The Saints and Chargers played last night, and it was one of those games where one team (New Orleans) played a lot of starters, and the other (Los Angeles) didn't. But even allowing that unfair context, a pretty impressive performance by the Saints, and Alvin Kamara.
Kamara had 13- and 6-yard carries in his lone series of work, on the latter one dragging a bunch of defenders down near the goal line. He also had an 18-yard run erased by a penalty. Good things can also be said about Jameis Winston (4 of 4 in his preseason debut) and Mark Ingram (2 TDs), but Kamara looks like the big-ticket item here.
Kamara hasn't been going in the first rounds of drafts thus far, primarily due to concerns he might be suspended this season (after an arrest for an alleged assault during Pro Bowl weekend). But there's some belief the league won't act until the court situation plays out, which might keep Kamara on the field in 2022. If so, he's going to be a heckuva value.
Kamara's been in the league five years, and he's been pretty awesome in all of them. Especially on a per-game basis (he missed four games last season).
Table below shows the per-game PPR points of all running backs to play at least 10 games a season over the past five years. Kamara shows up in the top 40 all five seasons. (Data from pro-football-reference.com used in compiling this table.)
| RUNNING BACKS PPR/G, 2017-2021 (10-PLUS GAMES) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Season | G | Run/G | Rec/G | TD | PPR/G |
| Christian McCaffrey | 2019 | 16 | 86.7 | 62.8 | 19 | 29.5 |
| Todd Gurley | 2018 | 14 | 89.4 | 41.4 | 21 | 26.6 |
| Todd Gurley | 2017 | 15 | 87 | 52.5 | 19 | 25.6 |
| Alvin Kamara | 2020 | 15 | 62.1 | 50.4 | 21 | 25.2 |
| Dalvin Cook | 2020 | 14 | 111.2 | 25.8 | 17 | 24.1 |
| Saquon Barkley | 2018 | 16 | 81.7 | 45.1 | 15 | 24.1 |
| Christian McCaffrey | 2018 | 16 | 68.6 | 54.2 | 13 | 24.1 |
| Alvin Kamara | 2018 | 15 | 58.9 | 47.3 | 18 | 23.6 |
| Melvin Gordon | 2018 | 12 | 73.8 | 40.8 | 14 | 23.0 |
| Le'Veon Bell | 2017 | 15 | 86.1 | 43.7 | 11 | 22.8 |
| Jonathan Taylor | 2021 | 17 | 106.5 | 21.2 | 20 | 22.0 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 2018 | 15 | 95.6 | 37.8 | 9 | 21.9 |
| James Conner | 2018 | 13 | 74.8 | 38.2 | 13 | 21.5 |
| Austin Ekeler | 2021 | 16 | 56.9 | 40.4 | 20 | 21.5 |
| Kareem Hunt | 2018 | 11 | 74.9 | 34.4 | 14 | 20.9 |
| Dalvin Cook | 2019 | 14 | 81.1 | 37.1 | 13 | 20.9 |
| Derrick Henry | 2020 | 16 | 126.7 | 7.1 | 17 | 20.8 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 2017 | 10 | 98.3 | 26.9 | 9 | 20.3 |
| Alvin Kamara | 2017 | 16 | 45.5 | 51.6 | 14 | 20.0 |
| Aaron Jones | 2019 | 16 | 67.8 | 29.6 | 19 | 19.7 |
| Derrick Henry | 2019 | 15 | 102.7 | 13.7 | 18 | 19.6 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 2019 | 16 | 84.8 | 26.3 | 14 | 19.5 |
| Austin Ekeler | 2019 | 16 | 34.8 | 62.1 | 11 | 19.3 |
| Saquon Barkley | 2019 | 13 | 77.2 | 33.7 | 8 | 18.8 |
| Aaron Jones | 2020 | 14 | 78.9 | 25.4 | 11 | 18.5 |
| Kareem Hunt | 2017 | 16 | 82.9 | 28.4 | 11 | 18.5 |
| Leonard Fournette | 2021 | 14 | 58 | 32.4 | 10 | 18.3 |
| Alvin Kamara | 2021 | 13 | 69.1 | 33.8 | 9 | 18.1 |
| Melvin Gordon | 2017 | 16 | 69.1 | 29.8 | 12 | 18.0 |
| Joe Mixon | 2021 | 16 | 75.3 | 19.6 | 16 | 18.0 |
| James Robinson | 2020 | 14 | 76.4 | 24.6 | 10 | 17.9 |
| Alvin Kamara | 2019 | 14 | 56.9 | 38.1 | 6 | 17.8 |
| Leonard Fournette | 2017 | 13 | 80 | 23.2 | 10 | 17.7 |
| Najee Harris | 2021 | 17 | 70.6 | 27.5 | 10 | 17.7 |
| David Montgomery | 2020 | 15 | 71.3 | 29.2 | 10 | 17.7 |
| Joe Mixon | 2018 | 14 | 83.4 | 21.1 | 9 | 17.4 |
| Mark Ingram | 2017 | 16 | 70.3 | 26 | 12 | 17.4 |
| Nick Chubb | 2020 | 12 | 88.9 | 12.5 | 12 | 17.3 |
| Leonard Fournette | 2019 | 15 | 76.8 | 34.8 | 3 | 17.3 |
| James White | 2018 | 16 | 26.6 | 46.9 | 12 | 17.3 |
There's a suspension risk, of course. And the likelihood that Kamara won't fare as well with Winston passing it to him as with Drew Brees. But I think he's a solid looking pick, perhaps early in the second round of drafts.
--Andy Richardson