The Who Dat Nation has been waiting for months to pull out those number zero jerseys. Now, for the Saints vs. Browns matchup, the wait appears to be over as Jordan Tyson, the team's top draft pick, is expected to make his debut against Cleveland.
This year’s 8th overall selection has been out with a hamstring injury he sustained in the joint practice with Jacksonville back on August 13th, two days before the Saints' first preseason game.
Tyson said this week the recent hamstring injury was different from the one he suffered in college, and he feels more explosive now after a successful rehab with elite medical attention than before the injury.
Tyson’s presence and speed alone will make the Saints receiving room stronger, but like any rookie making their debut, there will be needed acclimation; I suspect we’ll see one or two “go routes” specifically designed for Tyson, to let him open up the afterburners, if only to let defenses know he can.
Tyson is not alone in returning to the field for the Browns game, as left tackle Kelvin Banks is expected to return. The ninth overall selection in the 2025 draft from Texas has been out since late in the third quarter of week two against Baltimore when he suffered a high ankle sprain that required surgery. Banks had started all 19 straight games since his rookie season. The Saints will also get Cesar Ruiz back at right guard after missing the week seven game in Paris against Pittsburgh with a knee injury. Thus, the offensive line is back and healthy.
Now, shifting the focus to the running back room and things get blurry. The team released 2023 third-round pick Kendre Miller yesterday, apparently exhausted from waiting for him to be the lead dog. Miller appeared in just 21 games over 3 seasons with 2 touchdowns and a 2.8 yards per carry.
The Saints also don’t have their top free-agent acquisition, Travis Etienne, back from his hamstring injury, and C.J. Donaldson is out with an injury. So, the backfield tomorrow will consist of Alvin Kamara, Audric Estime, and practice squad elevation, Zamir White.
Estime played well on the back end of 2025 and had a 32-yard touchdown run in Tennessee. The Saints released the third-year player from Notre Dame with an injury in September, but claimed him off the waiver wire Tuesday after this week’s opponent, Cleveland, released him. The Saints traded Jesuit Blue Jay Deion Jones to San Francisco for Zamir White in training camp to bolster a banged-up running back room, but he’s been on the practice squad all season.
When you have 17 carries for 18 yards against Pittsburgh in week seven, as the Saints did, everything is on the table, and it is.
Equally culpable in this 2-5 start has been the defense’s inability to stop the run and points allowed. The Saints have allowed 140 rushing yards a game, 29th in the NFL. And opponents are averaging 28 points a game, also 29th in the NFL. That puts so much pressure on the offense to be near perfect.
The defensive front is also getting veteran defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd back after a lengthy illness that rattled through the Saints locker room for weeks.
So, you have a team that’s getting their first-round draft pick on the field for the first time, and back-to-back home games. I don’t know if you can have a must-win, even at 2-5, when you play in the NFC South, but this team has to find a way to take back the Superdome. And these next two games are crucial to that, and perhaps the outcome of this season.
You come out of this stretch with Cleveland and Carolina at 4-5, the conversation changes entirely. If not, well, I don’t even want to think about that. So let’s not.
