New Orleans Saints: Alvin Kamara’s fantasy value rising
The New Orleans Saints have found a gem in Alvin Kamara and his impact on the field is mirroring how he could affect your fantasy football team.
Picking up running backs in fantasy football is hard, or rather finding the right guys is. Before you can scour the waiver wire, someone else already has. While a lot of people zoned in on Mark Ingram coming into the season, the New Orleans Saints are focusing more and more on Alvin Kamara. Now he’s becoming a valuable pickup for your fantasy football team.
No one pictured Kamara playing as big a role as it looks like he’s going to. We all imagined Adrian Peterson getting equal to more carries than Ingram and more scoring possibilities, and the rookie was assumedly third in the pecking order. Now, Kamara is proving he deserves to be in the mix, and head coach Sean Payton is making it so.
Looking back, Weeks 1 and 2 don’t make a strong case for Kamara. The Saints were still working on their running game and all the backs suffered. In Week 1, he finished with three points came up with only five in Week 2. In Week 3, however, Kamara broke out. He finished the game with 37 yards rushing, five receiving yards and one rushing touchdown. It was just a small look into what Kamara would do in Week 4.
Against the Dolphins, Kamara put up 25 rushing yards, 71 receiving yards and a touchdown. Week 4 also showed us Kamara deserves to be No. 2 (if not No. 1) on the depth chart. Ingram finished the game with 45 rushing yards while Peterson finished with a meager four. Kamara fell in the middle, but also rounded out the game with his receiving yards.
Kamara has shown he’s a better fantasy option than both Ingram and Peterson. Yes, Ingram gets a majority of the carries, but Kamara is more prone to scoring and being a better weapon in the offense. Plus, if you’re in a PPR league, he offers exponentially more value than the other options in New Orleans.
His place in the offense is truly cemented, now. That’s why he’s such a shoo-in for fantasy teams, looking for some running back help. Obviously, I’m looking at everyone who drafted either David Johnson or Dalvin Cook.
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Kamara is a more than viable option for your team. Currently, Kamara is owned in 56.2 percent of ESPN Fantasy leagues. Depending on how deep your league is, you might be able to just pick him up or trade for him.
If you don’t really need Kamara in a RB slot, he’s a valuable flex play. With guys like Davante Adams, Amari Cooper and Carlos Hyde possibly out, Kamara’s worth at least thinking about. If Week 4 proved anything, Kamara is on his way to become a fantasy darling.