Legendary 49ers coach Bill Walsh once said quarterback is the most difficult position to evaluate, and a half century of drafts since then indicate the inventor of the West Coast offense probably knew what he was talking about.

There’s often widespread consensus that a certain college player is the best at the position, maybe even a once-in-a-generation talent. So the team that was luckiest enough to be the crappiest in the NFL the previous season takes him first overall, only to discover in a year or two the can’t-miss prospect is really good at throwing the ball to the other team (we’re looking at you, Cam Ward).

The New Orleans Saints scouts and talent evaluators are to be given much credit for ignoring consensus views and taking the practically geriatric Tyler Shough with the 40th pick early in the second round last year. Less than 18 months later, Shough is showing strong evidence he’s going to be a star in this league, and may ultimately be a better Saints player than anyone not named Drew Brees.

Now, in fairness, if the Saints scout team were really good, they would have passed on Kelvin Banks with the ninth pick and taken Shough there. Not that Banks wasn’t a stud left tackle before his injury, but franchise quarterbacks only come around every so often. If they knew he was THIS good, they wouldn’t have risked letting him slide.

Still, the scout team and Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis are to be commended for hitting the bullseye with the most important position on the field.

One position that they’ve absolutely, utterly, completely whiffed on, however, is offensive line. The Saints haven’t been abysmal up front — some teams’ offensive lines more resemble matadors than guards and tackles — but if the team were a hedge fund, the board would say the OL hasn’t delivered ROI.

The Saints have invested three first-round picks and one second-round pick in the current offensive line, and that doesn’t count the 2022 first-rounder Trevor Penning, who blocked like his shoes were made of Quikrete and is no longer with the team. Also, in the offseason, the Saints lured veteran guard David Edwards away from the Bills with a four-year, $61 million deal. That’s a lot of draft and monetary capital invested in a position the organization has rightly determined is essential for a highly functioning offense.

Saints fans should expect to see a brick wall up there, an impenetrable shield that gives Shough all the time he needs to find some of the best receivers in football.

But instead, Shough spends every game running for his life, often forced to make something happen after being pushed from his spot before the play can even develop. It’s been obvious to any fan who’s watched the team’s first three games. The opposing quarterback can sit back, survey the field and pick the best option to spin the ball to. Shough has to dodge 320-pound missiles intent to explode on his midsection.

ESPN tracks team pass-block win rate, and the Saints rank 23rd with 47%. That means more than half the time the team drops back to pass, Shough has to deal with defenders closing up his pocket. Two of the teams the Saints played, the Lions (60%) and Raiders (59%) have substantially better pass-block win rates through the first three weeks of the season.

Cesar Ruiz, in particular, has been a disaster. Pro Football Focus gives him a grade of 59.2, which ranks 44th out of 73 qualified guards. Saints fans may be surprised his rating is even as high as it is. They were appalled to see him blocking absolutely no one during a critical play in this week’s loss to the Raiders.

That’s not exactly great ROI for a guy you drafted in the first round in 2020.

Taliese Fuaga hasn’t been much better, and is maybe a little worse. His overall grade is 53.5, ranking him an horrendous 60 out of 69 qualified tackles. Fuaga has been atrocious on pass-blocking, ranking 66 among 69 tackles.

Fuaga was selected 14th overall, in the first round of the 2024 draft.

Asim Richards, who took over for Banks, has also been a problem. The former Dallas Cowboy, whom the Saints acquired in a trade a year ago, has scored a PFF grade of 53.3, ranking him 61st among 69 qualified tackles.

Fans can cut him some slack since he’s filling in for the stellar Banks, but that still doesn’t help Shough when he’s getting clobbered from behind while intending to throw the ball forward.

Edwards and Erik McCoy have been relative bright spots along the Saints offensive line. Edwards’ overall grade is 66.8, which ranks 26th among 73 qualified guards. He’s been better in pass-blocking (69.7) than run-blocking (62.1)

At 70.3, McCoy’s grade is highest on the offensive line, ranking 4th among 32 qualified centers.

Maybe the problem is coaching. Maybe Brendan Nugent, in his second stint as Saints offensive-line coach, isn’t the right man for the job. Maybe his methods and techniques aren’t ideally matched for his players.

Fuaga looked like a future star during his rookie season in 2024, earning a PFF grade of 65.7. That declined a bit to 65.0 last year, but it was still considerably better than this year’s 53.5.

Players should get better as they get more experience, not worse.

Something has to change, or the jackpot the Saints hit with Shough is going to turn into snake eyes.