Green Bay Packers: Alvin Kamara will Test Joe Barry Defense Right Away
By Paul Bretl
The New Orleans Saints find themselves in the midst of a transition, and this roster looks a bit different than what it did a season ago when the Green Bay Packers faced them. Most notably, Drew Brees has retired, and Jameis Winston is the new starting quarterback.
However, despite some of the changes that have taken place, there is still one player, in particular, who can wreck this game for the Packers, and that is Saints running back Alvin Kamara.
Although the Green Bay Packers won the game against New Orleans last season, I’m sure many fans still remember just how difficult Kamara was to contain.
Kamara finished the game with 58 rushing yards on six carries, but where he really did most of his damage was through the air, catching 13 of his 14 targets for 139 yards, including a 52-yard reception where he made five Packers defenders miss–although it sure felt like a lot more.
"“If you give a guy like Kamara one-on-one (opportunities), he’s going to hurt you sometimes, and that came true this past game,” said Matt LaFleur via the Wisconsin State Journal. “We will continue to work on those fundamentals, and we need to see improvement.“"
It’s Kamara’s elusiveness in the open field that has hurt Green Bay defenses in the past and will really stress this group under new defensive coordinator Joe Barry. While the Packer defense has several playmakers, and overall I do expect an improved unit this season, it is also going to take time to adjust to the new system, and they will take their lumps early on.
It’s also worth mentioning that with fewer full contact practices and many starters seeing little to no preseason action, tackling is one area that could look very rusty Week 1.
The good news with Barry’s defense is that because of the consistent five-man defensive fronts; the Green Bay linebackers should be freed up more than what they were under Mike Pettine to hopefully make more plays—and in this instance, slow Kamara.
It’s also going to be vital that the safeties and cornerbacks showcase that they can be reliable tacklers, as Ross Uglem of Packer Report notes in the Cheesehead TV Draft Guide. With the “fake light box technique” that Barry will utilize, the safeties will play closer to the line of scrimmage and need to be active against the run.
Meanwhile, although the two-high safety look provides help to the cornerbacks in coverage, it also means that the cornerbacks will have to be reliable open field tacklers—or at least hold their own until help arrives.
Whenever the ball is in Kamara’s hands, the entire defense needs to swarm to wherever he is in an effort to eliminate as many of the one-on-one tackle situations that could occur—which as you can imagine, is not ideal for Green Bay.
Ultimately, a few of the key factors in slowing Kamara are going to be how well the safeties can help against the run and the cornerbacks and linebackers making plays in the open field.
If the Green Bay Packers once again have issues containing Kamara, it’s going to make things much easier for Winston at quarterback, who will then be able to rely on the quick and easy completions–which is the exact opposite of what you want. Green Bay will want to create pressure and force the turnover-prone Winston to push the ball downfield.
There really is no stopping Kamara; he is going to make some plays, but the goal for this Green Bay defense should be to slow him down and make sure that he doesn’t take this game over, allowing Winston to get comfortable.
Right away, this will be quite the test for this new defensive scheme—especially their tackling abilities.