The New Orleans Saints have one of the best offenses in the NFL led by star quarterback Drew Brees and the two-headed monster of running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara coming out of the backfield. Unfortunately, the 2018 NFL season begin without Ingram on the field due to suspension and his teammates know that's a costly blow.
As currently constructed, the Saints are expected to be a heavyweight in the NFC once again this year. Brees and company have a solid squad on both sides of the football, but Ingram's absence will be felt, via Josh Katzenstein of New Orleans Times-Picayune.
“If he does have to miss games, he will be missed,” defensive end Alex Okafor said. “You can't replace anybody like that. He's one of the best backs in the league. He's dynamic, huge in the run and passing game. It's going to be hard to cope with, but if anybody could find a way to do it, it's going to be Sean Payton and Drew Brees. I'm sure we'll be all right.”
Ingram is coming off his best season as a pro with the Alabama product earning Pro Bowl honors for the second time in his career. Veteran tight end Benjamin Watson, who recently returned to New Orleans after one season with the Baltimore Ravens, also knows the impact of losing one of the best backs in the NFL to suspensions, via Katzenstein.
“We know that he is a guy that is definitely needed on this team,” tight end Benjamin Watson said. “He's a guy that contributes, and more important than that, he's a father, he's a husband and he's a friend, so I look forward to catching up with him and seeing what happened.”
In 2017, Ingram and Kamara became arguably the best one-two punch in the NFL. Ingram rushed for a career-high 1,124 yards and twice as many touchdowns as he did the previous season with 12 in what is by far his best season to date.
As his teammates made clear, Ingram will definitely be missed for the first four games for New Orleans leaving second-year back Kamara to pick up the slack in the backfield.
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