On Monday morning at the NFL owner's meetings in Phoenix, Saints head coach Kellen Moore said he envisions a New Orleans offensive backfield led by franchise leading rusher Alvin Kamara and prized free agent signee Travis Etienne Jr..
"We love Alvin. he means the world to all of us," Moore said. "This is a full offseason process. We feel like he's in that room. You can find roles for all those different guys. We go through the whole offseason process and continue to grow and develop this team.
"He's certainly on the roster and part of that running back room. We feel like there's ways that you can manipulate all those guys and put them in plenty of situations. Look at our season last year, look at probably just about every NFL season — plenty of running backs play. We feel fortunate that we were able to acquire Travis in free agency, but there's still a lot of work to be had out there."
In an injury-shortened season, Kamara totaled career lows in games played (11), rushing yards (471), rushing touchdowns (one), receptions (33), receiving yards (186) and receiving touchdowns (zero).
He'll be 31 years old and entering his 10th NFL season in September, but Kamara always has maintained a fitness regimen that has allowed him to thrive when available. He has missed 13 games the past three seasons.
Adding Etienne, plus the presence of Devin Nealand Audric Estimé, can help the entire room.
"They're probably similar players," Moore said of Kamara and Etienne. "I think both of them have the explosive, elusive ability to play in all three phases, which is beneficial. I feel like our running back room is a really healthy room right now — with just the depth and the experience and all the guys that are in there.
"With the way last season went, a lot of those guys got experience. A lot of those guys played football. So it's going to be a benefit for us that we got a few guys — three or four guys — that played meaningful snaps last year that are all coming back. And then, you throw Travis into the mix and it's a great situation for us."
PATIENCE PAYS
Moore said that quarterback Tyler Shough benefited from the patience the team was allowed to show early.
Shough, who started the final nine games and led New Orleans to a 5-4 record, injected himself into the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year race by completing 204 of 295 passes for 2,256 yards and 10 touchdowns, with five interceptions, and rushing for 174 yards and three touchdowns on 42 carries, in his starts.
"A lot of times early in the offseason, they're just trying to understand the system," Moore said. "So the results, while they are relevant, they're not the most important things always. I think Tyler is a great example of, during training camp he's figuring things out, he's being exposed to something for the first time. That's an important part of it — to just let him go through that process. Once we got to the regular season, we went with Spencer (Rattler). I felt like Spencer was playing his best football during training camp, he was ready to go.
"And then Tyler, I think, was in a great environment just to continue to grow as a player and get as much exposure as he did. You've got to take advantage of being a scout-team quarterback — that's a great environment. Tyler was able to deal with muddy pockets where it's not always clean, and that's going to happen in the league. Test your arm, test your ability to throw the football. Can I make that throw? Can I not make that throw?
"When you do it in a practice environment like that, you can put yourself as much in a game environment as you can but also test yourself. Make yourself push the boundaries and then find your common space and your spot where you feel like you're playing your best football. Tyler got to that point as the season progressed and he was ready to go."
