead | No. 15, Wil Lutz | No. 14, Marcus Davenport
• No. 13, Erik McCoy | No. 12, David Onyemata | No. 11, Malcolm Jenkins
• No. 10, Emmanuel Sanders | No. 9, Jared Cook | No. 8, Marshon Lattimore

No. 7 - Terron Armstead

Terron Armstead, who appeared in 990 snaps for the Saints in 2019, finished out as Pro Football Focus' 9th overall offensive tackle with a 81.2 grade. His 85.0 grade in pass protection was 5th in the league. He allowed just a single sack on 579 pass-blocking snaps. Armstead battled through a wrist injury in the late part of the season, missing just the regular season finale against the Panthers. He was the winner and team nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, which encompasses a player's dedication to the community and charitable contributions while displaying excellent play on the field.

Terron Armstead laid it on the line in Week 14 vs. San Fran! Nowhere near 100%, just 2 weeks removed from a high ankle sprain with a visible limp. He played every snap and played well. Then went into the walking boot right after the game. Special, special performance. pic.twitter.com/haglvXYt3t

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) December 12, 2019

Armstead's Outlook in 2020

When he's in the lineup, there is little to no one better protecting the blind side to Drew Brees. Him and Ryan Ramczyk form quite the formidable tandem at tackle, and are one of the league's best. Armstead recently made it clear that it's Super Bowl or bust for the Saints this season. It helps when you have a lot of the key pieces returning, and Armstead thinks six weeks is enough time, but the margin for error is smaller. 

"We have to be locked in every day," Armstead said recently.

One of the things that makes Armstead so unique is the community work, and he's looking at building another community center in New Orleans. He's not too bad of a rapper either, recently releasing "My Zone" in mid-July. Armstead has two seasons left under contract with the Saints, and just turned 29. He should have another dominant season on his hands.