Ranking Saints needs: Can the RB trio make the impact we expected last year?

Bad news first: The New Orleans Saints had the oldest roster in the NFL last season based on snaps played while entering this offseason about $80 million over the salary cap.

The good news: They have a relatively manageable list of free agents, so they can afford to bring back their entire lineup if they want – or upgrade a few key spots.

We’re breaking down their top priorities by position as we count down to the start of free agency on March 13.

No. 9 SPECIALISTS

Current depth chart:

K Blake Grupe. Age 25. Signed through 2025.

P Lou Hedley. Age 30. Signed through 2025.

LS Zach Wood. Age 31. Signed through 2027.

Analysis: The Saints gambled on two undrafted rookies last year and got the type of mixed results we expected.

Grupe feels like the safer bet to stick around long-term after the Saints rode the waves of his highs and lows while he went through his growing pains. They explained all season that many past NFL kickers struggled early before settling into stellar careers. So now they’ll want to try and reap the rewards of that patience.

Grupe finished tied for 25th among qualifying kickers by making 81.1% of his field goals (30 of 37). But he made his final six and 12 of his last 14 attempts. He also was one of only eight kickers to make every extra-point attempt (40 of 40).

Oddly, Grupe missed two field goal attempts under 30 yards — the rest of the NFL missed only two combined — but that feels like a fluke.

The Saints will likely bring in some competition this summer, but Grupe will be the one to beat.

Hedley, meanwhile, was both inconsistent and showed less upside as a 30-year-old rookie from Australia.

Get locked in.https://t.co/eamkVOXuPa pic.twitter.com/N7p5KhU3Xp— NOF (@nofnetwork) February 3, 2024

The Saints liked the concept of his “rugby” style approach that has become so popular throughout college football in recent years and has started to creep more and more into the NFL. The idea is that his unconventional and unpredictable kicks are hard to return. And sure enough, the Saints allowed only 163 return yards on Hedley’s 75 punts. His average of 2.2 return yards per punt was the best in the NFL. And he tied for fifth among all NFL punters with 31 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

However, Hedley ranked last among 33 qualifying punters in the NFL with a gross average of 43 yards per punt. As a result, he ranked 29th with a net average of 39.8, which is the ultimate number that measures whether short punts with short returns are worth it or not.

The Saints spoke highly of Hedley’s improvement as the season went on. So he will almost certainly get a chance to retain his job this summer. But it’s possible they will bring in another Australian-style punter with more upside to try and improve on the concept. Or they could turn to a more traditional candidate — like, say, veteran free agent and future Saints Hall of Famer Thomas Morstead, who thrived with the Jets in 2023.

Wood is entrenched here as a reliable veteran who just signed a long-term extension before last season.

NO. 8 RUNNING BACKS

Current depth chart:

RB Alvin Kamara. Age 28. Signed through 2025.

RB Jamaal Williams. Age 28. Signed through 2025.

RB Kendre Miller. Age 21. Signed through 2026.

FB Adam Prentice. Age 27. Restricted free agent.

RB Jordan Mims. Age 24. Signed through 2025.

RB James Robinson. Age 25. Signed through 2024.

RB Eno Benjamin. Age 24. Unrestricted free agent.

Analysis: Running backs ranked No. 3 on our list last year, and the Saints didn’t seem to fix much since they ranked 31st in the NFL with 3.6 yards per carry in 2023.

So why did the position plummet to eighth on our list of needs this year?

For one thing, they should be able to get more out of this top trio after they made significant investments last year by signing Williams in free agency and drafting Miller in Round 3. They also still have an extraordinary rushing option in QB/TE Taysom Hill.

The Saints are making major changes to their coaching staff this year — firing offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. and offensive line coach/run game coordinator Doug Marrone, among others, while planning to hire 49ers assistant Klint Kubiak as their new OC. Revamping the run scheme is one of the major reasons for those changes.

Sure, the Saints could use another young running back in the middle rounds of the draft, especially with Kamara and Williams turning 29 over the next few months. And Kamara’s contract is designed to blow up in 2025 when he is due $25 million. So this could become a major priority again next year if Miller doesn’t make the necessary Year 2 leap.

But the Saints’ resources are precious this offseason. On top of their limited cap flexibility, they only have two draft choices in the top 130-plus picks (Nos. 14 and 45). And the running back position is rarely worth major resources like those for any NFL team, much less one with as many long-term needs as New Orleans.

🆕: What Doug Marrone's departure means for the Saints coaching staffhttps://t.co/Rnzqlfj8em— NOF (@nofnetwork) February 4, 2024

So for now, anyway, the Saints’ focus should be on building a run scheme that coaxes the most out of Kamara (due $11.8 million in salary and bonuses this year), Williams (due $3.85 million, most of which is fully guaranteed) and Miller.

Nick has talked and written a lot about how Kamara still has plenty of juice left, but that the Saints need to do a better job of scheming him into the open field, where he does his best work against linebackers and defensive backs. Kamara averaged 5.0 yards per carry over his first four NFL seasons, but he has dropped to 3.9 yards per carry over the past three years (he was at exactly 3.9 in 2023).

Nevertheless, Kamara still gained 1,160 yards from scrimmage in the 13 games he played with six touchdowns, which put him on pace for more than 1,500 yards and eight TDs if he had played a full 17 games. And he returned to his roots with 75 catches (on pace for 98 in a full season).

As for Williams, the Saints need both a better scheme and a better plan for him. We knew he wouldn’t get anywhere near the 1,066 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns he racked up during his 2022 season with the Lions. But his season was still a crushing disappointment, partly due to a Week 2 hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve. In 13 games played, he finished with 306 rushing yards, a 2.9 yards-per-carry average and just one TD (on the controversial final play of the season).

Williams and teammates talked about how his role changed throughout the year because of injuries and other needs that turned him into more of a blocker and sometimes a pseudo-fullback. And teammates and coaches praised him for his unselfishness. But he needs to become a much more valuable weapon if he’s going to last through his three-year, $12 million contract.

The first TD of Kendre Miller's career 🤝📺 @NFLonCBS | @Offical_dre11 pic.twitter.com/b55e4txDAm— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) January 7, 2024

As for Miller, his rookie year was also a huge disappointment because of knee, hamstring and ankle injuries that sapped much of his offseason and limited him to just eight games played. But he flashed his dynamic potential whenever he was healthy, including his 13 carries for 73 yards and a TD in Week 18.

Miller, who is still just 21 years old until June, will be one of the most fascinating players on the roster this season with a wide range of potential outcomes.