Free Agency is About to Start

St. Widge said

I'd rather look for a RB in the 5th or 6th than spend money on one in free agency. I get what they were trying to do with Williams last year, but it seemed an odd fit when they usually use Taysom Hill on short yardage and near the goal line, but relatively expensive RB depth in free agency never seems to be a good idea when there are so many RBs available late in the draft and UDFA. There might still be some value especially in guys that are more third down and specials teams types this year in the draft. And with RBs, guys often break out that played on bad teams or on teams with RB by committee or deep depth charts like Kamara was.

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I think at the time of Williams’ signing, the Saints had a vision for Williams to replicate some of his Lions rushing success and provide great depth. But the OC didn’t commit to running the ball with our RBs early on by scheming creative run designs and good run blocking. Taysom was the default short yardage/GL rusher partially because the RBs didn’t seem prioritized in the offense. His rushing style is limited but he’s great when run blocking is up to par. I think Williams will bounce back nicely with a run-oriented OC like Kubiak who has consistent success with RBs running the ball.

I hope we target Frank Gore Jr. and Isaac Guerendo in the later rounds as well. Guerendo had the fastest RB 40 time (4.33) and 4th best cone drill at the combine. He could add that speed element that we’ve been missing amongst our RBs for about a decade. Guerendo had a great combine but didn’t get a ton of carries at Louisville. He could still be under the radar enough to be available in the 5th rd.