Saints could use another RB with Tony Jones Jr. injury

The New Orleans Saints are running thin at a few positions at the moment, with running back being one of them.

On Sunday’s game against the New York Giants, Tony Jones Jr. suffered an ankle injury and was carted off the field. The injury didn’t look season-ending, but it was enough to take him out of the game.

Jones’ health is currently listed as questionable on the roster following Week 4, and the Saints will likely lessen his workload to allow him to recover.

This recent development gives even more minutes to Alvin Kamara, who already had the lion’s share of snaps before Jones’ injury. Then again, the Saints don’t want to overwork Kamara in case he gets injured, too.

It’s a troublesome situation that really only has one solution: find another running back.

New Orleans still has Dwayne Washington as their third RB, but he’s always been more effective as a special teams guy. They also snatched former Nebraska running back Devine Ozigbo off the Jaguars’ practice squad and added another former Jaguar in the form of Ryquell Armstead.

If the Saints want a true backup ball-carrier, they will have to look elsewhere.

New Orleans Saints may want to explore RB options after Tony Jones Jr. injury

Through four weeks of the season, Jones has played 24 percent of offensive snaps as a running back. Depending on Washington to fill in nearly a quarter of RB snaps every game might be asking too much of him.

We never thought we would say this, but we do slightly miss Latavius Murray. The veteran has since joined the Baltimore Ravens and scored his third touchdown of 2021. Though he lacked upside, Murray’s veteran presence and overall plug-and-play reliability could really help out the Saints right now,

No matter. The Saints let Murray go and invested instead in the younger (and cheaper) Jones, which isn’t a decision they’ll end up regretting.

With Jones potentially missing some time due to injury, though, the Saints could consider exploring the RB market for a quick fix option.

What with recent injuries to the RB rooms of Baltimore, San Francisco, Carolina, and Minnesota, the running position is in high demand at the moment. The Saints could consider poaching one from someone’s practice squad, such as New York’s Josh Adams or even Cincinnati’s Jacques Patrick, but even then, it would be difficult to convince a player to essentially be an RB3, but fill in whenever Jones needs a break.

Chances are the Saints will end up rolling with Washington to take a load off Kamara, but that choice doesn’t make us feel confident about New Orleans’ running offense moving forward.

Hopefully, Kamara starts to find the end zone more often (or at all) and the Saints’ backup RBs won’t be expected to carry the ball in late high-pressure game scenarios.

In any case, best wishes for Tony Jones Jr.’s recovery. We never thought we would say this either, but we do need him this season.