For years, stories out of New Orleans had always circulated around the one guy Nick Saban wanted his Miami Dolphins to sign: Drew Brees. During his illustrious 16-year career, one that started off in San Diego, he has been as consistently good as any other quarterback in the National Football League. Earlier this season, Brees eclipsed the 70,000 career passing-yard mark, and his Saints clinched their first playoff spot since 2013.
This time around, however, the story has changed a bit. Brees still receives a fair amount of the national attention, but it’s their young-and-improved defense and dynamic running back duo that has set the football world ablaze. Ironically enough, this running back duo features two former Alabama running backs in Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara.
While Ingram was Alabama’s first ever Heisman Trophy winner, Kamara stayed only a little while before finishing his career with a bang at Tennessee. While Ingram has been in the league since 2011, Kamara is just a rookie. This is only the superficial layer of how well they truly compliment each other.
In just 15 games, Ingram has set a career-record in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns with 1,089 yards and 12 scores on 217 carries. His counterpart has also fared well, going for 684 yards and seven scores on 111 rushes. Ingram is the bulkier, one-cut type back that all backfields need. Kamara, on the other hand, is the speedier guy – perfect as a change-of-pace back.
Where he really exceeds, though, and is what compliments Ingram’s style the most is his ability to be a receiver out of the backfield. He has been one of the best receiving backs in football, going for another 742 yards and five scores on 75 receptions, pushing his total yards from scrimmage to over 1,400 on the season.
With both backs capable of taking the load off one another, each head into the playoffs relatively healthy. Should head coach Sean Payton need to keep the defenses on their heels, he could even line them both up beside or behind Brees. With an elite passer and a much-improved defense, an explosive pair of running backs can help the offense control the flow of the game and certainly upticks the time of possession.
With the way the team is playing, Mark Ingram’s best year since winning the Heisman could end with him hoisting yet another championship trophy. This time around, on a much bigger stage.
