Why are the Saints so bad at running the football? (3 Viewers)

[la. champ1]

I was looking at league stats by team. The one area that we are particularly weak in is yards per carry. We rush for 3.7 ypc. The only worse teams at running the ball are the Jags and Raiders at 3.6 and the Bucs at 3.5.

I couldn’t find the ypc breakdown by player, but I would imagine, without Taysom, we would be the worst in the league.

We have five first round draft pick offensive linemen that we drafted on the team. Are any of our offensive linemen good run blockers? Are any particularly bad? Is it the coaching: OL coach, OC?

Our guards are not good at all. Our LT is mediocre. Our RT has been good over the years but not so good last two years. O line is a problem basically. Kamara nor Jamal Williams who just ran for 1,000 yards last season didn’t forget how to run. It’s the line. Never was impressed with Ruiz and Peat was always hurt.

 

[Deucewildin]

Our Oline has regressed every yr since 2020. We had the #5 Oline according to PFF in 19 . Still had a top 8 one in 20. In 21 we dropped to 18 and last yr we fell off the cliff to 21. Why the decline? 1st in 21 Dan Roshar was moved from Oline coach to run game / TE coach. That started it, then in 22 we lost Armstead to Miami. Now TA was usually hurt a good part of the yrs he played but when he played he was one of the best. Last yr we made the big mistake of hiring Doug Marrone a guy that didn't last 1 yr under Saban before he got fired.. Only real change in personnel is Armstead , yes he was our best O lineman but 1 guy does not an Oline make. When players regress badly you have to look at coaching.
Now the guy that had us a top 10 ranked Oline all the time he was here is not even with the team now , Dan Roshar. He's coaching the Oline @ Tulane. Another ball dropped by DA

Him and Curtis Johnson were the key pieces we needed to keep without Payton we cut both

 

[solarbear88]

It's also of note that we run the ball ok in man up blocking schemes but really suck at trapping or zone blocking. Our screens are also abysmal for this reason. A lot of our linemen don't block well out in space.

 

[luvdasaints]

But if a player is not playing up to par, then it would make no sense to play him, just bc he signed for a nice contract. If anyone watched Jamal last year, he mainly just scored TDs. He wasn’t that great rushing the ball consistently. We should rely on AK41 to get the W in the bag, then use Jamal to ice the game. It’s a win/win

I do agree with playing the best players but we see this in the NFL every year. Seems like they stick with a certain guy and commentators continue to comment on the contract. That makes me think this is the reason why they stick with this individual. I never understood the William's signing in the first place because i felt he was washed up and we drafted Miller.

 

[EvilMike]

They constantly run up the middle. When they run an occasional sweep it takes forever to develop and is always run to the short side of the field, making the runner easier to bottle up. Have we even tried a sweep to Shaheed this year? The play that went for a 49 yard TD last year.

 

[Consigliere]

Not sure, but when we flip the ball backwards to Kamara it so often seems to end in lost yards

More like, we flip it back 6 yards to him, and he works wonders to get those back and maybe 1-2 more yards.

The answer the OP's question should be fairly clear. Our O-line is bad.

 

[Rouxble]

They constantly run up the middle. When they run an occasional sweep it takes forever to develop and is always run to the short side of the field, making the runner easier to bottle up. Have we even tried a sweep to Shaheed this year? The play that went for a 49 yard TD last year.

Yes, six times for 33 yards.

 

[St.Dan]

Because Loomis was trying to get our LT bust to work. Since Pete has been in at LT, we have been a better running team.

Peat and Baun deserve some high-fives for being pleasant surprises the past several weeks. Both were regularly panned on this board for the longest time. Now, they’re the two bright spots on an inconsistent team overall.

 

[Turfie]

I don’t know the root cause but clearly things have been heading south for awhile.

Kamara hasn’t averaged 5.0 yards per carry in any of his last 22 games.

Kamara has had 1 (ONE) game where he averaged 5 YPC in the last 3 seasons!

He has yet to exceed 80 yards rushing in a game this season.

 

[jahsoul357]

I don’t know the root cause but clearly things have been heading south for awhile.

Kamara hasn’t averaged 5.0 yards per carry in any of his last 22 games.

Kamara has had 1 (ONE) game where he averaged 5 YPC in the last 3 seasons!

He has yet to exceed 80 yards rushing in a game this season.

I will always say that letting Murray walk in 2021 was the beginning of this downward trend.

 

[max]

We should offer the 49ers a third round pick in a trade for Shanahan, move to a second if they throw in McAffrey, a first if they give us the coach and all of their good players.

 

[liveoakh]

Perhaps, because the O line has been a patch work of poorly over drafted #1 picks, sans Ram (,McCoy 2nd rd), and a bunch of perennial back ups. How many QBs have to get injured, before Loomis does his job. Besides Ram and McCoy............who would start on other teams?

 

[Cgrob81]

O line. Running the football always starts with the O line