Tag: Jamaal Williams

PFF picks Kendre Miller as a fantasy football sleeper for 2024

PFF’s predictive stats identified Kendre Miller as a fantasy football sleeper for 2024. Advanced metrics aside, the Saints will be counting on him making big plays:

We can count the analysts at Pro Football Focus as fans of Kendre Miller’s upside. The New Orleans Saints running back has a ton of potential, which PFF’s Kate Magdziuk focused on when highlighting possible fantasy football sleepers for the 2024 season;

Using predictive “stable metrics” that cut through the noise to highlight the most important qualities for different positions, like elusiveness for running backs. Here’s what Magdziuk learned from that information and why they’re high on Miller:

The New Orleans Saints drafted Kendre Miller with the 72nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, a slew of injuries limited his efficiency and availability throughout the year, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry. However, the advanced metrics tell a different tale.

In his limited playing time as a rookie, Miller did manage to impress, ranking in the 78th percentile or missed forced tackles per attempt (0.24), yards after contact per attempt (3.12), receiving grade (72.7) and yards per route run among running backs (2.17). Heading into the 2024 season now healthy, with an aging Alvin Kamara whose own rushing efficiency has significantly declined in the past three seasons, should provide Miller some opportunity that will pleasantly surprise fantasy managers willing to take a shot.

All that aside, we saw what Miller could do against a strong run defense in the regular season finale; he gained 73 rushing yards on just 13 carries against an Atlanta Falcons unit that had given up just 115.9 rushing yards per game going into Week 18. Miller ran well and did a great job following his blockers while showing some much-needed shiftiness in the open field.

Advanced stats aside, the Saints are counting on him making some big plays in 2024. Kamara and Jamaal Williams didn’t run with much juice last season, and the hope is for Klint Kubiak’s new staff and blocking scheme to make life easier for all three of the team’s running backs. Miller needs to prove he can stay healthy and play all 17 games after missing 9 of them last year, but he has the freshest legs of the trio. Let’s see if he can back up these impressive forecasts.

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These advanced metrics suggest Alvin Kamara has lost a step

These advanced metrics suggest Alvin Kamara has lost a step. Wear and tear has taken a toll on the Saints’ star running back:

It’s been a rough couple of years for Alvin Kamara. Between an offensive line that regressed amid coaching changes and inconsistent-at-best quarterback play, the New Orleans Saints’ star running back has had to do a lot of the work on his own — and, advanced stats suggest, he’s beginning to wear down.

One analyst at Football Insights shared a chart displaying running backs through two metrics over the last two years: yards after contact per carry, and missed tackles per carry. And Kamara wound up in the wrong quadrant. So did his teammate Jamaal Williams. Both of them fell among the league’s least-dynamic running backs after performing poorly in these advanced stats.

It’s no secret that the Saints were less-than-explosive on the ground last year, but the trend goes back further than that. Kamara isn’t breaking tackles and running away from defenders as easily as we saw early in his career. It’s easy to explain when you consider how heavy a workload he’s been asked to shoulder in recent years, compared to the timeshare he enjoyed with Mark Ingram II early on. Wear and tear adds up.

But Kamara remains a big part of the team’s plans on offense, and he figures to be a big beneficiary of Klint Kubiak designing and calling plays rather than Pete Carmichael. Anything Kubiak can do to get Kamara out in space or working behind better blocking will help; giving him a longer runway will let him build up more speed to make a play. It’s not like Kamara is washed up — he still has tremendous lower-body strength and balance through contact, with a keen eye for reading the field to find an open lane. He’s a coveted talent, and the constant trade speculation is proof of it, even if he isn’t the same player he once was. Kubiak’s job is to help revitalize him.

Hopefully it works out. Between Kamara’s recent struggles, Williams’ disappointing performance, and Kendre Miller’s injury history it’s looking like the Saints should invest more resources in the position with an eye on the future. Maybe that means drafting a running back or taking advantage of the loaded free agency class. In an ideal world, Kamara is playing well enough to quiet those concerns. But that isn’t where we’re at right now.

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NFL analyst optimistic Saints running game will step up in 2024

The Saints running game has been disappointing, but there’s optimism Klint Kubiak can get more out of Alvin Kamara, Jamaal Williams, and Kendre Miller in 2024:

The New Orleans Saints’ running backs underperformed in 2023, but the talent is still respected by those around the league. With the arrival of offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak there is renewed hope for the unit. While many may look at running backs as being on an age limit, NFL.com analyst Kevin Patra still believes Alvin Kamara can be productive at age 29.

Patra says Kubiak will maximize Kamara and actually use Jamaal Williams to his strengths. Patra puts faith in Kubiak’s usage for running plays involving both veterans, writing:

I understand the thought that Kamara could be cut or traded, given his age, contract and waning production. I simply don’t subscribe to the idea. Kamara remains the Saints’ best backfield option. Saints brass is in win-now mode, and Kamara is part of that calculus. I do think Kamara, turning 29 in July, fits well into the type of offense Klint Kubiak will run. Miller deserves more reps in Year 2 after flashing down the stretch. And the Saints actually need to use Williams at the goal line. Of all the frustrating parts of the New Orleans season, the fact that they signed a goal-line TD maker in the offseason and refused to use him in that role was among the top hair-pullers. Made no sense. Hopefully, Kubiak has better designs.

There’s still belief Williams can be valuable to the team despite struggling to find the end zone in 2023. Kendre Miller could be in store for a sophomore surge with better help. It all starts with Alvin Kamara. If he sees a return to form, the Saints’ running game can elevate to join the best in the league.

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Saints free agent report card: Was Jamaal Williams a good veteran signing?

We’re kicking off our New Orleans Saints free agent report cards with Jamaal Williams. The veteran running back didn’t meet expectations in 2023:

We’re kicking off our New Orleans Saints free agent report cards with Jamaal Williams. The veteran running back didn’t meet expectations in 2023 after being heralded as an ideal tag-team partner for Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill. Here’s a look back at his first season in New Orleans, his contract status, and what’s next for him:

Saints expected to hire former Chargers RB coach Derrick Foster

The Saints are expected to hire former Chargers running backs coach Derrick Foster, adding more youth and new insight to their coaching staff:

This could be a big get: Derrick Foster is expected to be hired as the New Orleans Saints’ new running backs coach, as first reported by Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports.

Foster, 38, spent the last three years in that position with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he helped develop Austin Ekeler into the NFL’s top scoring threat; no player scored more touchdowns (44) over the last three years put together.

Before he came to the NFL, Foster coached running backs at Iowa from 2018 to 2020 and also worked at Samford, Northwestern State in Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Now, he’ll be working with Alvin Kamara. The Saints fielded one of the league’s least-effective rushing attacks in 2023 and it falls on Foster and new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to get more out of their personnel; not just Kamara but also second-year pro Kendre Miller and veteran backup Jamaal Williams. They can’t rely on Taysom Hill being the team’s most explosive runner again in 2024.

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Cameron Jordan on Saints’ controversial TD vs. Falcons: ‘Say sorry we didn’t go for 50’

Cameron Jordan doesn’t see the problem with running up the score on the Falcons, much less apologizing for it: ‘Say sorry we didn’t go for 50’

The New Orleans Saints ended their season with a flourish — and then some controversy. When the second-string offense and backup quarterback Jameis Winston went rogue to get Jamaal Williams a late touchdown run over the Atlanta Falcons, Saints head coach Dennis Allen responded by apologizing to the other team for their actions.

It was a move that got him lambasted by the Saints fanbase. And one of Allen’s captains and the longest-tenured player on the team, Cameron Jordan, wants it known that he disagreed with Allen’s decision to apologize for scoring too many points on their greatest rival.

“I’m so sorry the locker room really enjoys being a brotherhood,” Jordan joked during an appearance on the Around the NFL podcast this week. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry we punished a rival team. I would do it again. In fact, I would’ve gone for two. The only thing I’m gonna have a discrepancy with is I didn’t understand the ramifications of like, ‘No, they were taking victory formation.’ The ‘Can’tlanta Failcons’ had already acquiesced. They were just trying to get it out there just like their head coach was about to get out there.”

Already unpopular among Saints fans, Allen’s determination to take a stand and tell them to stop enjoying themselves rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Whatever goodwill he earned for his first winning season in five years as a head coach went with the wind. He has more work to do to convince the team’s supporters that he’s the right man for the job, even as general manager Mickey Loomis continues to cook up bad arguments favoring Allen.

But this isn’t going away. Jordan finished his piece with “Half of my gripe was Dennis ended up saying sorry. And I’m like why would you say sorry? Say sorry we didn’t go for 50.”

It’s unfortunate, but it makes sense that Allen still doesn’t get this rivalry. He doesn’t understand why Saints players and fans dislike the Falcons because his heart’s not in it. He was born in Atlanta as the son of former Falcons linebacker Grady Allen. He grew up and into life with Texas A&M as a student, college football player, and assistant coach; the Aggies have built an unhinged program with strange culture and ideas of sportsmanship, which has defined its relationship with its biggest in-state rival by running from the Texas Longhorns to join a new conference (only for Texas to get the jump on them anyway in the expanding SEC). The sense of rivalry and bone-deep hate isn’t in him.

And Allen’s reluctance to lean into that rivalry and engage with Saints fans (and, apparently, his own players) is going to be a storyline until something bigger happens to overshadow it. Hiring an entirely new offensive coaching staff will help. But Allen has a lot of work to do to convince fans the team he’s leading is worth lending their time and money to support. All we can do is it and see whether he can deliver.

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Maurice Jones-Drew ranks Alvin Kamara as 30th-best running back in NFL

Maurice Jones-Drew ranks every running back to start a game in 2023.

NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew ranked all 72 running backs who started a game this season, and the New Orleans Saints had three of them: Alvin Kamara, Jamaal Williams and Tony Jones Jr. (Kendre Miller didn’t qualify.)

The Saints running game wasn’t strong this season, so it should come as no surprise that no New Orleans player ranks high on the list. Kamara is the first Saint to make the list at No. 30. His season was limited in the running game, and New Orleans also failed to deliver on preseason hype that Kamara would return to his previous glory as a pass catcher.

Williams is significantly farther down the list, in the bottom third. There’s a reason the players decided to defy Dennis Allen in order to get Williams a touchdown in the season finale. He struggled to find his footing in the offense.

Jones, meanwhile, started for the Saints in Week 3. He later became an Arizona Cardinal and now finds himself as the 64th-ranked running back by Jones-Drew. The Saints will be hoping for more out of the group in 2024.

Former Raiders exec Amy Trask unsurprised by Saints’ Dennis Allen drama

The recent dustup between Dennis Allen and his Saints players didn’t surprise his former coworker Amy Trask, who saw the same thing with the Raiders:

At least one person wasn’t shocked by Dennis Allen’s very public split with  New Orleans Saints players in the final minutes of the 2023 season: Amy Trask, Allen’s former coworker with the Raiders and current co-host of the What the Football podcast with Suzy Shuster.

Trask spent 26 years in the Raiders’ front office, spending much of her career as the team’s chief executive officer before resigning midway through Allen’s three-year stint as head coach. She wasn’t a fan of the Saints promoting Allen to head coach in 2022, and she also criticized Allen’s decision to bring ex-Raiders coach Jon Gruden to training camp last summer.

Now she’s shared some insight on her experience with Allen, who Trask characterized as a “dismissive, derisive” presence. After Allen introduced himself to the organization in an early staff meeting, Trask says, employees lined up at her door with complaints.

That became a trend. Allen’s leadership style continued to rub people the wrong way, being described as “uninspiring” at best and “rude” at worst. As Trask reflected, Allen wasn’t someone even the Raiders’ veteran players were willing to embrace.

“It appeared to me, and I’m not putting words in a player’s mouth, but players would do the minimum for him,” Trask said, contrasting Allen with coaches that players would run through a wall for. “Nobody’s running through a wall for him.”

The incident this all centers on, of course, featured Saints backup quarterback Jameis Winston agreeing with his teammates to change the game’s final play call. After being told to kneel out the clock at the 1-yard line and seal a blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons, Winston and the rest of the offense went rogue, audibling into a run for Jamaal Williams to score a touchdown. It’s the kind of insubordination you don’t see in the NFL.

Shuster drew the comparison to other coaches who do connect with their players — whether that’s longtime leaders like Bill Belichick or first-year standout DeMeco Ryans. Trask continued, “I had the sense, and some players shared with me, that’s not what they experienced with Dennis. And look, we all grow up, we all grow, I thought he could be better in New Orleans. And I may be the only person to tell you this, but when I saw (the audible) in New Orleans, I was not the slightest bit surprised. Any other coach, I’d be surprised.”

Allen’s two-year run as the Saints’ head coach has been hard to watch. The team finished one game over .500 this year and still has a losing record with him on top of the organization, missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons after he took the job with a promise of continued postseason success. Unable to manage big egos, Allen has created rifts with fan-favorite players like C.J. Gardner-Johnson (traded last year), Marshon Lattimore (likely to be traded this year), Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara (who may also be on their way out).

But he’s here to stay. Allen has already said he expects to return as head coach in 2024, and general manager Mickey Loomis wouldn’t have let him go speak to reporters after the season ended if that weren’t the case. Stubborn to prove he didn’t hire the wrong coach, Loomis appears set to stay the course. Maybe it’s just going to take three years before Allen finds a way to win the worst division in pro football.

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Teammates publicly side with Jameis Winston after late-game audible

Dennis Allen may be upset at the Saints offense decision to get Jamaal Williams a touchdown late in the game, but his teammates loved it:

The New Orleans Saints demolition of the Atlanta Falcons was, in a way, overshadowed by late game controversy. With the game well in hand, the offense decided to get Jamaal Williams his first touchdown of the year instead of kneeling the ball out. This decision resulted in Arthur Smith cursing Dennis Allen out after the game. It was later revealed the offense went against Allen’s wishes.

The Falcons may feel like it was running up the score, but they were merely collateral damage. The decision to get Williams a touchdown was all about making Williams feel valued for his season of hard work. This was similar to a player trying to get an incentive on the last week.

As the quarterback, fingers will naturally point towards Jameis Winston. Winston and teammates have made it clear this was a team decision. Still, the quarterback will be the one who will receive much of the praise or criticism, depending on which side you’re on. Allen expressed his displeasure with the decision, but teammates have rallied around Winston in the aftermath:

Jameis Winston explains the Saints’ final touchdown as only he can

Jameis Winston called an audible even his coach didn’t know about, and that’s why the Saints scored that late TD to Arthur Smith’s dismay.

We’ve already established that Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith was really unhappy about the New Orleans Saints’ decision to go for a touchdown run out of a victory formation late in what became a 48-17 Saints win. And as it turned out, Saints head coach Dennis Allen wasn’t in favor of the decision to hand the ball to running back Jamaal Williams from the one-yard line with 1:10 left in the game. The Saints were in that position after defensive back Tyrann Mathieu returned a Logan Woodside pass 74 yards… and ran out of gas at the end.

Allen would have preferred that his team kneel the clock out and walk out of the stadium with a win. Quarterback Jameis Winston had other ideas. Williams, who led the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 17 for the Detroit Lions in 2022, didn’t have a single touchdown in the 2023 season. And Winston wanted to give his guy one.

That led to this.

“I want to start off by apologizing to Arthur Smith and the Falcons,” Allen said. “That was not a play that we intended to run down there to finish off the game. That’s not who we are. That’s not how we operate. We should have taken a knee, so I want to apologize to them. We have a good rivalry, and it’s a heated rivalry, but there’s a way we go about doing our business. I wasn’t happy about that.

“We should have taken a knee right there. They asked me about getting Jamaal a touchdown there at the end. I said I wanted to take a knee. We put victory [formation] out there. The guys kind of wanted to give him a touchdown. They did that on their own. That’s not acceptable.”

So, that’s what happened, and Winston explained it after the game in his own inimitable fashion.

“They can do whatever they want,” Smith concluded. “There are no rules against it. Like I said, we did not stop them in the second half. They can do whatever they want. It is what it is. Hat’s off to them. They kicked our you-know-what in the second half. They made us play. They took advantage of turnovers. That’s their prerogative [to try to score]. It’s my prerogative to tell them how I feel. Like that or not, oh well. Credit to them. They can do whatever they want there.”