Saints RB situation gets worse with injury on top of Kamara suspension

Alvin Kamara suspension (Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

The Saints suffered another hit to its running back room which will put even more pressure on Jamaal Williams.

On Friday, it was announced that New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara would serve a three-game suspension to start the 2023 NFL season related to an incident a few years back in Las Vegas.

The suspension, while perhaps shorter than expected — similar incidents have gone for five or six games in the past — was still a hit to New Orleans’ early-season schedule, putting more miles on the other rostered backs like Jamaal Williams and Eno Benjamin.

Except, now, the Saints are going to be without Benjamin for likely the whole season. Dennis Allen announced to the media that Benjamin ruptured his Achilles tendon.

Eno Benjamin ruptured his Achilles

— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) August 5, 2023

A duo of Wiliams and Kamara will be threatening when it’s at full strength. Likely, it’ll rival that of Kamara and Mark Ingram from a few years ago. Now, the Saints have to be careful about how much they use Williams in those first three weeks, though, because there will be limited options outside of him.

Rookie Kendre Miller will now be asked to take up many more carries than expected. Miller, out of TCU, was drafted in the third round. The Saints think his receiving skills might be one of his underrated talents, but he will certainly get more handoffs in the earlier days, now.

New Orleans is up against it to start the year, but if it can win its first three games (Titans, at Panthers, at Packers), or even two of three, it would be a good set-up for the remainder of the season once Kamara is back from suspension.

For now, though, bad news for a team already looking for some early wins.