papz

The New Orleans Saints have a stable of running back ready to contribute once more in 2013, even after the loss of Chris Ivory.

Sean Payton and the coaching staff have stated more than once that the team is looking to get back to the running game more in 2013 rather than relying on the passing game so much.

Meaning Mark Ingram’s time is now.

The “Bust” label has been thrown around a lot in regards to Ingram, but it’s hard for any back to put up ridiculous statistics when he rarely sees handoffs because the offense is in love with the passing game.

Last year, Ingram carried the ball just 156 times and gained 602 yards, scoring five times. Not horrendous numbers by any means, but more has been expected of him at this point.

More is what you’ll get in 2013. Ingram is going to receive the majority of the carries, and if the coaching staff is smart, it’ll be by a wide margin. Ingram is the type of runner who gets better as you keep feeding him the ball.

While Darren Sproles is a nice change of pace and Pierre Thomas has handled the load well thanks to his versatility, 2013 has to go to Ingram. If the coaching staff ups his carry total from 2012 by 50 or more touches he’s a candidate to burst through the 1,000 yard mark.

There’s no excuse for Ingram to have a down year. He plays in a vertical passing offense where defense cannot afford to commit a lot of resources to stop him. The Saints need his bruising running style to carry the load and keep the defense off the field.

Ingram is the most important running back for the Saints in 2013.

Mark Ingram is Most Important Saints RB to Saints 2013 Success - Who Dat Dish - A New Orleans Saints Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

Important? Yes.

Most important? I don't think so. He's equally if not less important than Thomas and Sproles imo. While I think he'll have a better season than Thomas and slightly less Sproles, I think he's the most replaceable of the bunch. That's not an insult to Ingram but a compliment towards the effectiveness of Thomas and Sproles in our offense.

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

All little common sense goes a long way.

Danno

We don't have a most important player on offense other than #9.

lee909

I really hope Ingram gets to catch out the backfield this year.Its too obvious its a running play when he takes the field.
In his last two years at Bama his stats
G 25, 54 Receptions for 617 yards and 4TDs.
Don't get me wrong he isn't Sproles but change thingd up a little and he will produce.

TheOak

More "needs more carries to get rhythm to be good" BS.

"If the coaching staff is smart"? WTF? You mean if they have a Football IQ above Chris Roling?

Euphoria

If he would live up to the hype then everything will work itself out.

He'd get on the field more, more carries, more passes, more plays using him as a decoy.

He has earned 3rd string...

ProMallNinja

More sensationalism from a news media outlet....what a shocker. These guys will vomit anything into print this time of the year to get a buck. I think the importance of Ingram's success was quite evident when he was taken in the first round of the draft. Now the importance of his success is directly relative to him keeping his job. We've made it clear that we can find VERY "serviceable" RBs quite easily. Ingram was suppose to be special, and he hasn't shown the ability to be that consistently. Period.

TheOak

Now that I buy, more plays on the field where he doesn't touch the ball would help him. Or put him and PT in the back field and run a screen to him instead of PT

Boutte

There are a lot of excuses for Ingram that have been thrown around by his fans and some are valid. I do think he'd be more effective if defenses didn't know what was going to happen when he comes into the game. But the fact is that he's been outperformed by his fellow RBs. Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles are both very special and Chris Ivory is a freak of nature. I think Ivory's departure means that Ingram is going to be seeing a lot more chances to prove his worth. So far he's shown flashes but now it's time to prove he too his special.

AsylumGuido

Graham is a strong second.

dizzle88

I wouldnt say he is the most important reason to our success, but we need him to produce in his role just like everybody else