Alvin Kamara burst onto the scene in 2017 after being drafted in the third round by the Saints. Being the fifth running back taken and the Saints already having Mark Ingram and freaking Adrian Peterson, the expectations seemed low. Not only did he make the Jaguars (who drafted Leonard Fournette fourth overall) look moronic, but he put the league on notice. Alvin Kamara became only the fourth player in NFL history to amass 2,000 yards rushing and receiving in a players first 3 years. 75 million dollars later, he leads the NFL in all-purpose yards, rocks a cool grill, his team is 7-2, and is my Offensive Player of the Year.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of other good candidates this season. Players like Kyler Murray, Dalvin Cook and Davante Adams are all having special seasons in their own right. However, when you have common sense and get into the numbers of it all, Kamara is clearly the winner.
The Case for Kamara
The Saints currently have the seventh ranked total offense by Pro Football Reference. They’re 16th in passing, 14th in rushing, and top five in points per game. The numbers don’t really blow you away until you realize that Kamara has been doing his best Russell Wilson impression. Alvin Kamara leads his team in every statistical category that doesn’t involve passing the football. He leads his team in rush attempts, rushing yards, targets, receptions, receiving yards, total first downs gained, and total touchdowns. Not to mention the fact he has 13 of the Saints 29 “Big” plays. Quite frankly he’s the whole damn offense.
Emmanual Sanders is the Saints second leading receiver with 31 catches on 42 targets, 347 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns. Alvin Kamara has double his catches, and almost double his targets and RECEIVING yards with one more touchdown. Keep in mind he’s yet to miss a game, and has only started six of the nine. Now if you want to give the credit to Drew Brees for their record, that’s understandable. However, I would argue that’s he’s actually held them back.
When your quarterback ranks 21st in yards per attempt and 16th in passing yards, that a pretty limited offense. Drew Brees’s average depth of target since 2019 is dead last at 6.5 yards. Aka, he’s a dink and dunk Quarterback. By no means am I saying that Brees isn’t good, but he desperately needs his playmakers to look competent. And after losing reigning Offensive Player of the Year Michael Thomas from week one to week eight, his only playmaker was Kamara. In fact, without Kamara, I believe the Saints would be drafting in the top 10 right now.
Alvin Kamara: 618 yards after the catch
— PFF (@PFF) November 16, 2020
218 more than any other player pic.twitter.com/gmC6E42jdL
To Wrap it Up
In four of the Saints nine games he’s lead his team in total touchdowns. In six of the nine games he’s lead them in total yardage. He’s been the leading rusher in five, and the leading receiver in four. Next to guys like Christian McCaffery, he is the ultimate dual-threat at running back. If the Saints didn’t have Kamara on top of Michael Thomas, they’d be dead in the water.
Too easy for Alvin Kamara?
— PFF (@PFF) November 15, 2020
pic.twitter.com/k1EIXv7Gmu
Now obviously there’s still plenty of games left to go, and Drew Brees has a punctured lung. Given Kamara’s usage rate I don’t see his numbers really falling off, but you never know with Jameis. But if the season ended today and you’re not living under a rock, Alvin Kamara is the Offensive Player of the Year.
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