Saints' Eno Benjamin to Miss Season with Achilles Injury amid Alvin Kamara Suspension

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen announced Saturday that running back Eno Benjamin will miss the entire 2023 season after rupturing his Achilles during training camp.

Benjamin had a chance to make the 53-man roster out of training camp, especially in the wake of the news Friday that the NFL suspended Saints starting running back Alvin Kamara for the first three games of the 2023 regular season.

The suspension came on the heels of Kamara pleading no contest to a misdemeanor breach of peace charge in relation to a February 2022 altercation in Las Vegas in which Kamara allegedly punched a man multiple times.

The 24-year-old Benjamin starred collegiately at Arizona State before the Arizona Cardinals selected him in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL draft.

Benjamin did not appear in a game as a rookie, but in 2021, he played nine games and finished with 118 yards and one touchdown on the ground, as well as six receptions for 42 yards.

He began last season with the Cards and played well, appearing in 10 games and making three starts while veteran James Conner was out due to injury.

Benjamin rushed for 299 yards and two touchdowns on 70 carries, averaging 4.3 yards per tote. He caught 24 passes for 184 yards as well.

The Cardinals surprisingly waived Benjamin in November, and he was claimed by the Houston Texans. After playing two games with the Texans, Benjamin was waived again, and he landed in New Orleans.

In three games with the Saints, Benjamin rushed just four times for 13 yards.

With the threat of a Kamara suspension looming, the Saints committed heavily to building backfield depth this offseason, signing Jamaal Williams away from the Detroit Lions in free agency and selecting Kendre Miller in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft.

After rushing for a career-high 1,066 yards and leading the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns last season, Williams will likely be New Orleans top back for at least the first three weeks of the season while Kamara is out.

Ellis Merriweather, who is an undrafted rookie out of UMass, is currently the No. 3 running back on New Orleans' depth chart behind Williams and Miller when taking into account Kamara's suspension and Benjamin's injury.