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Saints: Where does Alvin Kamara land on Maurice Jones-Drews’ rankings?

By Leigh Oleszczak

NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 22: Alvin Kamara #41 of the New Orleans Saints runs the ball during a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on December 22, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Saints defeated the Titans 38-28. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 22: Alvin Kamara #41 of the New Orleans Saints runs the ball during a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on December 22, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Saints defeated the Titans 38-28. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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Former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew put out his rankings of every starting running back and it’s not surprising to see Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints in the top three. He came in at No. 3 on the list, trailing just Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey.

Here was what Jones-Drew had to say about why he put Kamara where he did:

"I expect the Saints to really lean on their stud running back in both the passing and rushing attacks. I mean, they’ll have to now that turnover-friendly quarterback Jameis Winston looks likely to take over a starting spot future Hall of Famer Drew Brees held for 15 years. I envision Kamara nearing the 2,000-scrimmage-yards mark, but even a monster season from him might not get New Orleans into the playoffs for a fifth straight season in a loaded NFC South."

Kamara is definitely going to have an expanded role this year with the transition at the quarterback position. Both quarterbacks know that Kamara is lethal as both a runner and a pass-catcher, which is going to mean they’ll constantly be looking for him when they drop back to pass.

The Saints are lucky to have Alvin Kamara as their running back.

Having Kamara on the Saints’ offense is more important than ever this year because of the situation at quarterback. Even with Drew Brees as the team’s quarterback these past two years, the Saints have leaned on Kamara a lot, especially when Brees went down with injuries in both years.

This year, however, the Saints will have a new-look offense no matter which quarterback takes over as the starter. If Jameis Winston wins the job, he thrives off of slinging the ball and Kamara will be something he’s looking for snap after snap. If Taysom Hill wins, he’ll probably want to do a lot of the running himself but he knows that Kamara will be open when he takes that snap.

The Saints are an entirely different team when Kamara is injured or unavailable and this offense goes as he goes. We saw him completely take over a game last year when he rushed for six touchdowns against the Vikings on Christmas and Saints fans weren’t at all surprised to see him do that kind of damage.

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New Orleans knows their run game is one of the best in the league and Kamara is the reason as to why. Their best hope at making the playoffs this year is for Kamara to have yet another sensational season.

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