No one position on the New Orleans Saints roster has garnered more curiosity and conversation than the running back room. That makes an early 53-man roster projection for the group a little challenging. But recent developments may have cleared things up just enough.
The ongoing “will-they-won’t-they” around Alvin Kamara has dominated the offseason thus far, but his surprising attendance at voluntary Organized Team Activities (OTAs) may be pushing the situation toward a long-awaited resolution.
If so, the room becomes marginally easier to predict, but still holds a number of questions regarding who fills out the rest of the position group behind Kamara and top free agent Travis Etienne Jr.
Running Back Projection – 4 (7)
- Travis Etienne Jr.
- Alvin Kamara
- Devin Neal
- Audric Estime
The most glaring odd man out here is Kendre Miller. But the facts are simple. In order to compete, you have to be available. Right now, Miller is still sidelined with his Week 7 ACL tear from last year. As he continues to recover, it’s a wait and see game for the young back.
The Saints have made a habit of keeping some early special teams contributors on the practice squad, elevating them for game days at the start of the season before eventually showing them to the active roster if their performances help the team. It’s easy to see that path for back Ty Chandler.
Chandler would be able to contribute early as on kick return and punt return, as well as holding additional special teams responsibilities, but New Orleans may not look to dedicate an early 53-man roster spot for that involvement. Getting him to a veteran practice squad slot would allow them to have the best of both worlds.
Undrafted rookie C.J. Donaldson is a unique back to the rest of the room, similar enough to Estime though that also holding a practice squad spot makes a lot of sense for the young back.
With these four running backs and the three quarterbacks we previously projected, some positions later may need to see some reduced numbers, especially if the team is projected to also pack out the wide receiver room, a position suddenly brimming with talent.
Previous Projections:
