Dennis Allen on the vision for Alvin Kamara in 2024

Dennis Allen says getting Alvin Kamara and Derek Carr’s timing together is crucial in Klint Kubiak’s system, but so is the blocking up front:

Dennis Allen has high hopes for Alvin Kamara in Klint Kubiak’s offense. Kamara has had a couple of down years with the New Orleans Saints, and his usage feels like a significant issue causing that decline. In 2022, Kamara was barely used in the passing game. Last year, he caught more passes, but he and Derek Carr never seemed to completely gel enough to create explosive plays. Many of those targets were checkdowns without much hope of making a play after the catch.

Allen understands that needs to change. Kamara is one of the best players on the offense and has to be put into position to succeed. Allen says he feels, “this system that we’re going to operate in I think is going to really benefit him.”

Part of that benefit is in the passing game. Allen told Kay Adams that, “I envision him having a tone of success running the football, catching the football out of the backfield.”

Kamara’s ability to be a dynamic weapon in both facets of the game is what made him so special. That’s why “getting the timing with him and the quarterback up to speed” is crucial to Allen.

Let’s not leave out rushing the football. Kamara is still going to be the Saints lead back. Allen pointed out the first play of the preseason as a showcase of Kamara’s effectiveness in the offense: “We hand him a wide zone (run) going to our left and it looked like real football.”

This isn’t the first time he praised this specific play. He spoke about how that’s how the offense in general is meant to look after the Cardinals game. They just need to maintain that more consistently and Alvin Kamara will be a big part of that.

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