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Is Alvin Kamara the best Running Back in the NFL?


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30 minutes ago, Bobikus said:

"On Pace" is the most meaningless phrase in football.

Lots can change over the course of the season...Gurley could rupture his Achilles for example. But I don’t think you can overlook the to date stats when arguing over who has been better. It’s relevent information. 

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1 minute ago, VanS said:

The only reason people are not willing to accept Alvin Kamara as the best RB in the league is because he was drafted in the 3rd round and had an unremarkable college career.

If Saquon Barkley or Leonard Fournette had Kamara's production in their first 20 games, people would be calling them not just the best RB in the NFL but a future Hall of Famer as well.  

In this new NFL that is all about passing, Alvin Kamara is EASILY the best RB in the league and honestly its not even close.  No RB has as much impact on the game for his team as Alvin.  His draft position is the only reason people are even debating this. 

I wouldn’t go that strong. Gurley is a stud. I have no problem with people saying Gurley is the best. But the crowd who don’t think that Kamara is even close are annoying, and frankly insulting the rest of our intelligence. 

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1 hour ago, VanS said:

The only reason people are not willing to accept Alvin Kamara as the best RB in the league is because he was drafted in the 3rd round and had an unremarkable college career.

If Saquon Barkley or Leonard Fournette had Kamara's production in their first 20 games, people would be calling them not just the best RB in the NFL but a future Hall of Famer as well.  

In this new NFL that is all about passing, Alvin Kamara is EASILY the best RB in the league and honestly its not even close.  No RB has as much impact on the game for his team as Alvin.  His draft position is the only reason people are even debating this. 

The only reason you are so willing to accept him as the best RB in the league is because you were high on him in the draft.

If you're going to claim confirmation bias, you're guiltier of it than anyone on this topic.

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Just now, Jakuvious said:

The only reason you are so willing to accept him as the best RB in the league is because you were high on him in the draft.

If you're going to claim confirmation bias, you're guiltier of it than anyone on this topic.

I feel like that's better than holding draft status against a guy though, which is clearly whats happening. He's right, if Barkley had the exact same career so far like literally just change the name on the jersey people would be talking about him as the best HB in the league. It'll just take people longer to do that with Kamara since he was taken "late".

I also think people are hesitant to anoint him after a lot of people got burned arguing Jimmy Graham over Gronkowski.

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1 hour ago, sammymvpknight said:

I wouldn’t go that strong. Gurley is a stud. I have no problem with people saying Gurley is the best. But the crowd who don’t think that Kamara is even close are annoying, and frankly insulting the rest of our intelligence. 

It'll pass in time. A lot of the arguments I've seen really diminishing Kamara are similar to what I saw when Charles broke out. Can't carry the load, not a true starter, etc. Passes with time. There are some legit arguments. The efficiency does dip with bulk and over time, as it does with literally any player at any position. But, the illegitimate criticisms are nothing new.

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1 minute ago, MookieMonstah said:

I feel like that's better than holding draft status against a guy though, which is clearly whats happening. He's right, if Barkley had the exact same career so far like literally just change the name on the jersey people would be talking about him as the best HB in the league. It'll just take people longer to do that with Kamara since he was taken "late".

I also think people are hesitant to anoint him after a lot of people got burned arguing Jimmy Graham over Gronkowski.

When he's saying Kamara is easily the best RB in the NFL, it's not better.

It isn't really anyone consciously holding his draft status against him. It isn't actually about the draft, but about track record. If Saquon Barkley blows up, there's no reason to be worried that it won't continue. Because prior to the NFL he had 3 years of dominance in college. So even from a skeptic's perspective, that's what Barkley has always done, no reason to worry he's a flash in the pan now. Kamara was underused and as a result underrated coming out of college, but that leaves more room for skepticism. Kamara in college was a guy who would get 150 touches and be super efficient on those 150 touches. He basically did the same as a rookie, just with a few more games to play. So just like people would assume Barkley is just continuing what he did in college, they assume Kamara is continuing what he did in college, and won't believe it's something more until he truly does something more (i.e., carry the load a full year, or rush 200 times, or whatever.) I'm not saying it's right or I agree with it, but there is logic there. It isn't draft position, it is resume. And it isn't just Kamara. Even if Matt Breida keeps his current pace up, for instance, it'll still take another year or so for people to really buy it. I mentioned before that Charles faced similar "do it more/longer/alone" criticisms. Etc. We like a lot of evidence, as a species, before we commit. Usually.

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1 hour ago, VanS said:

The only reason people are not willing to accept Alvin Kamara as the best RB in the league is because he was drafted in the 3rd round and had an unremarkable college career.

If Saquon Barkley or Leonard Fournette had Kamara's production in their first 20 games, people would be calling them not just the best RB in the NFL but a future Hall of Famer as well.  

In this new NFL that is all about passing, Alvin Kamara is EASILY the best RB in the league and honestly its not even close.  No RB has as much impact on the game for his team as Alvin.  His draft position is the only reason people are even debating this. 

 

Leveon Bell is regarded as the best RB and he was a 2nd rounder. 

Terrell Davis was regarded as the best RB  and he was a 6th rounder. 

 

you can't become the best RB when he didn't even have 1000 yard season yet.  

Kamara's receiving number is great, but let's not act like he didn't play for the saints either.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, sammymvpknight said:

Lots can change over the course of the season...Gurley could rupture his Achilles for example. But I don’t think you can overlook the to date stats when arguing over who has been better. It’s relevent information. 

Lol wow wow wow 

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35 minutes ago, Jakuvious said:

The only reason you are so willing to accept him as the best RB in the league is because you were high on him in the draft.

If you're going to claim confirmation bias, you're guiltier of it than anyone on this topic.

I would say Kamara's stats are a bigger reason why I'm willing to accept him as the best RB in the league rather than what I thought about him before the draft. 

As Jay-Z once said: "Men lie, Women lie, Numbers don't."

The numbers say Alvin Kamara is CLEARLY the best RB in the league.  In particular stats that take into account PER TOUCH production.  Through the first 20 games of his career, Alvin Kamara is putting up production PER TOUCH that the NFL has not seen before.  His TD rate per touch is just staggering.  You can choose to dismiss the numbers but they are what they are.  Alvin Kamara's stats are what give him a strong case for being the best RB in the NFL.

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27 minutes ago, Wolverine_Joe said:

Leveon Bell is regarded as the best RB and he was a 2nd rounder. 

Terrell Davis was regarded as the best RB  and he was a 6th rounder.

you can't become the best RB when he didn't even have 1000 yard season yet.  

Kamara's receiving number is great, but let's not act like he didn't play for the saints either.

It took both Le'Veon and Terrell several years before they were accepted as the best.  That is typical with guys who are drafted low.  People are less likely to jump abroad early on because they weren't drafted high.  While if a first rounder kills it in Year 1 (as we saw with Deshaun Watson last year) people are more quickly to jump abroad because they expected them to be good.

And please stop with this arcane thinking that you can't be the best RB in the league unless you run for 1,000 yards.  Alvin Kamara had over 1,500 yards from scrimmage last year.  He led the NFL in Yards Per Carry.  His production given the touches he had last year was HISTORIC.  The NFL is changing.  Have you not watched the last few weeks?  Teams are throwing the ball more and more.   Thus, the best RB is actually the guy who plays like Kamara.  The guy who is maybe a better receiver than runner.  That is where the NFL is heading and Alvin is the leader in the clubhouse.

Stop trying to diminish his impact on the game.  To me, being the best means having the most impact.  And right now, there isn't a RB who is having a bigger impact on whether his team wins or losses as Alvin Kamara.  His skills both as a runner and receiver make him the best. 

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45 minutes ago, VanS said:

It took both Le'Veon and Terrell several years before they were accepted as the best.  That is typical with guys who are drafted low.  People are less likely to jump abroad early on because they weren't drafted high.  While if a first rounder kills it in Year 1 (as we saw with Deshaun Watson last year) people are more quickly to jump abroad because they expected them to be good.

And please stop with this arcane thinking that you can't be the best RB in the league unless you run for 1,000 yards.  Alvin Kamara had over 1,500 yards from scrimmage last year.  He led the NFL in Yards Per Carry.  His production given the touches he had last year was HISTORIC.  The NFL is changing.  Have you not watched the last few weeks?  Teams are throwing the ball more and more.   Thus, the best RB is actually the guy who plays like Kamara.  The guy who is maybe a better receiver than runner.  That is where the NFL is heading and Alvin is the leader in the clubhouse.

Stop trying to diminish his impact on the game.  To me, being the best means having the most impact.  And right now, there isn't a RB who is having a bigger impact on whether his team wins or losses as Alvin Kamara.  His skills both as a runner and receiver make him the best. 

 

YPC can be misleading.  jamaal charles was high YPC guy, but never once considered the top back.   

kamara wasn't even the featured back last year and gurley simply out produced him. 

yes receiving element does make him special, but let's not act like gurley or bell can't catch the ball.   bell had over 800+ yards in year 2.  gurley last year had 788.  

oh by the way bell was considered one of the best in year 2 with over 2000 scrimmage yards.   

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, VanS said:

It took both Le'Veon and Terrell several years before they were accepted as the best.  That is typical with guys who are drafted low.  People are less likely to jump abroad early on because they weren't drafted high.  While if a first rounder kills it in Year 1 (as we saw with Deshaun Watson last year) people are more quickly to jump abroad because they expected them to be good.

And please stop with this arcane thinking that you can't be the best RB in the league unless you run for 1,000 yards.  Alvin Kamara had over 1,500 yards from scrimmage last year.  He led the NFL in Yards Per Carry.  His production given the touches he had last year was HISTORIC.  The NFL is changing.  Have you not watched the last few weeks?  Teams are throwing the ball more and more.   Thus, the best RB is actually the guy who plays like Kamara.  The guy who is maybe a better receiver than runner.  That is where the NFL is heading and Alvin is the leader in the clubhouse.

Stop trying to diminish his impact on the game.  To me, being the best means having the most impact.  And right now, there isn't a RB who is having a bigger impact on whether his team wins or losses as Alvin Kamara.  His skills both as a runner and receiver make him the best. 

That's simply not true. Just a small taste of Gurley's value and impact:

 

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3 hours ago, VanS said:

I would say Kamara's stats are a bigger reason why I'm willing to accept him as the best RB in the league rather than what I thought about him before the draft. 

As Jay-Z once said: "Men lie, Women lie, Numbers don't."

The numbers say Alvin Kamara is CLEARLY the best RB in the league.  In particular stats that take into account PER TOUCH production.  Through the first 20 games of his career, Alvin Kamara is putting up production PER TOUCH that the NFL has not seen before.  His TD rate per touch is just staggering.  You can choose to dismiss the numbers but they are what they are.  Alvin Kamara's stats are what give him a strong case for being the best RB in the NFL.

LaDainian Tomlinson, Emmitt Smith, and Priest Holmes I'm sure would think these statements are cute.

13 total TD's in 20 games is staggering, oh but lets throw in that "per touch" statement? LT had 28 in 16 games, Emmitt with 25 in 16, and Holmes with 27. And these were consecutive games in a row. Not taking time off and having other people take the bulk of the pressure off of them. They were the focal point of their offenses as well as the defenses as well.

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10 hours ago, VanS said:

It took both Le'Veon and Terrell several years before they were accepted as the best.  That is typical with guys who are drafted low.

 

Terrell took several years because his first 3 years Barry Sanders and Smith were still in their prime, and at least one of the two outrushed Davis in each of his first 3 years.  Even then Davis was 1st team all-pro alongside Sanders in '96 and '97 after Smith's numbers dropped a bit, so it's not like he was getting recognition.

Bell was considered "the best all-around back" after year 2, and was second in all-pro voting behind someone with an 1800 yard rushing season that started the season with 8 straight 100 yard rushing games.  The reason it took Bell more than one year to get that recognition is because he just wasn't as good his rookie year.  Bell didn't turn from a good RB until a great one until his sophomore offseason when he dropped some weight and picked up some speed.

Also David Johnson was a 3rd rounder and immediately considered among the top RBs once he started getting a heavy workload.

Edited by Bobikus
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