Kamara in fast lane to top receiving total
The Saints haven’t been marching the way their front office expected when they signed Derek Carr to a four-year deal in the spring. In the six games Carr has been manning the offense, it is gaining 4.6 yards per play and is ranked in the bottom third of the NFL in scoring.
What’s more is how inefficient New Orleans has been on third downs (37.8 percent) and in the red zone (36.8 percent).
This isn’t the Bears of last season where if Justin Fields threw a ball on third-and-long, there was virtually no one there to catch it. New Orleans rosters a talented receiving corps, and Carr must discover how to elicit the best from it.
So what can we rely on in this passing game?
Having the most targeted running back in football over the course of the last six-plus seasons provides the safety net that best compliments Carr’s game. Alvin Kamara has reeled in 6.35 targets and 42.1 yards in 91 games. Carr tossed to his running backs 19.1 percent of the time in his final season as a Raider; Andy Dalton threw to Kamara 23 percent of offensive plays as the Saints starter in 2022.
The Jaguars have yielded 40.5 receiving yards to running backs so far, which is the seventh worst in the league. Opposing offenses have laid siege on Jacksonville’s secondary through the air: The Jags cede the most yards (270.3), passing attempts (39.3) and completions (25.3). Kamara has hit the 30-yard receiving mark in two of his three games back from suspension as Carr is targeting him 8.3 times per game. The spark plug back is in a favorable spot to pad his production again on Thursday night as Carr looks to capitalize on a generous matchup.
THE PLAY: Alvin Kamara Over 29.5 receiving yards (FanDuel). Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL for Action Network.