The New Orleans Saints enter the 2025 season in a new era, with some lower expectations, but also some high hopes. They have a new head coach as well as two young quarterbacks in Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler that they feel pretty good about. The national media may be low on the Saints, but there are positive vibes in the building and fanbase.

When the Saints hired Kellen Moore to be their next head coach, the expectation was that he’ll step in and improve the offense immediately. Even with Derek Carr retiring, the expectation is that they’ll be much improved from the product they rolled out last year, even with two young quarterbacks.

If the Saints want to get to where they want to be offensively, they need to be much better in the run game. Last year, their running backs averaged 4.0 yards per carry, which isn’t the worst, but it isn’t good enough, especially considering the ran the ball just 26 times per game, which was 20th in the league. However, they’ve improved their offensive line and brought in a couple young pieces at running back that should give them a boost on the ground.

Here’s a dive into the Saints 2025 running back room.

Roster Locks

The Saints currently have six running backs on their roster, and I think only two of them are locks to make the 53-man roster, Alvin Kamara and Devin Neal.

I don’t think I need to go into much detail on why Kamara is a lock. He’s one of the most productive running backs in the league each year and he’s getting paid a lot of money. Unless there’s an unexpected trade, I think it’s impossible for him to not be on the roster at the start of the year.

Devin Neal is a bit less of a lock, but a lock all the same in my mind. They didn’t spend a high draft pick on Neal, but he probably should’ve been a fourth or fifth round pick and is going to get some run this season. He was super productive in college and can catch passes and block. He does everything well, which should make him a lock to make the team.

On the Bubble

I think all four of the remaining guys are battling it out for two more roster spots. Last year, the Saints carried four backs most of the time, but with guys coming on and off IR, they had five guys rotating through their roster.

The Saints have Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who is probably the most likely guy to make the roster from this group. They signed him to a one-year deal earlier this offseason after adding him to their roster late in the 2024 season. He’s the veteran of this group, so if they want to play it safe, he could get a spot.

Kendre Miller might be the most interesting player in this group. He’s talented, we all know that, but he just hasn’t been able to stay healthy. It would be a bit of a gamble, but if he can stay on the field, he’d give the running game the biggest boost out of this group. Plus he carries the second-biggest cap hit of the RBs on the roster.

Velus Jones is another guy on the fringe of making the roster. Much like they did with CEH, the Saints signed Jones to a one-year deal earlier this year. Jones has spent four seasons in the NFL, mainly with the Chicago Bears where he’s totaled 165 rushing yards and 135 receiving yards. His main contribution has been on special teams, though, where he’s recorded 1,061 carer return yards on kickoffs. His special team prowess alone could earn him a spot on the roster.

Marcus Yarns is another intreguing option at running back. The UDFA out of Delaware ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine while also recording a 1.55 second 10-yard split and a 37.5-inch vertical. In his final two seasons, he rushed for 1,784 yards and 21 touchdowns while adding another eight scores through the air. I hope he makes the roster, because I think he could actually become a solid second option down the line.

The final RB on the Saints roster is Xazavian Valladay, a third-year player who signed a one-year deal with the Saints earlier this offseason. He was a 1,000-yard rusher three times in college – twice for Wyoming and once for Arizona State – before entering the league in 2023, but he’s yet to record a stat in the NFL. He ran a 4.43 at his Pro Day a few years ago.

If the Saints stick with four running backs again this year, my bet would be on Kamara, Neal, Miller and Edwards-Helaire/Jones making it. However, I hope that Yarns replaces either of the last guys, but we’ll have to see how he perform during mini and training camp.