Kirk

Merritt

Merritt is a former wide receiver who switched to running back for New Orleans. Despite a suspension to Alvin Kamara and injuries to Kendre Miller and Jamaal Williams, Merritt failed to carve out a role in the Saints backfield, leading to a healthy inactive status in Week 2 in favor of Tony Jones. Merritt’s departure indicates Miller is set to return and Jones is once again in the Saints’ favor.

The Saints rookie running back hurt his hamstring in practice and is currently week-to-week. With Alvin Kamara suspended for the first three games of the season, that means that Jamaal Williams should get all the work he can handle with Kirk Merritt maybe factoring in for a small handful of snaps. Also inactive for the Saints are WR A.T. Perry, DB J.T. Gray, DE Isaiah Foskey, and OG Nick Saldiveri.

Merritt (6'0/215) was at his sharpest during the 2018 campaign, when he posted an 83-1005-7 receiving line. His numbers were down on both the catch and yardage fronts this fall, though he did post a career-best 11 touchdown grabs for the year. Over the summer, Pro Football Network’s PJ Green noted that Merritt “glides when he runs his routes” and comes equipped with a pair of “very sure” mitts. If the former Texas A&M/Oregon (he had a winding collegiate career) wideout is to crack the draft proper in the spring, it’s going to require a strong evaluating process.

Merritt (6'0/215) saw his three-game touchdown streak come to a close, but he posted his third 100-yard game of the season, and most yardage since he exploded for 10 grabs, 131 yards and two scores against FCS Southern Illinois back on Sept. 21. He finishes the regular season with 64 receptions, 763 yards and 11 touchdowns across his 12 games. Next up for Ark State is a bowl game at a location to be determined.

Merritt (6'0/215), who also accounted for 123 kick return yards on two attempts (with a 94-yard TD) is second on the team in both receptions (55) and receiving touchdowns (11) behind the prolific Omar Bayless. The senior wide receiver has scored four touchdowns in the Red Wolves’ last three games, and while he isn’t particularly prolific from a yardage standpoint Merritt has a knack for reaching the end zone. He’ll look to keep that going on Black Friday when the Red Wolves visit South Alabama.

Merritt (6'0/215) has now scored at least one touchdown in five of his last six games, and for the season his tally is now up to eight. The senior wide receiver is averaging nearly 12 yards per reception, as he has caught 46 passes for 531 yards. Next up for Merritt and the Red Wolves is a November 16 home game against Coastal Carolina.

Merritt (6'0/215) saw his run of consecutive games with at least one touchdown (four) come to an end Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the senior wide receiver did not have an impact on the game. He averaged just over 28 yards per kickoff return, with a long of 39 yards, and Merritt has now caught three passes or more in six of his seven games this season. Next up for Merritt and the Red Wolves is a Nov. 2 game at ULM.

The good news is that Merritt was able to walk back to the sideline and is currently walking on the sideline. That bad news is that Merritt is out of the game, and he and Omar Bayless form one of the top pass-catching combinations in the country. We’ll definitely have an update when we find out more on the status of the talented senior.

For the second straight week, Merrit and Omar Bayless were able to put up big numbers, with Bayless adding three receiving touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Red Wolves, this one comes in a losing effort. It would be tough -- and silly -- to blame that on anything Merritt did, as he continues his run as one of the best receiving options in the Sun Belt. He should have no problem putting up solid numbers next Thursday after a bye against Louisiana.

Merritt (6'0/215) and the Red Wolves’ wideouts had absolutely no issues finding holes in the Trojans’ pass defense -- something that’s becoming pretty common, we’ve noticed -- and Merritt was able to pick up two of the four touchdowns from new-starter Layne Hatcher. This is not only back-to-back 100-yard efforts, it’s also two straight games with multiple touchdowns. Merritt has a chance to reach that level again next Saturday against Georgia State.