Who will be the Saints leading rusher?
By: Jake Rajala
The New Orleans Saints have one of the most underrated group of running backs right now. They have the potential Hall of Famer in Alvin Kamara, the utterly explosive Travis Etienne, the powerful Kendre Miller, and the versatile Devin Neal. With that said, a fascinating question clouds over them: who will be the Saints leading rusher in 2026?
My pick is Etienne. It will be close, however.
Etienne has three 1k+ yard seasons in his back-pocket. He also has averaged 4.3 YPC, so he’s fairly consistent. He has also shined with an offensive line that was recently ranked 29th by FTN. He had eight games with at least 70+ rushing yards last season, too.
My next pick has to be Alvin Kamara. AK isn’t the a Pro Bowler anymore, but he can still be effective. He can shine in the passing game, in particular. He can shine in screens, RB option routes, and wheel routes. He didn’t have a single game of at least 100 rushing yards last season, so he isn’t exactly a smart pick to be a leading rusher.
I believe the most underrated skill player has to be Kendre Miller. He reminds me a lot of Khiry Robinson with his combination of power and elusiveness. Miller flashed some dominance last season, but he just can’t simply stay healthy! He tore his ACL in Week 7 of last season.
Devin Neal will try hard to make the roster. He won’t be a top-three RB in my opinion. Neal will try hard to shine as a pass catcher and blocker on third downs. Furthermore, he will aim to be effective on special teams.
The Saints have a couple of prominent RBs in Kamara and Etienne. It will be up to Kellen Moore in how he wants to use them. Hopefully, he knows the right situation to squeeze juice out of them.
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