My sincerest apology.....
 

Dear Mark Ingram and Ingram supporters,

Please accept my formal apology. You are not a bust. I don't know exactly why I didn't like you as a starter.... OK, to be honest.... that's a lie. I know exactly why I didn't like you as a starter....


- 1 yard and a cloud of dust more often than not
- no broken tackles
- not making the most of the touches you were given
- fumbling issues
- injury concerns
- whining about touches when you didn't deserve them

You were thrust into the starting role... virtually every other running back option was hurt and boy did you deliver. In your last two games 54 carries 276 yards and 3 TDs no fumbles you even have 2 catches for 20 yards...... I will never say that I am a Mark Ingram ( roll tide ) homer... but what I can say is that you now deserve to receive as many carries as you can handle for as long as you stay healthy. You should not be pulled out of the game unless you are injured or need a quick rest. In my mind you have earned that opportunity. You have now not only my... but many Saints fans respect. In order to keep it, you must continue down the path you have set.... Again my sincere apology for not taking you seriously as a running back threat. Here's hoping you make the most of your new found success....

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I ate that crow too!

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He's also leads the league in forced missed tackles and is second in yards per carry

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I think he playing great but when it come down to using that franchise tag I am still leaning toward Cam Jordan even though he only showed up in that Carolina game.

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Unless someone gets cut that franchise tag won't go on Ingram. They would have spent less on the extension they passed on him compared to the tag. It's def gonna be an interesting offseason

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ok he is getting the carries and proving his worth. I myself is almost ready to accept the draft cost to get him. only kidding i will probably never get there unless he starts stacking up pro bowls and playoffs wins he was a huge factor at getting

now can he keep this up and stay out of the tub.

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I know the argument can be made that he didn't get enough touches before, he was unlucky with injuries and the O-line is finally handling run blocking better - BUT I'm extremely troubled when a player far exceeds his previous performances in a contract year.

I hope the Saints don't end up overpaying him to stay just to watch him become the RB of the past seasons.

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This is a valid concern! I thought Mark started to put it together last year, and in truth I think he has finally got healthy and is learning the NFL game. But I think this is a very real concern and I ws thinking the same thing!

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I'm not interested in picking on anybody in particular but sometimes I think Saints fans can be a little impatient. I was just as annoyed as everybody else was, by Ingram coming in for one play and smacking into a wall of his own linemen for one yard...that got old really quick....but I KNEW there was something that Payton saw in it, I knew there was something there, that one yard and a cloud of dust wasn't what Ingram was brought here by Payton for....now we see it, now we know.


Also think of it this way....Ingram is taking off/peaking/catching fire, right as Pierre Thomas (although I love him) is starting to wind his career down.... I know fans want immediate results, and to some extent we should expect a certain amount of instant gratification, but from the very beginning I always felt like Mark Ingram was a draft pick made in 2011 with an eye three or four years out from that point, looking towards where we are RIGHT NOW in our running game, and the future going forward. It wasn't ever an instant-win proposition, but yeah, it sure started slow.

Tired of the endless parade of plug and play, fly-by-night, temp worker, barely-there Saints running backs like Mike Bell, Joique Bell, Aaron Stecker, Cadet, Lynell Hamilton, etc? Then Mark Ingram is your guy.

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For a 1st round pick who the Saints gave up a lot to get - I'd hope to get more out of him than really a season's worth before the said player hits the free agency.

If this was truly the FOs plan all along - they really need to rethink their approach to using their draft picks.

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I don't think he'll ever return to what he looked like in past seasons, but I am also concerned about potentially overpaying him. If we abandon the committee system it might be worth keeping him, but if not, we probably need to part ways.

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I hope we part ways with RBBC. We will be hard to beat in Madden if he keeps this up. Plus I kinda want another Superbowl as well. The run game takes so much pressure off Drew.

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I think he will be offered a reasonable contract. The RB's don't get all the money they use to.

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He'll probably get more than what we can spend anyways

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Seconded. When you spent a first-round pick on a running back, you are expecting an immediate impact. When you trade up for a first-round guy, at any position, you are looking for an impact player.

Ingram took a little longer than most to become an NFL running back. Whatever reason for that, who knows. I'm just happy we're finally getting to see the Ingram we've always wanted to see. He's always shown flashes of it, but man this guy is fun to watch.

It's really not all that different from Reggie, who had just really started to turn the corner as a running back in the 2009 and 2010 seasons but we had to move on. That decision I would never argue with considering we traded it off for 3 years of Sproles in his prime. But Ingram, I think we must keep as long as it doesn't destroy the salary cap. We can cut bait with somebody like Hawthorne, or even Byrd to keep him if we need to.

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lol...

Cutting Byrd would destroy our cap for years to come due to the dead money. Also, Byrd is going to be a solid pro-bowler for us, he needs to get healthy.

Restructures of Colston, Evans, Grubbs along with cutting Bunkley/Hawthorne and extending Brees will not only free up cap space to sign Ingram but we might be able to bag a few more FAs for another superbowl push.

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Extend Brees restructure the guards hit the 5th year on cam , tag Ingram this year and when the salary cap increased were gold.

In my opinion should we ditch the rbbc thing , Ingram is only going to get better , along with extending Brees Carrer , along with upping the ante in explosive plays.

Aye coincidence since we've began running the ball our defense is all of the sudden lights out ?

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I must say my peace as well. Way to step up man, you look like a beast now.

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Not years to come, just one year.

But I was mistaken, we can't cut him next year. We can cut him prior to the 2016 season and gain a $3.1 million cap savings. For some reason I was thinking a year ahead.

Regardless, the point is, if we want to keep Ingram and pay him what he's worth, it's very doable. It's not a foregone conclusion that he will leave in free agency.

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I share this concern in general ( about players playing well in a contract year). Ingram started playing better last year, though. I like the idea of a premiere back and some additional celebrated versatile backs.