These are the injuries that try our wagering souls.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara has a rib injury, which can certainly be awfully painful and downright dangerous. But players don’t run on their ribs, although Kamara has made some moves in his wonderful career that make you wonder what body part he’s using.
He doesn’t have the dreaded high ankle sprain or the unpredictable hamstring or the season-destroying ACL.
Kamara’s first-year coach Dennis Allen initially said Kamara should be fine for Sunday’s home game against the Buccaneers. Then Kamara didn’t practice on Thursday and Friday.
Which means any wager (and Fantasy Football League lineup), is truly perilous if Kamara is in the mix.
Kamara could:
- Play and show no signs of injury.
- Play and clearly be hampered.
- Play and aggravate the injury to the point where he’s forced to the bench.
- Scratched as a gameday decision.
We’re on record as stating we like the Saints to win the NFC South, not the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Winning the home game in the head-to-head series against the team favored to win the division at -350 at Sports Illustrated, would be a huge boost. The Saints are next at +350. Quite a disparity there.
Kamara is officially listed as questionable and, knowing the warrior he is, we expect him to take the field and wouldn’t be surprised if he has one of those Michael Jordan flu games. But talk about gambling; do you put your money on a player who might not play, or a team which might not have its star offensive player?
Here’s a safer option: Mark Ingram, the former Alabama star and Heisman Trophy winner (2009) is the goal line back for the Saints. He’s +130 at BetMGM to score a touchdown. We’ll take that and leave the mystery of Kamara for another week.