Alvin Kamara dubbed early-season Offensive Player of the Year by ESPN

The New Orleans Saints are 2-2, and it’s really only due to a few absolutely phenomenal performances from three-time Pro Bowler Alvin Kamara.

There’s no denying 2-2 isn’t the ideal start to the season for the New Orleans Saints. After extending Alvin Kamara and loading their roster with offseason additions like Emmanuel Sanders and Cesar Ruiz, they had a promising roster.

The largest parts of their season were locking up Kamara, signing Sanders, bringing back Brees and Hill, and then drafting some more talent.

It was an eventual offseason, and with no offseason training and no preseason, the Saints were thought to have a leg up on the competition. They opened with a win over Tampa Bay. They lost to the Raiders and Packers before downing the Lions.

In all four of those games, they’ve had one shining star — Alvin Kamara. He’s been absolutely terrific after signing his massive five-year, $75 million extension. There are two major numbers that speak volumes to his production.

321, his receiving yards number which ranks 11th in the league even among all receivers as well, and 7, his number of touchdowns which is already more than his entire count in 2019, have stunned even diehard fans.

That’s why he’s a current leader in Offensive Player of the Year in ESPN’s first-quarter season awards. Here’s an excerpt of what ESPN’s Bill Barnwell said on Kamara’s Offensive Player of the Year resume so far.

“Kamara, on the other hand, has really been a No. 1 running back and a borderline No. 1 wideout through four weeks. He ranks 11th in the league with 321 receiving yards, and his 30-321-3 line is virtually identical to those of wideouts such as Keenan Allen (Chargers) and Tyler Boyd (Bengals). Kamara hasn’t been a dominant rusher in the way that Cook and Jones have been through four games, but he has been better than league average in terms of DVOA and success rate while racking up 236 rushing yards,” Barnwell wrote.

Dalvin Cook and Aaron Jones were both listed as well with Cook coming in at No. 2 and Jones No. 3. That said, in Pro Football Focus‘ first-quarter All-Pro team, Kamara was on the second team while Dalvin Cook was the first-team running back.

With Michael Thomas having missed three games, Kamara has been the heart and soul of this offense. He’s done just about everything, and his production has been especially crucial with Drew Brees‘ obviously-declining arm strength.

Kamara has a tough matchup with a strong defensive front in Los Angeles in Week 5. Expect the same type of production, and hopefully, he’ll continue his four-game scoring streak.