Saints Have Top 'Breakout Candidate' In New Orleans

The New Orleans Saints have a very interesting, new running back on their hands.

New Orleans' starter is Alvin Kamara and that isn't changing any time soon. But, the Saints added some depth behind him that could come into play in 2025. New Orleans selected running back Devin Neal out of Kansas with the No. 184 overall pick in the sixth round of the 2025 National Football League Draft.

Neal racked up 4,343 rushing yards throughout his college career, including over 1,200 in each of the last two years.

The 21-year-old isn't guaranteed a big role in New Orleans with other guys on the roster like Kendre Miller and Clyde Edwards-Helaire on the roster, but he has already turned heads enough that Bleacher Report's Alex Ballentine called him New Orleans' "top summer breakout candidate."

"Top Summer Breakout Candidate: RB Devin Neal," Ballentine said. "It's almost an annual tradition that some Day 3 running back pick will emerge as an actual contributor for an NFL team as a rookie. Devin Neal is among the best bets to be that player this season. He was the 136th overall player on our big board and the 13th running back. However, this was a deep running back class and it's easy to see how Neal could fit into the picture of the Saints offense.

"At 5'11", 213 pounds, he's a bigger back with the ability to gain hard yards between the tackles. Alvin Kamara is going to absorb most of the pass-catching responsibilities, but he could use a younger battering ram to take some of the workload. That player is either going to be Kendre Miller or Neal. Miller could benefit from Kellen Moore taking over as head coach, but it was the new regime that brought in Neal."

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