The New Orleans Saints got their first real look at a 1-2 punch with Alvin Kamara and rookie Kendre Miller in Week 5, and the results didn't disappoint.
The pair accumulated 187 yards and a touchdown on 41 total touches, with the Saints offense flashing to life after a month of subdued performances. It was Kamara's second game back from suspension, and Miller's third in the NFL after sitting out Weeks 1 and 2 with an injury.
That should be just the start of things to come for that exciting tandem, as WWL color analyst Deuce McAllister explained this week on SportsTalk.
Listen to the full interview with Deuce McAllister in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"Kendre Miller as far as, I think for him it’s a still a week-by-week situation," McAllister said. "And what I mean by that is him having a great understanding offensively of what you’re doing. Because you’ve got to remember, he missed a ton of time, and so for him I think it’s about reps. It’s not only weekly reps, but I think it’s game reps as well. And so he will get better over time."
That was a sentiment echoed by Kamara himself this week, with the veteran noting that he made it look easy during his rookie campaign in 2017, but it wasn't until about Week 14 until he really understood the finer points of what he was being asked to do.
Up until that point he had to rely on veterans shoving him in the right direction and giving extra instruction, which fell to players like Ted Ginn, Brandon Coleman Drew Brees and Mark Ingram.
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"He’s figuring it out," Kamara said. "It takes some time to kind of get your feet up under you, understand why and when and where, but he’s kind of, he’s figuring that out and he’s putting the pieces together. He has the ability."
It's all part of an equation that's had a lot of variables going in and out over the first half of the season. The team brought in Jamaal Williams to be a big part of that group, but he went out in Week 2 with a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve. He won't be eligible to return until Week 7 at the earliest. When he does get back, he'll likely slot back into a short yardage role. The team also has to find ways to incorporate Taysom Hill.
It will ultimately fall on Pete Carmichael and the Saints staff to gameplan ways for the run game to thrive, which will make everything easier off of that.
"The for-certains, the knowns, you know what Taysom Hill is going to get you. You know what Jamaal is going to get you," McAllister said. "And I think Jamaal was tasked a little bit with something that he wasn’t with Alvin being out, and now he can slide back into the role of him being, ‘hey look, we like to run power with you. We like to run counter with you. We can use you inside.’ "
The Saints (3-2) and Texans (2-3) face off at noon Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston.
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MORE FROM DEUCE
On C.J. Stroud's early success
"They’ve done a great job of marrying his skillset with the calls. And what I mean by that is, they are relying on him understanding what’s going on, and they’ve hit on … their draft picks. And you could say yea, well, you got one guy right in the draft. Nah, I think they got about four guys right, maybe even five guys right in the draft. ... He’s missed starters and it’s like, hey, we’re going to get the ball out quick. We’re going to move the pocket a little bit for you.”
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What about the Texans' scheme
“It’s an uncommon opponent. And what I mean by that is you don’t play the Houston Texans a lot as far as in the regular season. So for the Saints, they’re going to do two things. You’re going to scout the opponent like you normally would, but you’ll go back to when DeMeco Ryans was the defensive coordinator. What did he like to do … with the 49ers? So a lot of what they like to do from a defensive standpoint, that’ll be the philosophy that they pull over. Offensively, the OC, he comes from that Shanahan tree. So a lot of what they like to do is a mix of Ohio State, but it’s also a mix of the Shanahan stuff and that’s moving the pocket, some of the eye candy with the run game, and they do have two good backs as well. Dameon Pierce is a lead back for me.”
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Do the Saints win?
“I think you win. The only way I see you losing this game is if you go out there and you have multiple turnovers and then from an offensive standpoint you bog down again in the red zone."