Saints have a case for back-to-back Offensive Player of the Year winners

Do you know who leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage?

That would be New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara, with 557 combined yards of offense (the runner-up: Green Bay Packers stud Aaron Jones, with 509 yards). That’s an average of 139.3 scrimmage yards per game, which puts him on pace for 2,228 yards over a 16-game season. For context, Carolina Panthers keystone Christian McCaffrey led the league with 2,392 scrimmage yards in 2019.

And what about the NFL’s leader in touchdown runs and catches?

Again: Alvin Kamara, with seven scores in his first four games (Jones and Minnesota Vikings runner Dalvin Cook are tied for next-best, with six touchdowns each). Kamara is on pace to score 28 times in 2020, which would shatter his own personal best (18) and tie the great Shaun Alexander for the second-most in NFL history behind the legendary LaDainian Tomlinson, who logged 31 combined touchdowns back in 2006.

Kamara has started the 2020 season with a series of bangs, running wild against every defense he’s faced. He’s seen more touches than the next three teammates combined (his backup, Latavius Murray, and wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Tre’Quan Smith) and done a lot to shoulder the load with all-star receiver Michael Thomas sidelined by an injury.

It’s certainly impressive, and it sets Kamara up as an early favorite to win the NFL’s award for Offensive Player of the Year. That’s the same recognition that Thomas himself earned in 2019 after breaking the league record for receptions in a single season. He had 149 catches last year and also led the NFL in receiving yards (1,725).

Sure, Kamara could trail off a bit. Defenses could start guarding him better, the Saints could start distributing the ball more evenly, or he could suffer an injury setback of his own (let’s hope not). Other players around the league could also start outplaying him. But there isn’t anyone performing better than him right now, or for much of the last month. And if he keeps it up, he should be considered for the same award Thomas won last year.

For the curious, no teammates have won Offensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons since 1989, when the San Francisco 49ers had a three-peat between wide receiver Jerry Rice (in 1987), running back Roger Craig (in 1988), and quarterback Steve Young (in 1989). Thomas and Kamara entering that kind of company would be historic.

But what about MVP? The NFL’s award for its Most Valuable Player has been limited to quarterbacks since 2012, when Adrian Peterson (Kamara’s one-time teammate) won it after running for 2,097 rushing yards and totaling 2,314 yards from scrimmage. And Peterson joined Alexander, Tomlinson, and Rams legend Marshall Faulk as the only non-quarterbacks to win MVP over the last 20 years, so Kamara would be a long shot in even a best-case scenario. But we’re not going to write him off just yet.