Article Underhill: With Mark Ingram's Saints era likely over, it's Alvin Kamara's moment -- no timeshare needed (1 Viewer)

[SigFreudianSlip]

It was the offense as a whole. Not just Kamara. Brees wasn’t very good at the end. The line wasn’t very good either. The play calling wasn’t working. Receivers couldn’t get open, etc. Certainly not some worn out Kamara situation as far as I could see.

Agreed here. The O line was banged (and maybe Drew too, idk) but the whole offense slowed considerably at the end IMO.

 

[Saint Spud]

Youre operating under the idea that Murray can equal Ingram. He isn't Ingrams equal. Its not close. Murray is a 1 trick pony on what is now his 3rd team. Underhill is talking about basically Kamara doing what he did in those 4 games, all season. Being the lead dog, carrying the load with Murray doing far less than Ingram did.

Underhill is talking about expanding Kamara to becoming what he was those 4 games, and Kamara for a stretch at the end of last season, was rather pedestrian. And the entire offense went down with him.

No, I'm not. I'm operating under the idea that he will be able to hold onto the football and give Kamara the breather he needs to maintain his top level.

There's a middle ground between Ingram and nobody. Hopefully Murray is close enough to Ingram that the offense doesn't dip.

 

[Joodas Avila]

I agree that it "appeared" that AK fell off towards the end, but that has a whole lot to do w/the injuries along the OL. Couple that w/the fact that after Mike T, other than AK, there was no one else at our skill positions that teams had to scheme for. AK didnt wear down, teams just sold out to stop him and Mike T. I mean, the entire O fell off towards the end. Truly bitter that we're on the cusp of losing our beloved 22, but w/a healthy OL and potential improvements at WR and TE, AK is set up for big year.

On a side note, i hope we draft a guy like Darrell Henderson or Benny Snell. Im just not 100 on Murray. But he's a Saint now. Gotta root for the man!

 

[MTDB1983]

Never has it been more important to get a TE and a Slot WR to take the focus off AK and open up the middle. If teams stack the box and focus multiple defenders on him again, he won’t be the productive generational talent we have come to expect.

 

[LonghornSaintsFan]

Well I stand corrected on Ingram and this is unfortunate to see him go.

 

[44slayer]

No, I'm not. I'm operating under the idea that he will be able to hold onto the football and give Kamara the breather he needs to maintain his top level.

There's a middle ground between Ingram and nobody. Hopefully Murray is close enough to Ingram that the offense doesn't dip.

So a 29 year old RB with limited versatility, in an offense that values versatility above just about anything else, is worth 3.4 million a year to, not fumble. That's the aspirations we have for a RB2. To not fumble.

And I get it now, Ingram at 8 was just a non starter. But Murray isn't the answer. He is a poor fit. He is a poor mans Adrian Peterson type back. And Peterson was an abysmal fit here.

This much Im certain of...we are not as good right now as we were last season. Its a long offseason, more free agency, the draft, udfa. But right now we are not as good as we were.

 

[Saint Spud]

So a 29 year old RB with limited versatility, in an offense that values versatility above just about anything else, is worth 3.4 million a year to, not fumble. That's the aspirations we have for a RB2. To not fumble.

No. He averaged more than 4 YPC behind a bad OL in Minnesota. Not sure where the "limited versatility" comment comes from. As Mike D said, he's been pretty good catching the ball out of the backfield as well.

The "hold onto the football" comment was referring to Mike Gilislee, who we signed to fill Ingram's role for four games but he couldn't hold onto the ball.

Murray has shown more than enough to be a good RB2. We will miss Ingram, but we couldn't afford to pay that much for him, either.

 

[JRead2]

I really wanted Ingram to stay. He was suspended the first 4 games, and we were missing something. Once he returned, we were a different (much better) team.

 

[Jb25saints]

I disagree. I think Alvin just got smarter with his running, going down a bit sooner, out of bounds a bit sooner in order to preserve himself a bit more. Plus, defenses played to stop him at all costs.

It still looked like he played like that even with Ingram back tho

 

[NOLAJM504]

Couldn't disagree more. Usually Underhill is spot on. He is dead wrong here.

Kamara wasn't the same back the 2nd half the season last year. He was worn down with Ingram suspended. And Murray isn't the relief valve. We are going to pay for letting Ingram walk.

You're underestimating how bad our o-line was in run blocking during that stretch. It wasn't on him.

 

[Swimmer]

We will all miss MI. But I think a lot of you will be pleasantly surprised by Murray. Remember, I called AK the next Leveon Bell after we drafted him and I wasn't in Colorado. Murray is no AK, but in our offense, I think many of you will be very happy at his production. And 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 have now got a lot easier

We will see a lot of sets with AK and Murray on the field. That will be fun cause Murray can run and he can break tackles or he is a powerful enough blocker to act as a fullback for AK.

 

[Ibleedblackandgold]

Well this sucks. They continue to break my heart,by getting rid of some of my favorite players. I don't like the murray signing at all. Hopefully we add a receiver or a beast tightend. Ak41 is a beast,but he can't do it all by himself. Murray isn't the answer. No more 2 headed monster. If ak gets hurt or slows down we are in trouble on offense.

 

[cant]

Kamara handled the load well those first 4 even though his usage was still a little too high.

After that we destroyed Washington and we didn’t need to use him plus it was Mark’s first game back. After that Alvin and Mark went back to their timeshare and our offense was dominating until we lost Terron and others of our o-line were banged up, add that up with how teams began to just focus on Kamara and MT, our offense as a whole struggled.

We need to add pieces around him on our offense so teams can’t just focus in on him all the time without getting burned. You didn’t see McCaffrey slow down last year did you? Kamara is more than capable until proven otherwise in my eyes he’s too good to leave on a timeshare.

 

[los226]

Latavius Murray left Min because he didn’t want his role behind Dalvin Cook. I’m pretty sure the Saints promised him a bigger role.

 

[meily]

Couldn't disagree more. Usually Underhill is spot on. He is dead wrong here.

Kamara wasn't the same back the 2nd half the season last year. He was worn down with Ingram suspended. And Murray isn't the relief valve. We are going to pay for letting Ingram walk.

He was worn down and we had to rely on Thomas and Kamara to move the ball you could see he was not as effective because he was not as fresh....Kamara and the Saints need a compliment to him not only a compliment a player who CAN be a bell cow but he shares carries with Kamara...like Mark Ingram.