Alvin Kamara Fantasy Outlook & Injury Update 2022 (Now an Every-Down Back... When Healthy)

Alvin Kamara finished as the RB10 in fantasy football last season, while missing four games. His 18.0 PPR points per game was the seventh-best mark in football.

With that being the case, it's no surprise to see Kamara in the conversation among the top fantasy football picks this offseason. His average draft position (ADP) has him going as the 18th player off the board, and he's a consensus second-round pick no matter where you look.

Alvin Kamara Fantasy Football Outlook

Kamara is not your traditional running back, but he's one of the best at what he does: catching passes out of the backfield. Kamara finished sixth amongst running backs in targets per game last year, first in 2020, second in 2019, and third in 2018. He's seen 97 or more targets and 80+ receptions in all by one of his five years in the league.

His standard rushing stats add to his intrigue from fantasy managers, racking up at least 880 rushing yards three of the last four seasons. That includes an average of 9.4 rushing touchdowns per year,

While the New Orleans Saints offense could leave fans wanting more, thanks to the questions around Jameis Winston's own health each year, there's a lot to like about Kamara's evolving role. The dynamic playmaker turned into more of an every-down back last year, turning out a career-high 18.5 rushing attempts per game. That's six more than any year prior.

His 76% offensive snap share furthers validates that point, considering the Saints' rusher never eclipsed 69% in previous seasons. Even with Mark Ingram on roster, expect Kamara to take on the every-down role if he's healthy. After all, he still averaged 70% of the offensive snaps in four games they both suited up.

The biggest obstacle for Kamara to get back to his elite ways is his health, with the five-time Pro Bowl running back missed four games last season.

Alvin Kamara Injury Update

As mentioned above, Kamara missed four games in 2021 and at least one game in every year aside from his rookie season. Fantasy managers will need him to stay healthy, even taking on a true RB1 role.

Fortunately, None of those injuries are threatening to impact his 2022 campaign. It was a knee sprain that caused Kamara to miss four games in 2021. He still averaged 18.0 PPR points per game in the 12 appearances he made, and that's easily a top-12 performance.

Alvin Kamara Projections

Projections from the NFL odds on FanDuel Sportsbook are not as high as you'd think for Kamara. He's 20th to lead the NFL in rushing, which isn't his strength. Considering he's averaged 6.52 targets per game over his career, a full healthy season should see him push 109 targets. At his career pace of 78.4% catch rate and 8.7 yards per reception, 109 targets projects to give him about 81 receptions for 706 yards through the air.

Is Alvin Kamara a Good Fantasy Football Pick?

So with all said and done, is Kamara a good fantasy pick? Absolutely. He has the potential to be one of the best PPR backs when he's healthy. He's the No. 7 running back in The Duel's PPR fantasy football rankings.

Oh, and if you drafted Kamara with an early draft pick, then you might want to check out the best Alvin Kamara fantasy football team names, or New Orleans Saints themed names, for your squad too.

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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.