Saints’ Mark Ingram needs a fire lit under him: Perhaps Gil Fenerty and Wilmont Perry can light it
By Dean Mullen
Who Dat Nation is on cloud nine right about now. The Black and Gold have won two games in a row. All should be well in New Orleans now right? Well not exactly. The main concern the last few weeks was the injuries to the secondary, and how will the rookies hold up against the pass. Now, there seems to be just one thing the Saints need to make a run. The Saints need “Angry Ingram.”
On Sunday Ingram rushed 16 times for 51 yards for a measley 3.2 yard per carry. In the previous game against San Diego, he rushed 18 times for 56 yards for a 3.1 yard average. To give you an idea of where those numbers stand, the stat numbers don’t lie. Ingram wouldn’t even make the top 30. To be fair, if you take the whole season, Ingram would be ranked 24th, which isn’t exactly burning up the field either.
It gets worse. So the Saints have had a long list of running backs for sure. No disrespect to either Gil Fenerty or Wilmont Perry, but most Saints fans probably wouldn’t put these guys in the Saints of Fame or in the top 20 category for running backs.
Gil Fenerty also known as “Gill the Thrill” was drafted in the 7th round out of Holy Cross in 1986. Fenerty only played one year for the Saints and then went on to the Shreveport Pirates. The Pirates actually was a CFL team that played in Louisiana in 1994 and 1995. Fenerty averaged 3.9 yards per carry though with the Saints, which is higher than Ingram the last two games.
Wilmont Perry was drafted in the 5th round by the Saints in 1998. He, also like Fenerty only played one year for the Saints averaging 3.9 yards a carry. Perry went on to play for the Cape Fear Wildcats and the Richmond Raiders among others.
The point being is that Mark Ingram has so much more talent and natural ability than either one of these two. I won’t even bring up a few quarterbacks like Richard Todd who actually ran the ball with a 4.0 yard average in his last year at the age of 31. That should never happen.
So what’s the problem? Is if the offensive line or his vision? There has to be a logical reason why Ingram cannot get going more consistently every game. He is getting the carries as of late. If the Saints don’t figure it out soon, there is no way the Saints will sniff .500 if the running game stays stagnant. If Ingram is the guy, then the Saints should demand more productivity now.
Time is running out for the golden era of Drew Brees. John Elway knew it, when a guy named Terrell Davis came along. Hopefully Ingram will get the message from someone, that it’s now or never. Just run like there is no tomorrow. That’s all we want.