When the New Orleans Saints first signed running back Travis Etienne, many thought that he and his fellow half back Alvin Kamara would work well together. Also apparently included in that "many" was Kamara himself.
He said as such in his surprise appearance at OTAs. "We've done it here before. You saw Mark and me; you saw Latavius and me. Having two talented backs benefits both backs," Kamara said to the media. "You also have the issue of the defense focusing on one or the other; they gotta try to prepare for both. That puts them in a dilemma right there... I think we complement each other well. We're just two talented dudes."
After months of speculation, it's nice to finally be close to an end of this weird situation between the Saints and Kamara. Now, more focus can be put onto how they could work together. If it goes as well as he and others think, then there might be a second coming of the boom-and-zoom.
Saints Alvin Kamara could have his best season in years with Travis Etienne at his side
Alvin Kamara could have his best season in years with Travis Etienne at his side. He honestly performs at his best when he has another guy with him anyway. In the years when he and Mark Ingram or he and Latavius Murray were legitimately a one-two punch combo, he blew up the stat sheet.
Some of the best seasons of his career were when he had another guy that could fill in for him. Take a look at 2020, when he gathered over 900 rushing yards for the first time in his career. Or in 2017, when he won the rookie of the year award.
With Etienne, Kamara could actually go back to zooming. He was never the in-between-the-tackles kind of guy, finding his groove in the outside run game and even in the slot as a wide receiver. Hopefully, Kellen Moore thinks the same, because that is what the previous staff confusingly went away from.
It's also not just Kamara that could benefit from the pairing. Ingram also only had three seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards, and that faithful 2017 was one of them. Murray also had some of the best seasons of his career with Kamara. It'll be fun to see if Etienne manages to receive the same benefits as the others. If so, it might be the best version of the boom-and-zoom yet.
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