New Orleans Saints: Alvin Kamara breaking his TD drought is reason for hope

What’s caused this cold streak?

Before we make any drastic accusations saying that Kamara isn’t good or anything outrageous, we should realize that most of his statistics have remained relatively consistent aside from his scoring numbers.

This season, Kamara has racked up 758 rushing yards on an average of 4.7 per carry, good enough for a thirteenth best average in the league. He’s also amassed 515 receiving yards, and all of these stats have come without two whole weeks of production due to an ankle injury that sidelined him.

That injury, in fact, could be the culprit for a lot of concerns that some have had about Kamara. After the Week 6 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Kamara was diagnosed with a high ankle injury that the team played safe and allowed him to sit out two weeks to fully recover while relying on Latavius Murray for the rushing load.

Since Kamara’s return, there has been something off about his game.

One statistic that proves this is Kamara’s broken tackle rate pre and post-injury. Before his ankle injury, Kamara boasted a broken tackle rate of 31.4 %. It was no question that he was an elusive and shifty back.

However, an ankle injury can be very detrimental for a back so reliant on balance like Kamara. Since his injury, that broken tackle percentage has dropped to only 10.6 %.

Kamara did appear to showcase some of that same explosiveness and shifty play again on Sunday. Just looking at the tape shows that he’s got some of that juice back.