With a growing crowd at wide receiver, Kirk Merritt is getting an extended tryout at running back in his second season with the New Orleans Saints. Merritt spent a little time in the backfield late last summer, logging a handful of carries at running back in the Saints’ final preseason games, but for the most part his attention has focused on competing for a roster spot at his natural position as a wide receiver, per Sports Illustrated’s Ross Jackson.
But an offseason full of additions to the receiving corps has him shifting gears to make a better case for a roster spot. Merritt, listed at 6-foot-1 and 214 pounds, has similar size and impressive all-around athletic testing results than other running backs on the roster like Eno Benjamin, his likeliest competition for a spot on the depth chart in the fall.
With Alvin Kamara, Jamaal Williams, and Kendre Miller locked in to the top three spots, odds are the Saints will want either Benjamin or Merritt to make a compelling argument through steady play on special teams covering punts and kickoffs, and that’s an area Merritt has excelled before. Undrafted rookies SaRodorick Thompson (Texas Tech) and Ellis Merriweather (UMass) are also in the mix, but they’re heavier backs like Williams and Miller, all listed at 220 to 224 pounds.
The implied goal here seems to be a search for Kamara’s immediate backup, which makes sense seeing as he’s expected to miss extensive time serving an NFL suspension once his Las Vegas assault case concludes. maybe Merritt has what it takes to fill that role on offense. The next few weeks are going to be critical for him as the Saints test his skills not just as a runner or receiver, but hanging back in pass protection, which they’ve always valued highly.
