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The New Orleans Saints offense has been clicking on all cylinders in the final stretch of the 2019 NFL season. Regardless, the time has come for them to finally make running back Alvin Kamara a focal point of the offense.
There were understandably high expectations for Kamara coming into the year following the departure of running back Mark Ingram in the offseason. After all, he had earned trips to the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons while being named an All-Pro as a rookie despite splitting the workload with Ingram during that time.
It is safe to say that he has since fallen vastly short of expectations with his underwhelming production this year. He is on pace for career-lows as both a runner and a receiver while becoming a stranger to the end zone with just two touchdowns on the year.
Early on, it appeared as though Kamara was ready to the merger as a bonafide workhorse in this high-powered Saints offense by logging in at least 20 touches in four of their first five games. However, his role started to decrease as the season went on, and he has now only reached that mark in two of the last seven games. He has struggled to find his rhythm as of late due to the lack of usage.
Head coach Sean Payton has largely attributed Kamara's modest role to load management and keeping him healthy for the playoffs. As a result, running back Latavius Murray has managed to poach a fair share of carries that usually come in between the tackles. He will now have just two games to get him more involved and back to his elite self before the playoffs start, and the real test begins.
A matchup with the hungry Tennessee Titans in Week 16 hardly bodes well for a breakout game for Kamara. Aside from dominating the time of possession with a run-heavy game of their own, they have been ahead of the back in defending the run this year, giving up 104.4 yards per game.
Meanwhile, the Saints' passing game has served as a strong blueprint for success thanks to the stellar play of quarterback Drew Brees and wide receiver Michael Thomas. They should have no problem getting the connection going versus a Titans defense, giving up the eighth-most passing yards per game (258.1).
Of course, this could be all the more reason for New Orleans to go with an approach that features Kamara getting the bulk of his touches as a runner instead of a receiver out of the backfield. It will be interesting to see if he can provide disgruntled fantasy owners with a chance to redeem himself in the championship game.
