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Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport says Alvin Kamara is the NFL’s most overrated running back. It’s a reach to suggest the New Orleans Saints superstar has lost a step, but it’s plainly obvious that he hasn’t kept up the pace he set early in his career. Injuries, age, attrition along the offensive line, and overuse have taken their toll.
Davenport zeroed in on three running backs as the NFL’s most overrated players at the position: Joe Mixon (Cincinnati Bengals), Najee Harris (Pittsburgh Steelers), and Kamara. Here’s some of what Davenport had to say about Kamara’s recent slump:
The last two seasons have been a different story, though. The yardage has still been there—Kamara has yet to come up short of that 1,300-yard mark in the pros. But in each of the past two seasons, he has failed to exceed four yards a carry. His reception numbers have plummeted as well—after 83 grabs in 2020, he has just 104 catches the past two seasons combined.
Again, those numbers aren’t bad. And part of the slide can be attributed to a change in offensive scheme. But Kamara’s 1,565 career touches appear to be catching up to him. He looks to have lost a step, and he broke just seven tackles all season long last year—32nd among running backs.
Kamara has never been a big-play threat in the conventional sense, lacking the extra gear to pull away from defenders in the open field. He averaged 25.5 carries of 10-plus yards through his first four years with the Saints, and he’s had 21 and 20 such gains on the ground in the last two seasons. Remember, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds, not 4.39 like Jonathan Taylor (50 carries for 10-plus yards in 2021). He’s never been put in the same conversation surrounding the best runners like Taylor, Derrick Henry, Nick Chubb, and even Christian McCaffrey or Josh Jacobs.
What has always set Kamara apart was his value on passing downs, running routes as well as any wide receiver around the league and easily catching the ball when it’s thrown his way. But his usage in that role has changed and diminished as of late without Drew Brees at quarterback. Jameis Winston struggled with the timing and accuracy on those passes. Andy Dalton was a little more efficient but he still isn’t someone who should have attempted 378 passes last year. That’s twice as many passes as Trevor Siemian threw a year earlier, and his version of the offense was even worse. As Kamara’s presence in the rushing attack has grown, his usage on passing downs has changed and decreased, and his overall effectiveness has gone with it.
Hopefully the arrival of Derek Carr will do a lot to reestablish Kamara’s game. He linked up often with Jacobs the last few years, completing 54 and 53 passes, so this is an element of the offense he’s well-prepared to develop. If he can help Kamara become more of an asset on passing downs like we’ve seen before, that’s going to be massive for the offense as a whole. Having improved depth in Jamaal Williams and Kendre Miller will help, but when he’s available Kamara is going to be the focal point of the backfield. Hopefully he makes the most of those opportunities to put this chatter about who’s overrated and who isn’t to bed.
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