Why Darren Sproles Is Better Fit for the New Orleans Saints Than Reggie Bush

The 2005 season turned out to be one of the worst seasons for the New Orleans Saints in recent memory.

Besides the 3-13 record the team sported, they were trying to recover from one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of the United States.

With the Superdome under construction after suffering damage during the storm, the Saints were forced to split home games between Tiger Stadium, home to the LSU college football team, and the Alamodome in San Antonio.

But there was hope yet for the city when, in 2006, they were able to persuade quarterback Drew Brees to join their team and received a shocking surprise in the draft.

Only one team had a worse record than the New Orleans Saints in '05 and that was Houston Texans. They were expected to take a highly-touted running back out of USC, Reggie Bush. But in a stunning turn of events, the Texans went with DE Mario Williams and Bush fell right into the Saints lap.

Bush was expected to be the next elite back and, alongside Brees, lead the Saints to the promise land. And in 2010, at Super Bowl XLIV, the dreams of all Saints fans came true. Except by then, Bush was not an elite back. He wasn't even the best running back on the team, or even good enough for second string.

That season, Reggie Bush rushed for 390 yards. Pierre Thomas ran for 793 yards while Mike Bell racked up 654 yards. Now, Bush was somewhat effective with his pass-catching abilities, accumulating more receiving yards than rushing yards during his five-year stint with the team. But with a bevy of talented receivers, the Saints needed an actual running back.

Don’t get me wrong: Bush was a key role-player in the Saints success, but not what they were looking for from him. 

During the offseason of 2011, it became official that the Saints were done when they drafted Mark Ingram and sent Bush to South Beach. But the Saints weren't looking at Mark Ingram as the replacement to Reggie Bush. They found him in free agency: Darren Sproles, formerly of the San Diego Chargers. One of the biggest questions was "can Sproles fill the shoes left behind by Bush". Well, I believe he will do that and much, much more.

In the past four years, Reggie Bush has played in 46 total games out of a possible 64. On the other side of things, Sproles has played in all but one game over that span, including playing in every game over the past three years. Bush showed to be injury-prone and spent most of his time on the sidelines.

With Sproles, the Saints should be safe in knowing he will be available to contribute week in and week out. Now, injuries are a part of the game so anything can happen, but with the history, it looks good for the Saints.

Sproles, however, has never run the ball more than 100 times, 93 being the closest he's ever come. But the Saints aren't expecting that much from him anyway, with an already stacked backfield.

Also, Sproles has accumulated a better yard-per-carry average over his career with 4.6, as opposed to Bush' 4.0. Sproles had even become the same threat Bush was catching out of the backfield, leaving Brees that option he's had since joining the team. And Sproles is an excellent return man, just like Bush.

But the main reason Sproles is better for the Saints than Bush is money. This year, Reggie Bush was scheduled to make approximately $11.8 million. The Saints then signed Darren Sproles to a four-year, $14-million contract, averaging out to $3.5 million a year, saving the Saints $8.3 million to use elsewhere.

In my eyes, they got a player that could be as valuable as, if not more than, Reggie Bush, and saved a lot of money in the process.

Darren Sproles in the backfield with Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas, and Chris Ivory, could make this one of the most feared corps in all of football.