Sean Payton once talented his Tasmanian tailback Alvin Kamara using a fidget spinner. Apparently, because Kamara can do so many things on the football field, he gets restless sometimes if he is not doing enough it off.
“He has actual, real, exceptionally large football IQ, so he could get bored with it,” Payton explained, per the team’s official site. “That is why we give him one of those small fidget items you twist when you can’t listen.”
Kamara will surely be tasked to do more for the Saints in Year 3 now that former running mate Mark Ingram is with the Ravens. What exactly his workload involves should be one of the league’s more intriguing storylines this season. Payton said he had sort of an epiphany before this week when Kamara switched practices jerseys with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
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“As soon as they did this, I started looking at it somewhat differently,” Payton said. “There is a couple of quarterback runs we could use, but anyway, he could put on a number of jerseys. He can do quite a few things.”
It is not just like the two-time Pro Bowler has not already been doing them. In only two seasons, Kamara has tallied over 3,100 yards from scrimmage and scored 32 touchdowns, all while grabbing 162 passes and averaging 5.1 yards per carry. The frightening part is that he says he did not always understand his missions his first time… en route to winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and making All-Pro honors.
“Everybody said I made it look easy, but sometimes I was out there, and I did not understand what was going on,” he told reporters.
Kamara credits Drew Brees for instilling strong study habits.
“Drew’s been playing for so long,” he said. “He has seen every shield that there has ever been. … From my first year to now, there were lots of things I had been attempting to work out. I took a step back and was like,’All right, well, if I want to be the very best, then I have got to know what the best knows.’ And I think Drew is probably one of those (smartest) — if not the cleverest — people playing soccer right now. I can only get better if I understand up to Drew or attempt to be on the exact same page as Drew.”
Brees added:”There’s a level of consciousness with him which I think that’s unique. He picks up on things very fast. I believe that’s unique. And so then combine that with excellent athletic skills and you receive the player he is.”
Combine Kamara with Brees and you get one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. Just the Chiefs and Rams have scored more points than the Saints over the past two seasons. And as Kamara evolves, his role will likely evolve as well.
“I’m so anxious to see like,’What else?'” He said. “You understand what I’m saying? What else could I do? Where else could I line up? How else could I be successful? That’s the best aspect of this profession for me personally,” he said. “What’s the next step you’re going to take? ‘Ok, he was great last year. How are you going to demonstrate that you are what you are?'”
Kamara has already proven he can do a bit of everything, and more.
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