JJ Lanier
What Might Have Been
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the past 15 years or so the SEC has been the best college football conference in the country.
As much as it pains me to say it, they’ve had the best coaches, players, and overall teams from top to bottom during that span.
To be honest, they’ve been at the top so long it was easy to forget that in the early 2000’s the ACC actually made a play for that honorable distinction when they added Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Miami to their lineup.
I actually remember a few columnists, as well as many ACC fans, were upset by the move because it was so obviously football centric many people thought it was going to water down the conference from a basketball viewpoint.
That was as acceptable in ACC country as it would be telling Alabama children they don’t need to be a quarterback, but should play tennis instead. (For the record, there’s nothing wrong with choosing tennis over football, but I don’t live in Alabama, either.)
I realize trying to explain to someone under the age of 20 that the Miami Hurricanes were actually a powerhouse program is as difficult as trying to convince my 15-year-old daughter that the Dave Matthews Band was once cool, but they were (in both cases).
The Hurricanes were so dominant back then it would be like taking this past season’s LSU team and extrapolating their success over the next 3 to 4 years.
Not only did it feel like the apocalypse was upon us anytime Miami lost, it also seemed like, for a while, the first round of the NFL draft was a who’s who of Hurricane players.
Virginia Tech wasn’t on the same level as Miami, but they had just gone through the Michael Vick years, which helped propel them into the national spotlight.
The Hokies had also signed Marcus Vick, Michael’s younger brother, so expectations were extremely high.
Boston College, even though they were kind of an afterthought among the three schools, were considered better than most other ACC programs.
When you combined the addition of those three schools, along with Florida State, which was a premier program, and Clemson, which always seemed to be bubbling right below the surface, the conference was poised to really become an athletic juggernaut.
Of course, like most plans, we all make it looks great on paper, but once you get 10 minutes into it the whole thing just falls apart.
Boston College is well, Boston College. Virginia Tech did fairly well, but has never been able to recreate the success they had in the few years prior.
As for Miami, the crown jewel of this expansion, you could argue they have been the worst of the three.
I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to say that overall the three programs have brought more success to the basketball court than the football field, which is saying something.
I have to admit, as a fan of the ACC, it gets a little rough thinking about what may have been had everything turned out the way most people expected.
Instead, the SEC has enjoyed being at the pinnacle of college football for the past 15 years and for right now are in a strong position to keep that spot for the next 15.
Then again, a lot of can change over a 15 year period; just ask the Dave Matthews Band.
Draft Options
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As the NBA season is on the brink of resuming for many teams, for organizations like Atlanta, which has seen their season already come to an end, it’s time to look forward to possible free agent signings and the NBA Draft.
It’s difficult to get too specific about what Atlanta’s draft may look like since that event is still roughly three months away and a lot can happen between now and then.
The muddy waters should become a little bit clearer on August 25 when the NBA holds their draft lottery and the Hawks will find out exactly what their draft position is; their first-round pick could range anywhere from the first pick to the seventh overall.
If Atlanta is fortunate enough to wind up with either the first or second pick, I think the choices are obvious, it’s going to be James Wiseman or Anthony Edwards.
Personally, if Atlanta were to receive the number one overall pick, they should go with Wiseman. The former Memphis Tiger- and I use that in the loosest sense of the term since he only played three games there- is the better of the two players and fills a deeper need for the Hawks.
That’s not to say Atlanta wouldn’t be as happy as a college student making a late-night run to the Waffle House if they wound up with Edwards, my preference just happens to be Wiseman.
Like with most drafts, it only gets interesting after those initial picks. Depending on which mock draft you choose to look at the Hawks, currently slotted in the fourth spot until the lottery takes place because of their record, seem to have more possibilities than Brad Pitt at a bar during Ladies Night.
Of all the names associated with that pick, there are three I could see the Hawks leaning towards; Obi Toppin, Isaac Okoro, and LaMelo Ball.
Toppin, the power forward from Dayton, probably has the highest ceiling of the three and is arguably the most NBA ready, which in a draft bereft of franchise changing talent, can be difficult to pass up.
On the downside he is 22, which in our bizarro world makes him the elder statesman of the draft- and likely has the lowest ceiling of the three. That combination can be a tough sell when you’re drafting that high.
Okoro, freshman out of Auburn, is an athletic wing that thrives on the defensive end but has a very limited skillset on the offensive end.
Players like Okoro are high risk/high reward and I have a feeling if Atlanta decides to go this route it will be indicative of their feelings towards De’Andre Hunter or Cam Reddish.
If I had to choose between one of the three, Ball, who spent the last few seasons playing overseas, would be the choice.
LaMelo’s game translates well to the NBA and I would love to see how Trae Young would play with him in the backcourt. Even though the level of competition he faced overseas may not have been as high as it would’ve been at a major conference program, from all accounts he took his experience over there very seriously and should be prepared for the rigors of an NBA season.
Atlanta may not be ready for the playoffs yet, but who they choose in this year’s draft, paired with an already young and talented roster, could go a long way in getting them there.
At least they’ve got three months to think about it.
The Triumvirate
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s always difficult talking about anyone or anything being the greatest when it comes to sports.
Everyone has different criteria they go by and comparing players or teams from different eras almost never ends well.
So, while I’m sure there will be baseball purists that will disagree with me, or to be honest just fans of a different team, my vote for the greatest starting pitching rotation has to be the 1995 Atlanta Braves.
Now, full disclosure I was a teenager at the time who thought Face/Off was the greatest movie ever made, so there’s a good possibility those baseball purists would be right.
Of course, when I mention the pitching rotation for the ‘95 Braves I’m really referring to three pitchers, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.
You could argue, and I would probably make the argument, that Maddux was the best pitcher during the 90’s, with the ‘95 season being his best of the decade. Besides winning his fourth consecutive NL Cy Young award, Maddux’s 19-2 record was the best winning percentage of his career and his 1.63 ERA was bested only by the 1.56 he posted the year before.
Those stats, along with his ten complete games and three shutouts, were why I remember feeling Atlanta was going to win every time he took the mound.
I mean Maddux was so dominant that his 3-1 record and 2.62 ERA that postseason, a performance most pitchers would dream of, was actually a letdown compared to his regular season.
1995 may not have been Glavine’s most productive season, although he did finish 3rd in the Cy Young voting, but he was Atlanta’s best pitcher during the playoff run.
The Braves never lost a game that he started and he infamously told his teammates heading into Game 6 of the World Series all they had to do was give him one run and he would take care of the rest; they did and he threw eight innings of one hit, shutout baseball.
Maddux and Glavine may not have been the best one-two punch in baseball history, but if Rush is considered rock n’ roll’s holy triumvirate, then the Braves were baseball’s version with the addition of John Smoltz.
On most teams Smoltz would’ve been the number one starter, or number two, at the very least. Only on this Braves team would you have a pitcher that at that point was a three time All-Star, in the prime of his career, as the third man in the rotation.
Finishing out the rotation was Steve Avery, who was on the same trajectory as Tom Glavine before his career was derailed by injury, and Kent Merker, who was to this Braves team what Pete Best was to the Beatles.
I know this wasn’t the only year this group was together (Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz all made the All-Star team the following year) but as a collective, this seemed to be their best year.
When you think about it, there’s just something that feels right about the Braves winning their lone World Series title, while in Atlanta, during this season.
I’m sure there are other teams that have had three 1st ballot Hall of Fame pitchers on their roster at one time, but I doubt they all were in their prime.
It’s been twenty-five years and unlike the Nic Cage/John Travolta 90’s action flick, this group’s legacy has actually held up.
The Same Old Story
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Optimism among Georgia Bulldog basketball fans had to be pretty high two years ago after the program brought in Tom Crean to be their head coach.
He was the highest profile coach since Jim Harrick (minus the baggage) with a Final Four appearance under his belt and stops at Marquette and Indiana.
The excitement only increased with the signing of Anthony Edwards last year, giving the impression that the basketball team just may be on the brink of turning things around and becoming more competitive in the SEC.
After two seasons of Crean being at the helm, and having the possible #1 draft pick, the hope would be the team would be able to build upon that momentum with a top-level recruiting class. I’m not sure the 2020 class is quite what fans would’ve hoped for.
To be fair, I’m not saying the expectation should be like that of a Duke or Kentucky; obviously that’s the goal, just not a very realistic one.
When I look at Georgia’s incoming class there are there two things that stick out to me; the level of talent and the number of transfer/JUCO players.
KD Johnson, the four-star point guard out of Virginia, is the prize recruit in the class. The good news on Johnson is he comes from an elite high school program and should be a very productive four-year player for Georgia.
The bad news is your star recruit is a borderline top 100 player and there’s a pretty precipitous drop off after him.
Besides Josh Taylor, the three star forward from Norcross, the rest of the class consists of two JUCO players, (Mikal Starks, Jonathan Ned) who will more than likely spend most of their time in Athens as practice players, two mediocre transfers from inferior conferences (Justin Kier, Andrew Garcia) and a role player, (PJ Horne) who at least played in a major conference with Virginia Tech.
Oh, and Kier, Garcia, and Horne will only be in Athens for one year, so it’s not like they were recruited to be developed for future seasons. They’re basically one-year rentals so Georgia can fill out a roster, which leads me to the high school recruits to transfers ratio of this incoming class.
The fact that five of the seven players in this year’s class are basically transfers, and not very sought after ones at that, is a bit concerning. I understand Georgia lost a lot of players after this season, but outside of the two players who transferred out of the program, none of them should’ve been a surprise.
Considering Crean is having to fill his roster with JUCO players and graduate transfers means he either wasn’t prepared, which isn’t a good look, or he wasn’t getting much interest from high school players, which is what I’m afraid may be the case.
The state of Georgia offered eight of the top players from the state and the only one they were able to sign was Taylor, ranked tenth.
HOF
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Falcon franchise is no stranger to having Hall of Fame players.
In fact, some of the best players at their position have spent time in the ATL- Tony Gonzalez, Deion Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Brett Favre.
It’s just that when you think of those guys, their time in Atlanta isn’t the first thing that comes to mind, unless you happen to be a Falcons fan. (Gonzalez might be the one exception, although I believe most NFL fans think of him more as Kansas City Chief than a Falcon.)
The two Hall of Famers you could associate most with the franchise is Charles Humphrey and Morten Anderson. It’s obviously impressive and an honor to be elected to the Hall, but neither of those two names are going to win you a best in show prize.
There’s a good bet that ten years from now Atlanta will have at least one player, if not two, being inducted into the Hall of Fame that will drastically improve their profile in Canton.
The first player, Julio Jones, is basically a given. The All-Decade Team member has been one of the best wideouts since entering the league and as long as he stays healthy, should be productive for the next few years.
Even if he were to leave Atlanta in search of a title, or because both decided to part ways, the sure to be first ballot inductee will likely be the greatest player in franchise history, who has spent a majority of his professional career with them.
And unless Deion entered the Hall as Falcon, Jones will undoubtedly be their best to put on the golden jacket.
The other player, Matt Ryan, isn’t such a sure thing, but he isn’t far off either. Ryan is in that unenviable position where even though his individual stats and wins aren’t bad, neither category is great enough to justify his inclusion.
A perfect example is the comparison between Ryan and Eli Manning. For all intents and purposes Ryan has better individual stats than Eli in almost every category, including actual winning percentage.
But, those two Super Bowl rings Manning has given him a better chance, currently, at making the Hall because both those wins trump his more mediocre stats.
Marino is another example where he only appeared in one Super Bowl but his play and stats were so other worldly, there was no way he wasn’t going to be a Hall of Famer.
Either Ryan is going to have to win more games and at least make another Super Bowl in order to see his bust enshrined, or he’s going to have to have a couple great seasons that really pad his stats.
The good thing for Ryan is much like Jones, as long as he can stay healthy, he’ll have enough time to do what’s necessary to achieve a player’s ultimate individual honor.
Of course, I’d be remissed if I didn’t mention that Julio Jones will certainly play a big part.
It’s like having a team’s quarterback and wideout on your fantasy football; it’s a win/win situation.
Making it into the Hall of Fame is an honor and I’m not trying to demean that accomplishment for anyone.
The inductees entering as an Atlanta Falcon may not bring the most notoriety with them, but that’s about to change within the next year’s or so. Only question is, will there be more than one?
Tip It Off
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Well, after months of watching old games, listening to pundits regurgitate the same storylines, and reading enough Top Ten articles that even David Letterman would roll his eyes, the return of sports is now on the periphery…in a limited capacity…at the end of the summer…for only a select number of teams.
The first domino to fall was hockey, which came up with a creative approach to the remainder of their season, consisting of qualifying rounds and round robin seeding games, to determine the 16 playoff teams.
With an expected start date sometime in late July, I imagine Gary Bettman must have been optimistic- if you’re starving for fan attention being the only game in town has its’ advantages.
It’s like being stranded on a deserted island for six months before realizing there’s someone of the opposite sex on the island with you. That person may not be your ideal mate, but after a certain amount of time, you’re not going to be picky.
Then, of course, the NBA announced their plans to finish their season with qualifying games among a select group of teams to narrow the field down to their playoff participants.
One of the aspects included in each league’s proposal I can easily get behind is they are only including teams that were in playoff contention at the time their respective leagues shut down. If we’re truly trying to be safe, there’s no reason to put players at risk by making them play meaningless games.
The main difference between the hockey and basketball plans is hockey is scheduling their games in at least two different hub cities, while the NBA will hold all their games at Disney World, requiring everyone to stay in a designated area throughout their time there.
The current NBA schedule has them resuming games in late July also, and running through October.
Besides the encouraging signs the sports world may be starting to open back up, the timeline of when everything takes place means September and October have the potential to be two of the most exciting months in recent memory.
Even if college football and the NFL delay their starts by a few weeks, there’s a very realistic possibility you could have multiple weekends consisting of NHL and NBA playoff games, to go along with football.
As much as people are tired of being stuck at home now, with all those options to choose from, I bet many of those same people would be staying indoors, deciding they needed to “self-quarantine”.
As much as I think most of us are looking forward to watching again, we may want to temper our expectations. We’re still weeks away before the first game will be played, and as positive Covid cases continue to rapidly increase in almost half the states across the country (many college programs are now announcing outbreaks among their players), it may be delayed even more.
Regardless of what you read into that, even the most skeptical critic would have a difficult time arguing an increase of positive test results would cause any league to speed up their return date.
If both leagues are able to resume their seasons in July it will have been a long four months in sports purgatory. And even though we won’t have technically been deserted on a desert island during that time, we’ll welcome the first puck drop, or opening tip, as if we had been.
QB U
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In the 90’s it seemed like most top ranked quarterbacks wound up at any of the three major programs in Florida.
In the 2000’s USC got the lion’s share of who they wanted, with a few other programs sprinkled in.
This past decade it’s been programs like Ohio State and Clemson that have been able to basically pick and choose who they bring in under center.
As we begin the decade of the 2020’s, it looks like you can add another school to the list; Georgia.
When Kirby Smart was hired, I figured he and his staff would be able to successfully recruit top ranked defensive players and running backs. It’s how things were done at Alabama and if Smart was trying to implement a lot of the same strategies and philosophies from his former employer, it just made sense.
I had no idea he would be able to bring in the level of talent at the quarterback position he has up to this point.
On one hand I can understand the appeal; Georgia has received a lot of positive notoriety since Smart arrived, their facilities are some of the best in the country, and they play in the best conference in college football, so there’s an abundance of national exposure a quarterback can gain by playing there. Plus, I imagine the amount of talent surrounding the quarterback position has to be awfully enticing to a recruit.
On the other hand, it’s a bit perplexing how the program has been able to maintain this level of success on the recruiting trail since Smart’s arrival.
Even though Georgia’s name has become more prominent in national title talks, they still haven’t won one in almost forty years, their quarterbacks don’t have a great history (program or Kirby Smart) of NFL success, and they’re about to be on their third offensive coordinator in as many years; none of which built their reputations on developing quarterbacks.
Smart also seems to approach the quarterback position as if he’s running his own version of The Bachelor: Georgia Edition, bringing in as many players as he can to complete. (With the recent addition of JT Daniels, I believe Georgia is currently looking at having an entire basketball team full of quarterbacks on their 2021 roster.)
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with that approach whatsoever, but with the mindset of today’s recruit, the whole situation seems ripe to miss out on players because they’d rather be given the starting job as opposed to earning it.
Yet, in spite of circumstances that would give me pause before committing, it has not affected their ability to bring in the recruits they want. Of course, keeping those recruits is an entirely different story.
And look, I know these things are cyclical and not all the quarterbacks on Georgia’s roster were 5-star recruits. Still, that doesn’t change the fact Athens has become a premier destination for quarterbacks, more so than I can ever remember them being, in my lifetime.
If their luck on the qb front continues to stay in line with the rest of their recruiting there are two things I see happening:
1.Georgia will eventually end their national championship drought sooner, rather than later.
2.If Kirby Smart keeps hoarding quarterbacks like they’re Popeye’s gift certificates they are going to need a larger room to hold their quarterback meetings.
Shake It Up
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
“The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles where there are no lakes. The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don’t allow music”.
Even though those statements from the movie BASEketball are referencing teams moving to larger cities for profit, it also pertains to college conferences and the schools they’re affiliated with. (Missouri isn’t really in the South or the East.)
If you were to rearrange the conferences so the SEC was based on teams only from this region (NC, SC, Georgia, and Florida) instead of money, how would that look, and would it be more advantageous for all those involved?
Currently, the ACC and SEC are home to eleven teams from the area- UNC, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, Clemson, South Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida, Florida State, Miami- so they would automatically be included.
You could stop there, but due to their recent success in the football field, and the fact I like conferences to have an even number of teams, I’m going to throw Appalachian State in as well.
Now that we have the conference teams set, it’s a matter of how would this new lineup compare to the real ones. And even in the land of make believe, you start and end with football.
If you’re looking at the current overall picture, it would be a downgrade for the three teams presently in the SEC since they would be replacing programs like Alabama, LSU, and Auburn for basically Clemson and a cast of not ready for primetime players.
Of course, if I’m Georgia or Florida I’m not too upset because my path to the playoffs just became that much easier. However, that might not always be the case.
The thing that intrigues me about this lineup, and was essentially the basis for this article, is how potentially dominant this hypothetical conference could be.
I think just about everyone expects Clemson, Georgia, and Florida soon enough, to become some of the best programs in the country. Florida State and Miami may never get back to the level of dominance we saw from them during their heyday, but becoming perennial top 25 teams isn’t out of the realm of reality.
The remainder of the league would be comparable to the rest of the current SEC, if not a tad bit better, in a majority of the comparisons.
I haven’t referenced the ACC teams’ point of view because I’d like to think it’s pretty obvious, they would benefit from this configuration compared to their current one.
Much like this would be an improvement for the ACC teams in football, the same can be said for the SEC teams with basketball.
Although it may not be the most fortuitous move for those teams already playing in arguably the best basketball conference in the country, there would definitely be more exposure for Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina.
I’m sure nothing like this particular alignment will ever come to fruition because as much as the NCAA loves to spout about how much they care for the student athletes, it’s all about the money.
So, instead of making the moves that would actually benefit the students and regions these schools represent, conference alignment will continue to look like it was decided by the creators of South Park and The Naked Gun movies, and the outrageous humor that goes with it.
Top Dawgs
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When you’re contemplating the best players in a college program you have to take into account whether or not you’re counting just their college career or if you’re including their professional one as well.
Michael Jordan is the perfect example of this; he’s arguably the greatest basketball player to ever live, but you can make a very legitimate argument that he wasn’t one of the five best collegiate players to attend North Carolina.
So, for today, I’m basing everything off a player’s tenure at Georgia and ignoring what transpired afterwards. It’s kind of like how I’ll give my wife a hard time about not helping me with dishes, while completely ignoring how she does everything else around the house.
The first one is pretty obvious, regardless of what the criteria is, and that’s Dominique Wilkins. The talent the two time All-American, SEC Player of the Year, and Basketball Hall of Famer possessed is oftentimes overlooked due to his highlight reel dunks, which is a shame, because he was an outstanding player.
Wilkins, the third overall was one of those rare athletes that left school after his junior year, which at the time was almost unheard of.
I’m going to cheat on the next two names and go with Vern Fleming and Jarvis Haves, due to the fact they were both two-time Associated Press All-Americans.
I was only a few years old when Fleming played at Georgia, but his All-American stays, combined with his contribution to Georgia’s only Final Four team as well as his 1984 Olympic gold medal is more than enough accolades to earn him a spot.
I did see Jarvis Hayes play and I always wondered how he ended up at schools like Western Carolina to begin his college career because he could play. Two years at Georgia, two First Team All-SEC awards along with the All-American hardware; not sure you can be more productive than that.
This whole article would be a joke and a sham if the all-time leader in points and assists was excluded from this list, so please give a warm welcome to Litterial Green. The former Bulldog point guard was three-time All-SEC selection and led the program to their first, and I believe only, SEC Championship in 1990. Plus, he may have the coolest name on this list, right next the one remaining player I’ve yet to mention.
With all due respect to Bob Lienhard (2 time Helms Association All American) and Yante Maten (2018 SEC Player of the Year and the one who undoubtedly would’ve had the coolest name on this list) I went with Kentavious-Caldwell Pope to round out the top five. I never saw Wilkins play, and I don’t remember Green, but KCP was the best Georgia player I’ve seen come through Athens.
Of course, the one omission from this list is the likely number one overall pick in this year’s draft, Anthony Edwards.
Look, Edwards was a really good player and may have the best NBA career of anyone from Georgia not named Wilkins, but I would still take any of the five I mentioned over him in terms of college performance.
I know Georgia doesn’t have the history of a lot of other major college basketball programs, but those five players are nothing to be ashamed of. Just don’t look at their professional careers too closely- there’s a reason I left those out.
Place Your Bets
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
One of the things fans love about the Super Bowl are all the prop bets taking place.
Whether it’s who wins the coin toss, which song the halftime musician will play first, or which player will score the first touchdown, almost all the bets are just good-natured fun.
Why wait until the Super Bowl though, when an entire season of prop bets can be made?
Here are some prop bets for each team in the NFC South- some serious, some not so much- you can follow throughout the year in the NFC South.
How long until everyone gets tired of all the inevitable Tom Brady storylines coming out of Tampa? For most of you, I imagine the answer ranges somewhere between “Since the day he was born” and “Well, I’m a Tampa fan, so I’ve always liked him.” (I’m calling out anyone who claims the latter as a liar.)
Regardless of where you do fall on that spectrum, prepare for an onslaught of stories that may make even the most ardent NFL fan wish they had cancelled the season.
Number of games until the “Panthers are better without Cam Newton” argument begins to appear? There’s a slight (very, very, very, slight) possibility the Panthers could win 3 of their first 4 games, which would trigger the above statement, so I’ll go with four.
If that were to take place, those making the argument would likely pull a hamstring during the following weeks due to backpedaling from that statement; I just can’t bring myself to think the Panthers will be at all formidable this year.
Anything more than 5 wins and it should be viewed as a successful season.
What’s more likely to happen, Todd Gurley rushes for 1,000 yards or finishes the season on the Injured Reserve? Gurley is the only known entity in a backfield full of “I think that guy was my waiter at TGI Friday’s” names at running back.
If Gurley can stay healthy, he’s going to get 15-20 carries a game, which should be enough to get him over 1,000 yards for the season, even if he averages the same anemic yards per carry (3.8) that he did last year.
Of course, all this is predicated on Gurley making it through the season, which I’m not sure he’ll be able to do. I have no idea which of these two will happen, but it feels like it’ll be a feast or famine type of season for the Tarboro native.
Will Alvin Kamara finish the season with more yards rushing or receiving? A few years ago this question would’ve been as absurd as asking who the worst Batman is (George Clooney, obviously), but with players like Le’Veon Bell, Christian McCaffery, and Kamara it’s more relevant than ever.
After logging more receiving yards than rushing during his rookie campaign, the 3-time Pro Bowler saw those numbers flipped over the last two years; he also saw a decrease in production this past season, due to the addition of Latavius Murray. Because of the Saints array of weapons, Kamara’s overall numbers may mirror last seasons, but how they utilize him will be telling.
There may be other prop bets that will play a greater factor in the outcome of the season, but they’re all just a warmup to the most important one- what color will the Gatorade shower be in the Super Bowl? I have green as the early favorite.
