Saints’ Mark Ingram Wants The Football

A lot of Saints fans, myself among them, have questioned the decision to trade running back Chris Ivory and keep Mark Ingram.

Ivory was very popular with Saints fans for gritty work ethic. The undrafted free agent led the Saints in rushing a couple years ago. Who 'Dats have a place in our hearts for underdogs. Pierre Thomas and Lance Moore are prime examples of productive, popular players no one took a chance on in the draft.

Former first round pick and Heisman winner Ingram hasn't met expectations. He's missed five games this year with injuries, and averaged about 1 yard a carry in 2013.

Did you know he led the team in rushing last year?  On the other hand, his total was 601 yards. The Saints were 25th in that category. The New Orleans running game has been virtually non existent so far in 2013. That's enabled opposing defenses to pin their ears back and bring the kitchen sink in an all out assault on quarterback Drew Brees.

He's already been sacked 21 times. With San Francisco, Carolina and Seattle coming up, it's time for the Saints to force opposing defenses to respect the run.

Sunday, Ingram rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown against the Cowboys. Ingram says fan criticism doesn't bother him. He told the Associated Press, "As long as this locker room knows what I'm doing and how hard I'm working, and this organization knows, that's all that matters to me."

Is Mark Ingram about to become the player we hoped he'd be? That remains to be seen. If it IS about to happen, the timing couldn't be better.