Alvin Kamara Week 1 Outlook - Buccaneers at Saints

By Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros), Fri, Sep 11th 2020, 1:18pm EDT

It seems like Kamara will be on the field for the Saints in Week 1, though nothing is set in stone until they agree to that contract extension. I'll come back on Saturday and update these notes if needed, but we'll plan like Kamara will be out there. The Bucs are a brutal matchup for running backs, as evidenced by the league-low 907 rushing yards they allowed in 2019. They allowed a league-low 3.02 yards per carry, and also contained running backs through the air, allowing just 4.21 yards per target, which was also the best in the NFL. It's rare to see a team accomplish elite numbers against both, and it's even more impressive when you know they played both Christian McCaffrey and Kamara twice. In the meetings last year, Kamara was able to remain decent, finishing as the RB17 in Week 5 and then the RB3 in Week 11. The latter performance was largely in part to his 10 receptions that only netted 47 yards. Murray didn't fare so well, totaling 55 yards on 17 carries in the two games with no touchdowns, finishing as the RB48 and RB52 in those games. Have the injuries piled up for Kamara to the point where they lessen his workload? Rumors have surfaced that he had an epidural injection in his back just a few weeks ago. There's certainly enough risk between that and the matchup to downgrade Kamara's expectations to low-end RB1/high-end RB2 territory.