Can the Saints get back to the explosive version of Alvin Kamara? (1 Viewer)

[UKSaint41]

Ingram and Kamara are ranked 4th and 8th lowest in time behind the line of scrimmage (Next Gen), while Football Outsiders shows that the line is allowing the fewest stuffs in the league. This seems to be what we scheme and coach. Fire up to the line and find the crease.

But, Football Outsiders also has the line ranked 17th in second level rushing, and 24th in open field rushing. This is probably because Ingram and Kamara see the 9th and 28th most 8 man boxes. Teams don’t respect the pass when Ingram is in. They respect it more when Kamara is in, but both have similar averages.

I don’t really know if this is a problem with scheme or execution. My eyes tell me it’s execution watching the games. Kamara doesn’t look the same. He’s brought down much more easily than last year. He doesn’t seem to have the same power or the same elusiveness. It could be scheme or a little of both.

This is it, last year all I can remember is him bouncing off of players and breaking some pretty hard tackles. As its been said already, to the eye test he looks like he has lost some of his explosion which would in most cases suggest he is carrying some sort of injury

 

[Domeination]

Not having Ingram those first four games (and then even after that Ingram started slowly) wore Kamara down, I think. What I would like to see now is Ingram getting more carries. He has been our most explosive offensive player the last few weeks and needs to be fed.

 

[VPCajun]

In the first 20 games of his career he had 21 plays of 20+ yards.

In the last 9 games, he's had just 1.

Hopefully, the Bucs game was a turning point.

AK looked sluggish, etc before Taysom blocked the punt. (funny how one play can turn a game on its head.)

And then, AK (and MI) were ON FIRE!

And AK looked like his old self.

Geaux AK (and MI) - -Run Dat Ball All Night Long!

 

[VPCajun]

Ingram and Kamara are ranked 4th and 8th lowest in time behind the line of scrimmage (Next Gen), while Football Outsiders shows that the line is allowing the fewest stuffs in the league. This seems to be what we scheme and coach. Fire up to the line and find the crease.

But, Football Outsiders also has the line ranked 17th in second level rushing, and 24th in open field rushing. This is probably because Ingram and Kamara see the 9th and 28th most 8 man boxes. Teams don’t respect the pass when Ingram is in. They respect it more when Kamara is in, but both have similar averages.

I don’t really know if this is a problem with scheme or execution. My eyes tell me it’s execution watching the games. Kamara doesn’t look the same. He’s brought down much more easily than last year. He doesn’t seem to have the same power or the same elusiveness. It could be scheme or a little of both.

I don't have any analytics, but it seems to me the RECEIVERS aren't being effective blockers downfield like they used to be.

Combination of injuries (i.e., B Coleman) and the new guys at WR will do that to you.

 

[VPCajun]

Sure we can, I'll give Sean a call and tell him to go to Kamara playbook 1.0. Its like reformatting a computer back to its last known good configuration...

Recently, I did a "Total Reset" (or whatever it is called) to reset two computers to original configuration. (all personal files and programs are deleted)

One went according to plan, the other became a brick.

[sigh]

NOTE: Yeah, I realize it's not quite the same thing you were referring to...

 

[Vermont Saint]

AK was never going to sustain the numbers from his rookie year throughout his career, or even, quite obviously, into this season. He's not injured, he wouldn't be allowed to return punts if he were. He is clearly being coached to protect himself from unnecessary wear and tear. Teams are doing their best to prevent Kamara from beating them, but don't despair, our net offense is almost a full touchdown better than last year.

 

[bradman1965]

Kamara had an extreme outlier season last year. Reversion to the mean was almost guaranteed and yet he's still top performer.

 

[Zsaints]

Recently, I did a "Total Reset" (or whatever it is called) to reset two computers to original configuration. (all personal files and programs are deleted)

One went according to plan, the other became a brick.

[sigh]

NOTE: Yeah, I realize it's not quite the same thing you were referring to...

The one that became a brick might not have finished the reformat. If you have a copy of windows os you were using you can use that to try and finish the reformat and do a full reinstall on the computer. Or...the hard drive is crapped out....which would suck

 

[ilvdsnts]

Don't forget that Kamara had to carry the load due to Ingram's suspension to start the year, that may have something to do with it. I just think that teams are really putting an emphasis on where he is and shutting him down but looking back, he really did look off in the Dallas game.

I was going to say the same thing, got overused early. The bye would help, also an extra week if we can clinch the 1 seed early.

 

[Jcsaints9]

AK looks off lately, like he doesn’t have that quick burst, maybe he’s feeling those first 4 games where he was used more than normal while Ingram was out.

 

[Nolan]

I personally think he's playing through some pain. He tweaked his knee earlier in the season and I think it's starting to wear on him.

 

[Magic_Leather_Jacket]

He hasn't really had a lot of those freakish plays where he slips through multiple would-be tacklers and just amazes everybody. This could simply be teams knowing how to tackle him this year. Last season, nobody knew what to do about him. They treated him like a normal scat-back. This year, defenses are keying on him and Thomas. Any time they touch the ball, there's a horde of defenders there to meet them. (sometimes with two guys grabbing him and one flying in to spear him in the earhole).

On the other hand though, AK has looked a LOT more powerful this year. Last season, those 6, 7, and 8 man boxes pretty much stopped him dead in his tracks. Mark Ingram could bowl them forward for positive yards. Kamara saw a lot more nickel looks. This year, teams are playing him more honest, but like Ingram, he's actually pushing the pile. I guess pulling that jeep paid off in that respect.

The biggest negative in all this is how we're not always able to make defenses pay for dedicating too many defenders to AK and MT. Against defenses that aren't so deep, our rookie receivers have often been able to win their one on one's and find open space in looser zones. The better / deeper defenses seem to handle our #2, #3, and #4 receiving options. At first I was skeptical, but now I'm pretty much sold. If Dez wouldn't have torn his achilles, one of two things would've happened. Defenses would either have backed off of Kamara and Thomas, or Dez would have lit them up. Either way, our offense would have been virtually unstoppable.

Similar thing with the Rams. Loosing Culp made it a whole lot easier to defend that offense. Same with Kansas City losing Hunt. Most defenses simply don't have enough talent to defend all those weapons. Against us, if you can slow down our main two guys, we become a lot more "average". Even with Ginn, teams struggled to deal with us.

I mean the guy IS being keyed on and the line isn’t blocking as well as last yr, then there’s the blocking down field. Having said that, Kamara IS second in the league in touchdowns. The guy is nearly unstoppable inside the 5.

 

[jayhawk66]

I think him producing despite the lack of explosive plays is indicative that he's still good (he's not regressing, although the Dallas game was disappointing, but it wasn't just him), defenses are just doing a better job of containing him and limiting what damage he does to them.

And his "regression" to a 4.6 yard per carry back with more TD's (13 vs. 15 this year) than last year with 3 games left... I'll take that any year.

 

[CHI-TOWNSAINT]

Theres no doubt he’s not the explosive playmaker he was last year. I know some people will push responsibility to the OL or play calling but I don’t see it. He’s simply not making people miss when he’s one on one at near the rate he did last year.

 

[Noble Saint]

The adjustments the Rams made in the 2nd half seem to be what teams are doing to try and slow him and Thomas down. Then losing Armstead makes it tough to counter.