The New Orleans Saints came into the 2023 season as heavy favorites to win the NFC South. Yet, through six weeks, the team is currently a very modest 3-3, third-place in their division, behind the likes of Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now, the Saints return home after two consecutive road trips and get the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars.
Unfortunately for Saints fans, the team has taken serious hits due to injury and will likely be going into Thursday night’s matchup at a disadvantage. There are currently 13 players on the Saints’ injury report. The Jaguars head into Thursday with just six players on their report. However, the severity of those injuries seems much more detrimental.
Week 7 fantasy football rankings:Injuries, byes leave lineups extremely thin
Injury Impact:
Jacksonville Jaguars:
Obviously, the biggest name on this list is Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Although the Jaguars’ offense has been running through Travis Etienne in recent weeks, Lawrence’s presence under center forces opposing defenses to respect the pass and not stack the box.
If Etienne is unable to get going, the Jaguars will have an awful time trying to sustain long drives. In 2023, the Jaguars are 3-0 when Etienne scores a touchdown. They are 1-2 when he doesn’t find the endzone. That’s a pretty telling sign, and without Lawrence under center, you can bet the Saints’ defense is going to focus hard on stopping the run, which should be pretty easy to do if you have eight men in the box at the snap. In 2022, Etienne was pretty poor after first contact, averaging just 1.8 yards after being touched. That paled in comparison to his 3.4 yards per attempt before contact.
I haven’t even gotten to the absence of guard Brandon Scherff yet either. Scherff’s presence on the Jaguars’ offensive line is a massive benefit to Etienne’s success. If he is out as well, Etienne will have a tremendously tough time breaking into the second level this week.
If both Lawrence and Scherff are available, Etienne could be in for another monster performance. However, the absence of Scherff could be even more detrimental than we realize. Last week, Scherff played 23 offensive snaps in the Jaguars’ win over Indianapolis. To that point, Etienne had recorded eight carries for 45 yards (5.6 yards per carry). After Scherff’s departure, Etienne recorded just ten yards on ten carries. Obviously, some of that can be explained by game script. The Jaguars were up 25 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Colts knew the Jaguars were going to run the ball a lot. However, for someone as explosive as Etienne, only one carry for more than five yards in ten carries is a little worrisome.
The Saints are already very good against the run, letting up less than four yards per carry on the season. They are also one of just four teams to have allowed one or fewer rushing touchdowns this year.
New Orleans Saints
All-Pro tackle Ryan Ramczyk is out for the first time this season. Derek Carr has been pretty good against sizable pressure this season though. With a clean pocket, Carr ranks 21st in the NFL in completion percentage (66.4 percent). Under pressure though, Carr stands firm, ranking 11th in that same category (59 percent). As long as receiver Chris Olave is active, and he seems to be trending that direction, Carr shouldn’t face too much trouble without Ramczyk guarding him.
Where this injury could seriously damage the Saints is in the run game. Alvin Kamara, although productive in the box score, has been rather inefficient, ranking outside the top-30 in true yards per touch. Without Ramczyk, we could start to see his rushing numbers drop further.
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