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Something that's been overlooked as we parse through the loss is that AK was not even remotely the same player that was a one-man offense in the first 4-5 weeks of the season. The entire story of Kamara's 2019 season and the way his workload was managed still baffles me. And I don't mean this in a "let's all dogpile Sean Payton" kind of way, as there's a lot of different reasons why it could have possibly been handled the way it was. That's what I'm trying to understand.
To recap Kamara's season:
- Weeks 1-5: Looks like a top 3 RB. 4.6 yards/carry, but more importantly, 9.3 yards/reception. He was practically carrying our offense. He averages 20 touches/game.
- Somewhere between week 5 and 6 he quietly picks up an ankle injury in practice.
- Week 6 he plays hurt, and puts up a terrible performance (11 carries for 31 yards and 7 rec for 35 yards). He fails the eyeball test miserably. It's clear to everyone here that he's more hurt than we originally were made to believe.
- They shut him down until after the bye, which was the right move.
- Week 10 he comes back against Atlanta, is limited to 12 touches, and still plainly looks hurt in a pedestrian performance.
Here's where it gets weird. He is absolutely not the same player. He is one of the most important players on our team. With an ankle sprain, the "correct" move seems to be to shut him down. But, here's what happens:
- Weeks 11 through 16 he gets a full workload, as if he was healthy. 20 touches/game just like before. However - it's obvious to all of us that he's still hurt. His yards/reception drops from 9.3 to 5.2. He is missing speed, lateral quickness, and most importantly his ability to break tackles. He went from a 31.4% broken tackle rate to a 10.6% broken tackle rate (credit https://www.canalstreetchronicles.c...-running-back-injury-latavius-murray-playoffs)
So what happened? The conventional wisdom says that after week 6, you shut him down until he's 100% or as close to it as he'll get, even if it means sitting him down until week 17 or the playoffs. Why is Kamara getting 20 touches a game when he's very obviously still hurt and when we have a very capable RB to fill in for him in Murray.
Best I can figure, the truth lies somewhere in here:
- The coaching staff believed that we absolutely had to get a first round bye and a top seed to be a contender, and played him believing we needed him to do that.
- The coaching staff believed that the dropoff between a RB group of injured Kamara and Murray was significantly better than Murray and Washington. So much so that you play a hurt and ineffective player to the detriment of his health come playoff time.
- The injury was one that rest wasn't going to help. This is one that I have a really, really hard time buying, especially since it was an ankle sprain. But I have heard of cases where a player plays through an injury because there's no solution for it except a full offseason of rest. Tim Duncan did it one year with Plantar Fasciitis (sp?), and I've heard of it with turf toe too. Have never heard this for an ankle sprain.
- The coaching staff and doctors mismanaged his injury.
- He wasn't actually hurt, it was something mental.
So - in your opinion, what happened? The whole thing still baffles me. I'm of the mind that I'd have rather had the 6 seed with a healthy, dominant Kamara than the 1 seed with the broken version of Kamara that we saw.
To recap Kamara's season:
- Weeks 1-5: Looks like a top 3 RB. 4.6 yards/carry, but more importantly, 9.3 yards/reception. He was practically carrying our offense. He averages 20 touches/game.
- Somewhere between week 5 and 6 he quietly picks up an ankle injury in practice.
- Week 6 he plays hurt, and puts up a terrible performance (11 carries for 31 yards and 7 rec for 35 yards). He fails the eyeball test miserably. It's clear to everyone here that he's more hurt than we originally were made to believe.
- They shut him down until after the bye, which was the right move.
- Week 10 he comes back against Atlanta, is limited to 12 touches, and still plainly looks hurt in a pedestrian performance.
Here's where it gets weird. He is absolutely not the same player. He is one of the most important players on our team. With an ankle sprain, the "correct" move seems to be to shut him down. But, here's what happens:
- Weeks 11 through 16 he gets a full workload, as if he was healthy. 20 touches/game just like before. However - it's obvious to all of us that he's still hurt. His yards/reception drops from 9.3 to 5.2. He is missing speed, lateral quickness, and most importantly his ability to break tackles. He went from a 31.4% broken tackle rate to a 10.6% broken tackle rate (credit https://www.canalstreetchronicles.c...-running-back-injury-latavius-murray-playoffs)
So what happened? The conventional wisdom says that after week 6, you shut him down until he's 100% or as close to it as he'll get, even if it means sitting him down until week 17 or the playoffs. Why is Kamara getting 20 touches a game when he's very obviously still hurt and when we have a very capable RB to fill in for him in Murray.
Best I can figure, the truth lies somewhere in here:
- The coaching staff believed that we absolutely had to get a first round bye and a top seed to be a contender, and played him believing we needed him to do that.
- The coaching staff believed that the dropoff between a RB group of injured Kamara and Murray was significantly better than Murray and Washington. So much so that you play a hurt and ineffective player to the detriment of his health come playoff time.
- The injury was one that rest wasn't going to help. This is one that I have a really, really hard time buying, especially since it was an ankle sprain. But I have heard of cases where a player plays through an injury because there's no solution for it except a full offseason of rest. Tim Duncan did it one year with Plantar Fasciitis (sp?), and I've heard of it with turf toe too. Have never heard this for an ankle sprain.
- The coaching staff and doctors mismanaged his injury.
- He wasn't actually hurt, it was something mental.
So - in your opinion, what happened? The whole thing still baffles me. I'm of the mind that I'd have rather had the 6 seed with a healthy, dominant Kamara than the 1 seed with the broken version of Kamara that we saw.
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