Tag: Eric Martin

Alvin Kamara won another Saints franchise record against the Giants

Alvin Kamara won yet another Saints franchise record against the Giants. No player has had more seasons with 1,000-plus scrimmage yards in team history:

Don’t look now, but Alvin Kamara has won yet another New Orleans Saints franchise record during his performance against the New York Giants. No player has had more seasons with 1,000-plus scrimmage yards in team history — a feat Kamara has now accomplished seven times.

Kamara went into Sunday’s matchup with 966 scrimmage yards through his first 10 games in 2023, and he went the distance midway through the third quarter to join the Comma Club again. Here are the leaders in Saints franchise history for 1,000-yard seasons:

  • RB Alvin Kamara: 7
  • WR Marques Colston: 6
  • WR Michael Thomas, RB Mark Ingram II, RB Deuce McAllister, and WR Joe Horn: 4
  • WR Eric Martin, RB Ricky Williams: 3

Kamara’s impact on the Saints can’t be understated: he’s a rare talent who landed in the perfect spot to make the most of his talents with Drew Brees throwing to him and Sean Payton drawing up his plays to start his career. And he’s still producing. Hopefully he can keep it going for years to come.

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53 days till Patriots season opener: Every player to wear No. 53 for New England

Here’s a list of every Patriots player to wear the No. 53 jersey number

The New England Patriots are officially 53 days away from their 2023 regular season opener. That means we’re continuing our ongoing countdown series by listing every Patriots player that has ever worn a No. 53 jersey.

The last player to wear the numbers was Josh Uche in his 2020 rookie season. He obviously came into the league with big shoes to fill as a linebacker wearing the same number as former Patriot and two-time Super Bowl champion Kyle Van Noy.

Former three-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro linebacker Larry Izzo also wore the No. 53. when helping kick-start the Patriots’ dynasty by appearing on the franchise’s first three Super Bowl teams.

Here’s every Patriots player that has worn the number throughout franchise history (via Pro Football Reference):

Which wide receivers have the most 1,000-yard seasons in Saints history?

Which wide receivers have the most 1,000-yard seasons in Saints history? Chris Olave’s big rookie year is a great first step to climbing the ranks, via @DillySanders:

After the New Orleans Saints Week 18 disappointing loss to the Carolina Panthers, they have a new entrant into the 1,000-yard receiving club in Chris Olave. Olave’s future has become a bright spot in the ugly season of football for the Saints.

Olave has become just the third rookie to reach that mark for the club, joining the two best receivers in team history Marques Colston and Michael Thomas. He is also the eleventh player in team history to reach that mark. Given that Olave is now the primary receiver in New Orleans, the opportunity should be there for him to move up the franchise record books every year.

Here is every wide receiver to eclipse that mark, with tiebreakers decided by total yardage in their qualifying seasons:

Where Michael Thomas ranks amongst all-time Saints WRs

If the Saints and Michael Thomas are heading toward a split, here’s where the wideout stacks up amongst all-time WRs in franchise history, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

After having reworked his contract, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas looks like he could be on his way out this offseason. That’s a disappointing end to what was an exhilarating opening to the 2022 season in which Thomas played a large role in the Saints mounting their largest come-from-behind victory in franchise history against the Atlanta Falcons. But unfortunately, injuries have continued to mount up for the two-time All-Pro keeping him off the field for the better part of the last three seasons.

When healthy, Thomas is one of the most dominant talents at wideout in the league. He became the first pass-catcher in Saints history to bring in 100 or more receptions in a single season back in 2017 and would then go on to cross the century mark the two seasons following. And famously, in of those seasons (2019) he broke the NFL single-season receptions record with 149. However, since then Thomas has appeared in just 10 games totaling 56 catches for 609 receiving yards. He also has 3 touchdown receptions during that time, but all of them took place in his trio of 2022 games.

If this is it for Thomas, he’ll be remembered as a great Saints player, one of the best receivers to don the black and gold. Even though his injury history may distract from that point here and there. To illustrate just how good Thomas has been for New Orleans despite his relatively short time with the team, here is where he ranks amongst some of the best Saints receivers of all-time:

Michael Thomas surpasses Joe Horn, ranks No. 3 among Saints receptions leaders

Michael Thomas surpassed Joe Horn on Sunday to rank No. 3 among the Saints’ all-time receptions leaders. Only Eric Martin and Marques Colston are still ahead of him:

Michael Thomas made New Orleans Saints history on Sunday, totaling 5 catches for 49 yards against the Carolina Panthers, converting 3 first downs. Those added to his career numbers, which mean he’s up to 526 receptions in a Saints uniform — he’s now surpassed Joe Horn (523) to rank No. 3 among the franchise’s all-time receptions leaders. Only Eric Martin (532) and Marques Colston (711) are still ahead of Thomas.

So he’s got a realistic shot at lapping Martin in the near future, though that hinges on the severity of his new toe injury. He was questionable to return on Sunday before the team later downgraded his status, so we’ll hope that was a precautionary move. It’s something to watch out for when the first Saints injury report drops on Wednesday.

As for Thomas’ standing in the record books: he’s now up to 6,121 receiving yards, which trails Horn (7,622), Martin (7,854), and Colston (9,759) for the all-time lead. The expanded regular season could give him a real shot at reaching 7,000 yards if he maintains his current pace, but it’ll be close. It depends on whether he misses time with this toe injury or if anything else gets in the way, and whether the Saints passing game can truly find its footing.

Still, it goes to show how special his talent is, even after injuries kept him sidelined for most of the last two seasons. More consistent quarterback play will do a lot to help his case, but Thomas is still on track to end his Saints career as one of the finest receivers to ever wear black and gold.

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Top 101 LSU football players of all time: No. 50-41

The countdown continues as we hit the home stretch.

LSU football has been around for a long time. Since 1893, to be exact.

In that span, plenty of great football players have come through the program. Before we begin the journey of the 2022 season, I thought I’d take a stab at ranking the 101 best players in LSU history.

I have tried to avoid recency bias as much as possible. It can be hard to get enough information about older players, but I did my best to get them about in the ballpark of where they should be.

Anytime there’s a list this big, people will disagree. There’s so little that separates the 50th player from the 70th, and so on.

I tried to balance consistency over multiple seasons with some players that had one great year. Both have been rewarded here. With that in mind, let’s continue the countdown.