Category: Alvin Kamara

7 takeaways from the Saints’ Week 8 win vs. Raiders

The Saints rediscovered their swagger in shutout fashion on Sunday. 7 takeaways from their win vs. the Las Vegas Raiders, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

It was the first New Orleans Saints shutout since last year’s 9-0 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they blanked the Las Vegas Raiders 24-0. This performance can be the one looked back upon in a few months if the Saints manage to turn things around successfully following their 2-5 start. Offensively, New Orleans operated near-flawlessly, the defense was at its most-stout all season and sans a missed field goal all special teams units operated with reliability. As complete a game seen by the team this season headlines six takeaways from the big win in the Big Easy.

A Christian McCaffrey-sized trade for Alvin Kamara wouldn’t be worth it for the Saints

The NFL trade deadline is approaching, but even a Christian McCaffrey-sized return for Alvin Kamara wouldn’t be worth it for the Saints:

Vultures are circling the New Orleans Saints. Fans and speculators see their 2-5 record and daunting salary cap outlook, and the upcoming NFL trade deadline on Nov. 1 is all the reason they need to start imagining the Saints’ star talent suiting up for other teams as New Orleans enters a difficult rebuild.

But it just doesn’t make sense right now. The Saints could tear everything down to the foundations and still not accomplish anything: the midseason timing means they won’t save much against the salary cap, inquiring teams aren’t going to feel pressured to put their most valuable assets on the table, and their injury-plagued roster would only get worse in such a move.

So if a contender like the Buffalo Bills or, Heaven forbid, the Philadelphia Eagles came calling after star running back Alvin Kamara — offloading him wouldn’t be worth it. Not even if a Christian McCaffrey-sized trade package was offered. The San Francisco 49ers acquired McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for second-, third-, and fourth-round picks in 2023, and a fifth rounder in 2024. It made sense for Carolina to accept that after firing their head coach and waving the white flag on their quarterback situation.

That isn’t where the Saints are. They’re sticking with Andy Dalton under center, for now, having seen him double the offense’s scoring output (averaging 31 points per game but taking 4 sacks and creating 5 turnovers) without either of his top two receivers after taking over for Jameis Winston (who managed 17 points per game the first three weeks, taking 11 sacks and committing 8 turnovers). They’ve sustained so many injuries in the secondary, which was supposed to have been the strength of their team, that it’s reasonable to think they’ll improve quickly upon getting healthy. The team has circled the wagons around Dennis Allen, for good or bad.

There’s an argument towards trading Kamara if the right offer presents itself, sure, but it isn’t very compelling. Right now Kamara is stepping up as a team leader and calling for greater accountability — telling ESPN’s Katherine Terrell that he and all of his teammates need to look out for each other all of the time, taking steps in practice to watch out for bad habits and work on erasing penalties. It’s the sort of thing Allen should be doing as head coach, but if Kamara is taking a more vocal approach to his role as team captain, well, bully for him.

That’s why Kamara is worth more to this team than a handful of draft picks a year or two away from now. He’s worth more than his stat line, too: 77 carries for 351 yards and 24 receptions for 191 yards is hardly impressing anyone, and there’s the danger of scouting the box score. Kamara is the kind of talent that forces defenses to plan for him and create opportunities for others. If opponents are putting their best linebackers and safeties in coverage against him and loading the box with seven or eight defenders when he’s in the backfield, that’s going to mean someone else is open or facing a better matchup.

And there’s the true story here. The Saints need to focus on building around Kamara, not entertaining other teams that want to trade for him at a discount. He’s a 27-year old star talent in the prime of his career. When looking for their next quarterback, whoever that is, showing an ability to maximize Kamara’s skills is a priority. Andy Dalton has done a better job of that (Kamara is averaging 6.3 receptions for 57.3 yards per game with him) than Jameis Winston has (Kamara has paced 3.4 receptions and 29.5 yards per game with Winston dating back to last season), but he still hasn’t approached the heights he reached with Drew Brees throwing to him. Kamara is New Orleans’ most-accomplished player on offense, and whoever is playing quarterback for the Saints must weaponize him. That helps explain why Dalton is the starter, not Winston, but it’s still a low bar. The Saints should be looking to raise it, not run away from it.

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Alvin Kamara delivered passionate postgame speech after Saints’ loss to Cardinals

Alvin Kamara delivered passionate postgame speech after Saints’ loss to Cardinals

Alvin Kamara was named a team captain for the first time this year, which goes to show how important he is as a leader for the New Orleans Saints — even if he is known as more of a “lead by actions, not by words” type. Maybe to such an extent that self-titled body language experts on social media have put his sideline behavior under the microscope at times.

If the Saints are going to claw their way out of this 2-5 hole they’ve dug for themselves, it’ll mean leaders like Kamara are doing their jobs. Kamara addressed the locker room after Thursday night’s hard-to-watch loss, which longtime teammates like Tre’Quan Smith had never seen before.

Smith detailed the exchange with ESPN’s Katherine Terrell, saying that Kamara told them “We’ve got to find our spot. This losing mentality, that’s not Saints football. We’re not used to it. We’ve got to really police ourselves, hold our own selves accountable, hold our teammates accountable”

That’s true: the Saints won 49 of the first 64 games they played since Kamara joined them back in 2017, but they’ve lost their way in recent years with just 11 wins during their last 24 games. “They don’t like the feeling in their throat right now,” Smith told Terrell.

What’s unclear is just how the team is being held accountable. Saints coach Dennis Allen was asked about accountability in his postgame press conference, answering “I think our team knows that they’re held accountable. I don’t think there’s any question that they’re held accountable.”

And that’s a problem. Allen is throwing out words without taking action. He hasn’t moved responsibilities on the coaching staff. The same coaches are calling plays and exercising drills in practice that haven’t had any effect. Except for injuries, the starting lineup is the same as it was to open the season. Allen watched Andy Dalton throw three interceptions, two of them returned for interceptions in the first half’s closing minutes, and urged his quarterback to nonsensically “keep doing what he’s doing.” If there’s any sense of accountability for New Orleans, it isn’t coming down from the top.

So someone has to step up, and in this case it was Kamara. Time will tell if his words were enough to spur the Saints into action. With the season approaching its midpoint, you have to hope it’s enough for a rally and second-half surge from New Orleans.

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Alvin Kamara thinks Tyrann Mathieu wears Tennessee orange well after lost bet on LSU

Alvin Kamara thinks his New Orleans Saints teammate Tyrann Mathieu wears Tennessee Volunteers orange well after a lost bet on the LSU Tigers:

They’re all wearing black and gold now, but many New Orleans Saints players are still proud of their college colors. And Tyrann Mathieu is about as famous as former LSU Tigers can be, so it makes sense that he’d make a bet with his new teammates about swapping team gear going into a big game. Unfortunately for him, Alvin Kamara and the many other Tennessee Volunteers on the Saints’ roster were all too happy to oblige.

The Vols ran amok in Baton Rouge, winning an early-afternoon kickoff by a dominant margin of 40-13. Afterwards, Kamara shared a video on his official Twitter account from the Saints locker room of Mathieu wearing a bright orange Tennessee sweatshirt — with his fellow Vols Bryce Thompson and Alontae Taylor getting plenty of photos. Their college teammates Shy Tuttle and Marquez Callaway were presumably just offscreen, laughing.

“Yeah that boy look good. Who dat? What dat?” Kamara taunted before going in for a close-up, with Mathieu laughing and covering his face. “Yeah y’all know who that is. That’s that Badger man. That’s that Badger, that’s what happens.”

It’s all in good fun, and it goes to show the strong locker room culture the Saints have built over the years, as well as how easy a fit Mathieu has been there. He’s widely respected around the NFL, as are the Tigers, so Kamara and the Vols are getting their licks in when they can. Let’s hope the Saints keep winning games so this camaraderie can continue to flourish.

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6 takeaways from the Saints’ 39-32 win over the Seahawks

Here are our 6 biggest takeaways from the Saints’ much-needed victory against the Seahawks, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

Finally snapping their three-game losing streak, the New Orleans Saints earned a much-needed win at home against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. With quarterback Andy Dalton again at the helm and several injuries around the roster, it was an informative win in regard to how the Saints may turn their season around. However, there are still clear improvements left to be made as well. Especially as the schedule gets much tougher. Here are our biggest takeaways from the 39-32 win over Seattle.

The Saints offense may have found its way in win over Seahawks

Seattle’s defense is bad, but there are glimpses of identity in the Saints’ deployment of the run game in Sunday’s win, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

During the New Orleans Saints 39-32 win against the Seattle Seahawks this weekend, it looks like Dennis Allen and his team may have found their identity on the offensive side. Or at least the beginning pieces of one. Allen said before the season began that the Saints want to be a team that can produce on the ground and they did so emphatically on Sunday. And yes, the Seattle defense is bad, but the way New Orleans deployed their weapons on the ground is worth noting and something the team could continue to build upon.

The Seahawks are the worst run defense in the NFL. They rank No. 32 in rushing yards allowed, No. 31 in rushing touchdowns surrendered, and No. 28 in yards per carry given up. It’s not a great defense. However, it’s not smart to discount the Saints in the meanwhile.

Putting up 235 rushing yards on any NFL team is something of which to take note. Someone plays the league’s worst rushing defense every week throughout the season and not every team puts up those numbers. And those that do don’t do it in as unique a fashion as New Orleans did on Sunday.

Star running back Alvin Kamara totaled 103 rushing yards on 23 carries while offensive weapon Taysom Hill added 112 of his own on 9 rushes. Hill also found the endzone three times in the run game, adding a passing touchdown to tight end Adam Trautman as well. But it was the way the Saints spread around their production that’s impressive. According to Pro Football Focus, 44 of Kamara’s rushing yards came from running up the middle between center Erik McCoy and left guard Andrus Peat. Meanwhile, 93 of Hill’s came from rushing to the outside on either side of the offensive line.

New Orleans ran tosses, stretches, isos, counters and several more run plays from both gap and zone blocking schemes with Kamara. Then they turned around and ran powers, counters and draws with Hill. The Saints even mixed in a zone read which Hill himself gave to Kamara for a first down around the left side. The variety and diversity of the Saints attack goes to show that while they faced a weak rushing defense, they had the gameplan ready to take advantage.

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WATCH: Alvin Kamara gains 54 yards on the longest reception of his career

WATCH: Alvin Kamara gains 54 yards on the longest reception of his career

You don’t see that every day. Alvin Kamara caught a screen pass from Andy Dalton in Sunday’s game with the Seattle Seahawks and followed his blockers to cross the field and gain 54 yards, making it the longest reception of his career. Fantastic blocking in space by interior linemen Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Andrus Peat helped spring him for a huge gain.

It was the second-longest gain of Kamara’s career (he ran 74 yards for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams as a rookie in 2017) and the most yardage he’s ever gained as a receiver, with most of it coming after the catch. His previous career-long was a 52-yard reception in 2020 against the Green Bay Packers, also picked up on a designed screen. It’s exactly the kind of play the Saints offense has missed from him the last two years. Hopefully they can find more big plays like it.

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Jameis Winston again doubtful in final Saints injury report vs. Seahawks

Looks like it’ll be the Andy Dalton show for the second week, this time though Alvin Kamara expects to be back on the field for the Saints, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

It looks like it will be back-to-back weekends of the Andy Dalton show for the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Jameis Winston (doubtful with back and ankle injuries) has not been present for practice all three days this week. He’ll likely follow the same cadence as last week, being downgraded on Saturday before Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.

In addition, wide receiver Michael Thomas will miss his second -straight week. That means it will be another Chris Olave-heavy gameplan in the passing game as the rookie wideout continues to impress. Despite not having Thomas again, the Saints will be with some key firepower this week.

Running back Alvin Kamara is listed as questionable for now, but has vocalized his expectations to take the field this weekend. The 2017 offensive rookie of the year has had a ton of success against the Seahawks in the past totaling 55 touches and over 300 scrimmage yards in their last two meetings. The full Saints injury report:

Alvin Kamara eager to get back on the field, says he’s ‘ready to roll’ vs. Seahawks

Alvin Kamara is eager to get back on the field. The Saints’ Pro Bowl running back says he’s ‘ready to roll’ after resting a rib injury:

We can debate how effectively the Drew Brees-less versions of the New Orleans Saints offense has weaponized Alvin Kamara, but there’s no doubting they miss him. Kamara has missed six games due to injuries since 2021, and the Saints have lost every one of them — including last week’s 28-25 heartbreaker against the Minnesota Vikings in London. But there’s no time for dwelling on that. All eyes are centered on their upcoming homestand with the Seattle Seahawks (in Week 6) and the Cincinnati Bengals (in Week 7), and Kamara is eager to get back to work.

“This week I’m feeling great, healthy, ready to roll,” Kamara told reporters after Wednesday’s practice session. “So I’m going to be out there.”

Kamara explained that the rib injury he’s been managing is kind of unique — there isn’t much to be done as far as treatment, though he’s been diligent in following the rehab plan for promoting healing, and some days the pain and discomfort is more aggressive than others. After trying to gut it out in Week 3, Kamara acknowledged that his early return may have been a bit premature, but he’s in a better place now.

At this point, he and the team’s medical staff are ready for him to get back on the field, though he’s being careful to wear some extra padding as a precaution. He told ESPN’s Katherine Terrell that the goal is to “Just protect it, be on the safe side rather than not and end up with another injury. We’re going to protect it and we’ll be good.”

New Orleans could use him. They’ve struggled to run with consistency throughout the season, and Kamara is the kind of constant big-play threat can really tune up their offense. He’s also a premiere asset around the league on passing downs, having caught 5.4 passes per game through his first four years as a pro. Jameis Winston struggled to establish a connection with him in their time together (though Kamara did catch 10 receptions against this Seahawks team last year, with Winston throwing to him) early this year, but Andy Dalton may be a better fit with his quick release and more-decisive style of play.

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Saints elevate Latavius Murray, updated RB depth chart without Alvin Kamara

With Saints running back Alvin Kamara inactive today, Latavius Murray has been elevated from their practice squad in London, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

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With New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara ruled out ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in London, the Saints will have to turn elsewhere to get their run game going. In order to do so, they’ll turn to not only veteran back Mark Ingram, but also recent addition Latavius Murray. Murray, a former Vikings running back, was a part of the Saints backfield for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He’s no stranger to the scheme.

Murray was brought up from the practice squad on Saturday afternoon in London as a standard elevation. That means after Sunday’s game, he’ll revert back to the practice squad. He was not added to the 53-man roster in this instance, but the Saints will have to promote him if he’s elevated for two more games (practice squad players may be activated up to three times each season). Murray rushed for 1,293 rushing yards and scored 9 touchdowns on the ground in his two years in the Big Easy. He ran for over 60 rushing yards in eight contests, breaking the century mark three times.

Along with Kamara, Tony Jones Jr. will be inactive as well. That leaves a three-man running back rotation of Ingram, Murray and special teams ace Dwayne Washington. New Orleans also waived veteran fullback Adam Prentice to make room for reserve quarterback Jake Luton on the active roster. If the Saints intend to use any fullback sets in this week’s game, expected elevated tight end J.P. Holtz to serve in that role.

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