Look, Miami Dolphins running back Myles Gaskin had a great day. I'm not going to take that away from him. He rushed for 87 yards on 14 attempts and added two receiving touchdowns along with 82 additional yards through the air. 59 of those yards came on one massive, clutch score late in the game that was largely caused by his ability to make guys miss and outrun the defense.
So we're certainly not discounting the fact that he had a great game. But for New Orleans Saints star Alvin Kamara to tie an NFL record with six rushing touchdowns — a record that had stood untouched, by the way, for 91 years — and not make Pro Football Focus's Week 16 Team of the Week is kind of shocking. His full stat line on the ground —22 carries for 155 yards and, once again, six touchdowns — just isn't something you see very often. The full roster is based, as always, on PFF's advanced grading system, and the offense is listed here.
QB: Tom Brady
RB: Myles Gaskin
WR: Davante Adams
WR: Michael Gallup
TE: Jimmy Graham
FLEX: Darren Waller
LT: Trent Williams
LG: Quenton Nelson
C: Erik McCoy
RG: Brandon Scherff
RT: Ryan Ramczyk
You'll notice that two Saints offensive linemen — McCoy and Ramczyk — took their rightful spots on the offensive roster as well. But come on... six touchdowns. Could the grading system have been tinkered with just slightly to include him on the Team of the Week? I think Gaskin himself would cede his position for Kamara.
But as PFF argues, it wasn't all Kamara's doing. The offensive line completely paved the way, as PFF's Anthony Treash broke down in his weekly analysis:
While Alvin Kamara was great against Minnesota, we do have to give some credit for those six rushing touchdowns to the big men blocking for him up front. He wasn’t contacted behind the line of scrimmage on any of his six rushing touchdowns, and three of the five starters — Armstead, Ramczyk and center Erik McCoy — ranked in the top three at their respective position in run-block grade for the week.
For that reason, the three linemen mentioned above all received higher PFF grades than the record-setter and fantasy championship-wrecker Kamara himself.
So, yeah. Take Pro Football Focus rankings for what you will. There's a reason they're so popular and it's because they're, for the most part, accurate and extremely meticulously put together through various metrics and formulas. Still, not having Alvin Kamara as the running back on the Team of the Week after his Christmas performance just seems a little bit odd.
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