Saints Training Camp Preview: Audric Estime

If I had to guess the position group that I have talked about the most this offseason, it would be the New Orleans Saints' running backs. During preseason, all my focus was on the potential of the Saints getting a player like Kenneth Walker or Travis Etienne, and as many know, it ended up being Etienne. But, before that happened, when focusing on the draft, my dream selection at New Orleans' pick was Jeremiyah Love. That obviously did not happen. Then, the Saints made a smaller move by bringing in RB Ty Chandler for depth and a potential special teams option.

Going into the draft, there was still a chance the Saints would draft an RB due to Alvin Kamara's future being up in the air. Speaking of Kamara, he has been. main character of this offseason for the Saints because of that future, and recently, that storyline came to an end. Kamara is back with the Saints for one more season. 

With all those moves that did or didn't happen, the Saints' RB group is finally starting to take shape, but not fully yet. With Kamara staying, the competition for the last two spots in the RB room is going to be exciting. You can check out a longer explanation on that here, but for now, we are going to focus on just one of those RBs. 

Audric Estime was a very important player during the Saints' win streak last season. He was never really given the keys to being the lead RB in the Saints room until the game against the Tennessee Titans. Devin Neal went down with an injury against the Carolina Panthers two weeks before, and in the last game against the New York Jets, the Saints barely ran the ball. But in a much closer battle, Estime had 94 yards rushing on 14 carries and had an extremely clutch touchdown. That play was also the Saints' longest rush by a RB that season. 

The next week was the last game of the season, and Estime struggled a bit more, but the entire offense was all over the place due to the WR room being decimated. 

In the short time we saw what Estime could bring to the offense, it was positive. That same thing can be said for the other RBs fighting for their respective spots on the roster, but it's important that Estime's name stays in this conversation moving forward.