Look, everyone wants Mark Ingram to remain with the New Orleans Saints. Ingram himself has been vocal about that desire, and he says the team feels the same way. Saints fans are unanimous in hopes of throwing an ‘Ingram breaks the Saints rushing yards’ party. But until he and the Saints reach a deal, the possibility exists for Ingram leaving town. That would open up a spot behind Alvin Kamara in the rotation; in 32 games together, Ingram has averaged 12.7 rushing attempts per game.
If Ingram isn’t re-signed, one name to watch is Detroit Lions running back Zach Zenner. The former undrafted free agent has been an afterthought in Detroit behind bigger names like Kerryon Johnson, LeGarrette Blount, Theo Riddick, and Ameer Abdullah, but he’s arguably outperformed them on limited opportunities. When the Lions did trust Zenner to shoulder a heavier load, he responded well: in seven career games with 10 or more rushing attempts, he racked up 416 yards on the ground and scored six times. That’s an average of 4.2 yards gained per attempt and 59.4 yards per game, behind an offensive line Detroit has spent years trying to get right. He also caught 13 of 18 targets (72.2-percent) in those performances, consistent with his career average of 72.9-percent.
Nobody is going to confuse Zenner for Ingram or any other top-shelf talent, and that’s okay. If Ingram’s price tag looms too large, Zenner would just be an affordable stopgap — Spotrac’s Market Value calculator suggests a per-year salary of about $2.9 million. That’s a contract the Saints can get out of easily if he doesn’t pan out, or reap the benefits of should he beat expectations. It also wouldn’t prevent the Saints from drafting a running back should a great one become available. With some of Zenner’s former teammates on the roster in New Orleans (Pro Bowl right guard Larry Warford, and special teams gunner Dwayne Washington) he should be an easy prospect to scout.
