In 41 days, the New Orleans Saints will kick off their 2025 regular season against the Arizona Cardinals in the Superdome. New coach Kellen Moore will have some new faces to Saints fans to round out his squad. One returning name that Moore will lean heavily on offensively is Alvin Kamara, who has worn No. 41 for each of his eight seasons. One of only nine players to wear the 41 jersey, we take a look at Kamara’s background as our Saints Player of the Day.

Name (age): Alvin Kamara (30)

Height, weight: 5-foot-10, 215 pounds

College: Tennessee Volunteers

Relative Athletic Score: 8.08

Drafted: Round 3, 67th overall in 2017 (Saints)

2025 salary cap hit: $10,061,471

At Norcross High School, Kamara was Mr. Football for the state of Georgia and the state’s 6A Player of the Year as a senior. The Alabama Crimson Tide won the recruiting battle for his talents, but he’d redshirt in 2013 and transfer after the season to Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. After one standout season there, Kamara was again a hot recruit. This time, he was won over by the Tennessee Volunteers. Kamara shared backfield duties in 2015 for Tennessee, winding up with 1,089 all-purpose yards and 11 scores. Despite missing two games with injuries in 2016, Kamara had better overall numbers with 1,188 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns. He set a Volunteers single-game school record with 312 all-purpose yards in a loss to Texas A&M.

Advertisement

In the loaded 2017 NFL draft, Kamara landed with New Orleans in the third round after a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. Kamara was also part of a spectacular draft haul for the Saints that included Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, Marcus Williams, and Trey Hendrickson. It was also a spectacular draft for NFL running backs that included Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, Kareem Hunt, D’Onta Foreman, and James Connor. Kamara outshined all of them, racing to a Pro Bowl berth and the 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year award. He had 1,901 all-purpose yards as a rookie, including 1554 from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns. It would be just a harbinger of things to come for the versatile back.

In eight seasons with New Orleans, Kamara has had less than 1,300 yards from scrimmage only once (1,160 in 2023) while torturing defenses as both a runner and receiver. Kamara already holds New Orleans all-time career records in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns, total yardage, and every major receiving category for a running back. Perhaps his most impressive record came on a Christmas Day game in 2020 against the Minnesota Vikings. In that win, Kamara rushed for six touchdowns, tying an NFL single-game record set and unmatched since 1929.

Despite extensive defensive attention and at times over the last couple years with little help, Alvin Kamara remains one of the most productive all-purpose threats in the NFL. Kamara will continue to be the primary weapon for Kellen Moore, as puts together a career possibly destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Alvin Kamara is the Saints Player of Day 41