Kamara making plays for Saints
METAIRIE, La. — By now, the rest of the NFL should have caught on to the fact that New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara is among the top-performing rookies in the league.
Perhaps it only looks like the former University of Tennessee player is still catching defenses by surprise with his versatility and his shifty, slippery running style.
“From the way that it seems and the production that he has, it doesn’t look like (defenses) have been preparing for him,” said veteran Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis, who will be trying to slow down Kamara on Sunday in the Superdome. “The guy’s been going out and making plays all over the field, man.”
The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Kamara leads all rookies with nine touchdowns — including a 74-yard scoring run against the Rams last Sunday in Los Angeles. He ranks third among all rookies in both rushing yards (546) and receiving yards (548). His 1,094 yards from scrimmage rank second among rookies, while his average of 7.1 yards per carry leads the entire NFL. He is also approaching George Rogers’ franchise rookie record of 13 touchdowns in 1981.
Kamara’s performance has made him among the best value picks of last spring’s NFL draft, having been taken in the third round.
He never emerged as a big-name college player after transferring from Alabama to Tennessee, where he often backed up Jalen Hurd. Still, his college statistics indicate he was effective when he got the ball. He averaged 6.2 yards per carry and 9.2 yards per reception during two seasons with the Volunteers, falling just short of 1,000 yards from scrimmage each season.
The Saints liked Kamara’s versatility and hoped he might fit their offense similar to the way Darren Sproles and Reggie Bush had, but even New Orleans waited until the 67th overall pick to trade up and snag him.
“If you re-drafted today, I’m sure his selection and round would be entirely different,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “He’s been able to adjust and adapt quickly to the speed of the game at this level.
“A year ago on film, you didn’t get to see as many carries because he was splitting time,” Payton added. “But certainly you saw his ball skills, and we’re fortunate to have him.”
What seems to set Kamara apart is his ability to avoid or shed tacklers with subtle weight transfers or changes in speed. There aren’t many jaw-dropping jukes.
“It’s not a full head of steam all the time. It’s like, calculated,” Kamara said. “It’s a lot of downshifting and upshifting. … I wasn’t really a big juker.”
Right guard Larry Warford said Kamara’s teammates have caught themselves letting up on plays, figuring Kamara is certain to be tackled, only to realize he’s still running.
“When you see him in a situation and it looks like there’s no way he’s getting out of that, he gets out of it,” Warford said. “It’s weird.”
The Panthers’ Davis, who played in the Southeastern Conference with the Georgia Bulldogs, sounded among the least surprised by Kamara’s success.
“I’ve been a real fan of Alvin since he was at Tennessee, watching a lot of SEC football and really seeing how dynamic that guy was,” Davis said. “It’s definitely translated over into the NFL.”
Carolina coach Ron Rivera said Payton’s offense has a lot to do with Kamara’s success. After all, it’s hard to bird-dog Kamara at the expense of accounting for so many other ways quarterback Drew Brees could distribute the ball. He could be throwing over the middle to receiver Michael Thomas or tight end Coby Fleener, or deep to Ted Ginn.
Sometimes Kamara and Ingram are on the field together, and both running backs are effective as rushers or receivers in the screen game.
“Coach (Payton) uses his personnel very well, and Drew Brees happily distributes the ball,” Rivera said. “If you sit there and think he’s going to give the ball to Kamara 40 times, he isn’t. He’s going to spread the ball around.”