New Orleans Saints fans, and fantasy football players, couldn’t figure out what was happening in Week 2.
It was halftime, and the Saints had given 12 touches to their top-two running backs in the first 30 minutes. Travis Etienne? He had gotten two of those touches. Alvin Kamara had gotten 10.
In a different era, that might’ve been fine. Kamara was once one of the best playmakers in football. That’s no longer the case, though.
And on top of that, the Saints signed Etienne to a four-year contract in the offseason worth $52 million. That’s the kind of money you give to a lead back, not an afterthought.
Etienne got more of the share in the second half, but still not enough for it to seem obvious that he’s ahead of Kamara on any kind of depth chart.
So What Gives?
At this point, people just want to know what’s going on.
Saints beat reporter Nick Underhill explained it like this on X:
We’ve asked. He said he doesn’t really believe in the every down player unless it’s Saquon.
The split doesn’t surprise me. We expected it. The way they’re split does surprise me. I thought it’d be like 65/35
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) September 22, 2026
Essentially, it sounds like there was never a universe where Saints head coach Kellen Moore was going to run Etienne into the ground. He was always going to use multiple guys.
The confusing part, as Underhill suggests, is that Etienne has come out on the short end of the stick at times already this season.
That still leaves some uncertainty, but it does seem there’s clarity in the fact that Etienne isn’t all of a sudden going to be the only mouth to feed. Moore doesn’t see it working out like that.
So What Now?
It’s not clear if there’s anything Etienne can do to claim more of the job.
Kamara might help Etienne’s cause simply by struggling.
“That might have been a good idea if Kamara were productive, but those 10 touches produced a total of 17 yards,” ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote earlier this week about the first-half split. “Saints backs eventually finished with 42 rushing yards on 18 carries, leaving (Tyler) Shough to shoulder the workload.”
The next step for Etienne will be to simply start being more efficient. It’s easier said than done, but if his touches are going to be a bit limited, he can’t afford to take his time to get going.
Etienne also has to stick with what earned him the contract. Clearly, the Saints like him, and for them to make the playoffs this season, Etienne will likely have to play a solid role.
Just because they don’t have everything figured out through two weeks doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s a long season.
So far, though, Etienne has been one of the big mysteries right out of the gate in New Orleans.
Saints’ Travis Etienne Usage Gets Further Explanation