The Saints are using Alvin Kamara more as a runner this year. In three of their four games, he’s carried 20-plus times for 80-plus yards. But they have dialed back his role in the passing game. Substantially.
In the Drew Brees era, the Saints consistently would isolate Kamara in mismatches against linebackers, but they haven’t been doing that this year. Presumably, that’s tied to Brees being better than their current quarterbacks at identifying those opportunities and accurately delivering the ball. That doesn’t seem to be there this year.
Jameis Winston is starting this year, and Kamara has caught only 10 passes in the four games. This is a continuation of last year, when Kamara caught only 10 passes in the four games Taysom Hill started. They just don’t seem to have the same command of offense as Brees, with the ability to see all of the pieces on the chessboard.
In Brees’ 10 full games last year, Kamara caught 66 passes for 622 yards and 4 TDs.
In Kamara’s last eight games with quarterbacks other than Brees, he’s caught 20 passes for 113 yards, with 2 TDs – fewer catches, and doing less with them.
Kamara has still been productive. Other than the Carolina game (where he was held to 5 rushing yards), he’s run for over 80 in every game. But with him doing more as a runner, durability becomes more of a concern. And without that steady stream of receptions, he’s not as golden in typical fantasy formats.
| KAMARA: RECEIVING WITH BREES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| T.B. | W 34-23 | 5 | 51 | 10.2 | 1 |
| at L.V. | L 24-34 | 9 | 95 | 10.6 | 0 |
| G.B. | L 30-37 | 13 | 139 | 10.7 | 2 |
| at Det. | W 35-29 | 3 | 36 | 12.0 | 0 |
| LAC | W 30-27 | 8 | 74 | 9.3 | 0 |
| Car. | W 27-24 | 8 | 65 | 8.1 | 0 |
| at Chi. | W 26-23 | 9 | 96 | 10.7 | 0 |
| at T.B. | W 38-3 | 5 | 9 | 1.8 | 0 |
| K.C. | L 29-32 | 3 | 40 | 13.3 | 1 |
| Min. | W 52-33 | 3 | 17 | 5.7 | 0 |
| KAMARA: RECEIVING WITH OTHER QBs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Atl. | W 24-9 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0 |
| at Den. | W 31-3 | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | 0 |
| at Atl. | W 21-16 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 |
| at Phi. | L 21-24 | 7 | 44 | 6.3 | 0 |
| G.B. | W 38-3 | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 1 |
| at Car. | L 7-26 | 4 | 25 | 6.3 | 0 |
| at N.E. | W 28-13 | 3 | 29 | 9.7 | 1 |
| NYG | L 21-27 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0 |
—Ian Allan