A story in The Athletic theorizes that the Saints, in the wake of Drew Brees' retirement, will give more touches to running backs Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray. It's an idea that makes sense, but there's no getting around the fact that those players weren't better without Brees in the lineup the last two seasons -- they were worse.
Brees missed five games in each of the last two seasons, with those games started instead by Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill. Kamara in particular averaged a lot more yards in games Brees was available for. Here's the averages the last two seasons for his games without Brees, and with him.
| ALVIN KAMARA | ||
|---|---|---|
| w/o Brees | w Brees | |
| Run: 53 | Run: 77 | |
| Rec: 34 | Rec: 48 | |
| Tot: 87 | Tot: 125 | |
Here's the same information for Murray, also from the last two seasons.
| LATAVIUS MURRAY | |
|---|---|
| w/o Brees | w Brees |
| Run: 47 | Run: 61 |
| Rec: 13 | Rec: 21 |
| Tot: 60 | Tot: 82 |
The difference in 2021 is that Jameis Winston is expected to start (although that's not certain; it could be Hill). Numbers generated in an offense led by Bridgewater, now in Denver, or Hill, if it's instead Winston behind center, are less meaningful.
But I don't think a better Kamara or Murray without Brees is likely. I think it's very certain they'll be less involved as receivers, and while they might run more, it's not a given that they'll run more effectively.
--Andy Richardson