The short but necessary series of “Making the Case” is at its end as we finally discuss New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara. I have talked to a number of Fantasy Football fans about their up coming drafts and who they would take with the number one overall choice. In PPR, surprisingly, Saquon Barkley was actually not the first choice, but instead it was Alvin Kamara. It is a fair decision, considering how good he has been in his first two years and Mark Ingram is now gone. Let’s dig in to why Kamara very well could go first overall this season.
Making the Case Reason 1: Less Competition for Touches
Mark Ingram moving on and going to Baltimore can not be stressed enough as to why Kamara has a legitimate chance at being the number one RB at season’s end. In his four weeks last year with Ingram inactive, his scores are insane. In PPR scoring, Kamara recorded the totals of 43.1, 17.9, 34, and 41.1. While expecting 40+ on a weekly basis is insane, it is fair to believe that Latavius Murray is not going to take a Mark Ingram number of touches per game like Kamara’s first two seasons. Giving him the opportunity to be the top back in the backfield of the Drew Brees/Sean Payton offense is incredibly exciting and worth a look at number one of any PPR draft.
Making the Case Reason 2: Scoring Machine
Todd Gurley. Gurley is the only offensive skill player to score more TDs than Alvin Kamara a season ago. Kamara, who some look at in a down way when it comes to running the football, had 14 rushing TDs and was truly utilized as the goal line back a season early. He also added four receiving TDs to go along with that following his rookie campaign where he had five. TDs are what Kamara does for the Saints along with being capable on both sides of the ball. He is set to possibly have his first 1,000 yard rushing season which only adds to scoring prowess he already holds.
Making the Case Reason 3: Proven Commodity
Alvin Kamara is the only Fantasy RB out of these four to make the top five two consecutive seasons. In 2017, he finished as the RB3 and a season ago he finished at the RB4 while scoring 40 more points. His point totals for his first two seasons are 314.4 in 2017 and 354.2 in 2018. Those are incredible numbers that prove that he is only going to get better if that is the real trend. Hard to deny with Ingram gone. Kamara’s first two seasons finished with 81 catches each as well which is only another part to get giddy about when it comes to this stud.
Verdict
While taking Alvin Kamara may be a stretch in some people’s eyes, Kamara is worth the price of admission. When the only worry is Latavius Murray taking carries once in a while, there isn’t really a worry at all. As I have went through all four of these players, I have even convinced myself that Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey are incredibly valuable pieces and maybe even the safest and best options in PPR. To say the least, we’d love to hear the feedback after all four of these articles and know who you are taking with the first overall choice this season, standard, half, or full PPR.