Matt Rhule compliments Alvin Kamara ahead of Saints matchup

On3 imageby:Justin Rudolph09/15/21

The Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule had some high praise for the New Orleans Saints starting running back Alvin Kamara, ahead of their Sunday matchup.

The early years

Kamara was the 67th pick in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. Before that, he played his college ball for the Tennessee Volunteers. In his two years with the Volunteers, he only started in eight games; Jalen Hurd was their primary starting running back.

And even though he didn’t start, Kamara racked all-purpose yards and touchdowns for the Volunteers. He left the university with 1,977 all-purpose yards, 16 rushing touchdowns, and seven receiving. Going into the draft he had the highest Wonderlic test score of all the participating running backs that year.

In his rookie year, Kamara showed everyone that he was one of the best running backs to come out of that draft. That draft featured other big-name running backs such as Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, Aaron Jones, Kareem hunt, and the Carolina Panthers very own Christian McCaffrey.

Kamara would go on to win the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award and be named to the NFL’s All-Pro second team. He finished the year with 1,554 All-purpose yards, 728 rushing and 826 receiving, and 13  touchdowns (eight rushing and five receiving).

Kamara since then

Since then Kamara has been consistently one of the league leaders in yards from scrimmage. Although he is yet to have a 1,000 yard rushing season, he still puts up big numbers. The Saints All-Pro running back has had at least 80 receptions and 120 rushing attempts in every season since being drafted. He’s also had at least 500 yards receiving in every season as well and has never averaged under 4.5 yards per carry in the NFL.

The Saints and the Panthers are both coming off of week one wins. Carolina was able to take care of the New York Jets at home by a score of 19-14. Whereas the Saints beat the Green Bay Packers in a pseudo home game held in Jacksonville, Florida. The Panthers are well aware of how slippery and elusive the Saints running back can be. For them to have a chance in this game. they will have to limit him and his big-play abilities. As for the Saints, if they can ride Alvin Kamara two a second straight victory, it will be the team’s first 2-0 start since their 2013 campaign.