Why Alvin Kamara Will Face Plant In Week 2 And Beyond of the NFL Season

Alvin Kamara’s fantasy football outlook is trending down after a concerning Week 1 role shift, raising red flags about his usage in the Saints’ new offense.

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) scores a touch down during the second quarter at Caesars Superdome. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

We learned a lot from Week 1, and that includes seeing red flags for players who are going to faceplant. It's tough when you're dependent on a player and things don't go as you hoped early in the season. Especially if it's at a key position that you need to rely on. This week, we'll be taking a look at a running back that we believe might be in trouble moving forward. 

Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints

The key to Kamara's fantasy value has come in the passing game for years now. His lowest amount of targets in any game last season was three. However, the Saints now have a new regime in New Orleans, and in Week 1, Kamara saw just two targets that he turned into 11 yards. It wasn't a terrible fantasy week for him because he scored a touchdown on the ground, but that's going to be tough to depend on in what could be the worst offense in the NFL, led by quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Alvin Kamara’s in for six!

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— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025

On the ground, he saw 11 of the team's 22 carries, which he took for 45 yards and a score. His volume coming down in the rushing game could also become a concern, but we never expected him to be great on the ground to begin with. At 30 years old, he hasn't been a difference maker on the ground in quite some time now. If his passing volume comes down, he could be in big trouble.

The writing had been on the wall for Kamara all offseason. We knew that Kellen Moore wasn't going to use his first head coaching opportunity to dump the ball off over and over to an aging running back. That's exactly what got that last regime fired. Despite all his faults, we saw Rattler heavily utilize Juwan Johnson in Week 1 and take shots down the field to his wideouts, even if most of them didn't connect. However, it's Johnson who's going to be the issue for Kamara. He caught eight of 11 targets for 76 yards. Those were the safety blanket targets that used to go to Kamara. 

There are going to be a lot of weeks this season when fantasy owners are disappointed in Kamara if he fails to find the end zone. The best-case scenario for him may be if he gets traded before the deadline to a team that needs him in the passing game.