| The Saints hope Mark Ingram and the run game will improve under RBs coach Dan Roushar. (US Presswire) |
Although Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints have put up video game numbers through the air over the past several seasons, their offense was less than stellar on the ground in 2012.
Despite boasting a talented stable of running backs, the Saints ranked 25th in the NFL in rushing offense last season (98.6 yards per game). Battling through left-toe and right-knee injuries, second-year running back Mark Ingram finished with 602 rushing yards on 3.9 yards per carry. Ingram also averaged 3.9 yards per rush in his rookie season in 2011.
The Saints hope to jump start their rushing attack with Saturday’s hiring of former Michigan State offensive coordinator Dan Roushar as the team’s running backs coach.
Under Spartans coach Mark Dantonio and Roushar in 2012, Michigan State running back Le’Veon Bell ranked third in FBS in rushing yards per game with 137.9. Bell finished the season with 1,793 rushing yards, the second-highest total in school history.
“The New Orleans Saints and Michigan State are built on similar models, with a focus on character and people,” Roushar said, via Spartan Nation. “I’ve had an opportunity to work for Mark Dantonio -- in my opinion, the best college football coach in America -- for the last eight years. Now, I have an opportunity to work for arguably the best coach in the NFL, in Sean Payton. Professionally, this is an opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up.”
Roushar has a history of developing bruising, power running backs. In 2002, Falcons running back Michael Turner, then at Northern Illinois, finished second in Division I in rushing, averaging 159.6 rushing yards per game. In 2008, Roushar’s second season in East Lansing, former Michigan State running back Javon Ringer finished fourth in the nation in rushing yards.
The Saints could use a more-balanced offense to keep their defense off the field. In 2012, New Orleans ranked 32nd against the run and 32nd overall (440.1 yards per game).
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