How knowing Saints’ new system can help your team

No one wins a fantasy football championship on draft day, but learning to invest in the right teams and players certainly can give you an advantage at the start.

Anyone can look at last year’s statistics and pick names of players they hope to see repeat the performance, but the savvy fantasy manager is the one who understands how the right coaches can transform even the most basic players into future stars.

If you’re one of those people who continues to dismiss Alvin Kamara in drafts, you’re making a huge mistake.

For the first time since 2009, the Saints have a new offensive scheme.

Sean Payton and Joe Lombardi are in Denver, and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael has finally joined them.

Saints head coach Dennis Allen, a defensive-minded coach, has now entrusted his offense in the capable hands of Klint Kubiak, one of the NFL’s elite nepo-babies.

For years, we watched Klint’s father, Gary Kubiak, partner up with offensive-line guru Rick Dennison to create some of the fiercest rushing attacks in all of football.

Together, they created an outside-zone blocking scheme that saw the lineman move laterally and push the rushing attack out past the tackles then up the field.

The success was incredible, and those in the fantasy game who understood the value benefitted tremendously.

When Kubiak and Dennison were together in Denver around the turn of the century, they turned some of the most random running backs into 1,000-yard rushers.

Players such as Orlandis Gary, Mike Anderson and Reuben Droughns emerged from complete obscurity to lead people to a fantasy championship.

When they moved to Houston, they made Steve Slaton and Arian Foster household names, and in 2019 they helped boost Dalvin Cook to the top of the charts.

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Though we know Klint will put his own spin on things in New Orleans, he did hire Dennison as a special offensive assistant, and the two of them have completely restructured the Saints’ rushing attack.

We’ve spent so much time viewing Kamara as a pass-catcher over the years that we forget just how explosive a runner he can be, especially when he takes it to the outside.

His yards-per-carry average might have dipped over the past three seasons, but with the right blocking scheme and some improvements on the offensive line, he can recapture that old 2020 form.

And if Kamara’s age and injuries have you concerned, you always can handcuff him to Kendre Miller or Jamaal Williams. In fact, you probably should anyway.

Once again, it is about investing in the system. Miller and Williams might not be household names, but talk to me after you’ve Googled Orlandis Gary. 

Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy: and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.