After going 2-1 to start the season, the New Orleans Saints welcome back a household name in week 4. Alvin Kamara will return from his three game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy following an incident in 2022. The end of the star running back's suspension could not come at a better time for a banged up Saints backfield as Jamal Williams is out with a hamstring injury he suffered in week 2. Kamara will be a sight for New Orleans’s sore eyes even though most would consider him to be coming off a down year in 2022. Alvin is definitely in good spirits as he posted the tweet below following the conclusion of week 3 on monday night.
First day out. ⚜️ pic.twitter.com/tLSzQF8JFX
— Alvin Kamara (@A_kamara6) September 25, 2023
Alvin Kamara came into the Saints backfield in 2017 to accompany fellow SEC running back Mark Ingram. Following Ingram’s departure in 2018, Kamara was turned into a work horse back in the ground as well as the passing game. In 2022 Kamara had 223 carries for 897 yards and two touchdowns to accompany 57 receptions on 77 targets for 490 yards and two touchdowns. This usage in 2022 would only land Kamara as RB18 to finish the season in fantasy. The reason Kamara finished outside top 10 running back status is due to his quarterback situation along with missing two games due to injury. Now that Derrick Carr is running the offense in New Orleans, Kamara seems to be excited to contribute greatly and often after supporting his team from the couch the first three weeks of the 2023 season.
"I've had the same message for seven years, 'Whatever I gotta do, I'm gonna do it...'"
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 27, 2023
"We got tons of weapons... Whatever the case may be, I got faith we'll be able to get it done."
AK on the offense pic.twitter.com/VXjc7qd5db
Although Kamara is clearly the RB1 for the Saints I ran through the data in our database to see what his snap percentage would be like following his suspension. According to our database, the snap percentage for running backs coming off missing an average of 3.2 games to suspension, increases by almost 12 percent after the suspension. This upward trend in usage is also reflected in our database when looking at offensive skill position players as a whole, increasing from 42 percent pre suspension to 51 percent post suspension. Based on these statistics I would advise you to give Kamara a starting slot in your fantasy team in week 4, especially since the Saints have struggled running the ball in the first three weeks. I would not be surprised to see Kamara eclipse 15 fantasy points in PPR leagues in his 2023 debut as he will be the workhorse back the Saints have been waiting for since his suspension was declared earlier in 2023.
