When the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl, they were featuring their most balanced offense to date. Back in 2009, the team rushed for 2,106 yards behind star running back Reggie Bush. In 2011, they were able to repeat that balance with 2,127 rushing yards before losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs. When they are relying solely on Drew Brees, they go 7-9. This season, the team is ready to bring back the rushing attack and it all sits on Mark Ingram's shoulders.
Ingram wants the run game placed fully upon him. The 2011 first-round pick has remained relatively quiet in his first two years in the league. He was buried under a prominent pass-first offense and a crowded running back group. Now, the Heisman winner wants to be the featured player.
"I want to be a feature back,'' Ingram told USA TODAY Sports. "Every time I come out here, I want to be the best person to ever run the football. I know it's a bold statement with all amazing running backs we have nowadays and in the past, but that's what I work for every single day, to be the best. But when we're running the ball effective, Drew can tear defenses apart. I've got less body fat and I feel healthy."
Ingram led the Saints run game in 2012. He recorded 602 yards for five touchdowns. That is good numbers, but not for a leading rusher. The Saints ranked No. 25 in the league in rushing, something they hope to greatly improve on. Ingram has been splitting carries with Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles and former back Chris Ivory all while battling injury. Now healthy, Brees is taking notice of the young back.
"Mark is healthy and now he can go beyond what he's done in the past,'' Brees said. "I love the way he came in here in super shape. Over the past two years he's been here, he's done well. It was just a matter of finding him the opportunities because he was hurt."
With Thomas recovering from injury, Ingram has been splitting carries with Sproles and proving to be the better back so far in training camp. He has been excelling in aggressive running as well as proving to be a decent option as a check-down receiver for Brees.
Ingram is making a 1,000-yard rushing season the goal for 2013. The more productive Ingram can be, the more the Saints can open up the playbook with different schemes.
"Last year was just an up-and-down year for the whole team, and everything that could go wrong for us went wrong,'' Brees said. "The more carries Mark gets, the better he becomes. If anything, we've been holding him back."
