New Orleans Saints

Fantasy Football 2016 Preview: New Orleans Saints wide receivers

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Drew Brees and Sean Payton make New Orleans a good passing game for fantasy football. Check out these Saints wide receivers who can help your team this year.

Nov 1, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) celebrates with Saints wide receivers Brandin Cooks (10) after a touchdown against the New York Giants during the second half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints defeated the Giants 52-49. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

New Orleans’ struggling defense led to plenty of shootouts for the team on their way to a 7-9 season. Drew Brees had another good statistical season and the Saints wide receivers did a pretty good job filling in for the departed Jimmy Graham.

The Saints wide receivers are a good group to target again this year since New Orleans definitely throws the ball as much as any other team in the NFL. Fantasy football owners won’t overlook any of the Saints wide receivers, though, so sometimes value can be hard to fine.

Throughout the preseason, we have been working our way through the NFL to look at the important fantasy options on each team. While most team’s just have one quarterback and one tight end that are noteworthy for fantasy, every team has multiple running backs and wide receivers that you need to know heading into draft season.

Already this preseason, our wide receiver previews have focused on the receivers of the Packers, Vikings, Lions, Bears, Steelers, Browns, Bengals, Ravens, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders, Cardinals, Seahawks, 49ers, Rams, Patriots, Jets, Bills, Dolphins, Cowboys, Washington, Eagles, Giants, Texans, Colts, Jaguars, Titans, and Buccaneers. Today, we’ll keep working through our last division as look at Saints wide receivers.

If you’re looking for fantasy football coverage including all our wide receiver and running back previews, check out the FanSided fantasy football hub where you can also find my top 10 potential breakout WR. You should also make sure to check out the 15 sleepers from Preseason Week 3. You can always see the latest fantasy football posts in the related content box to the right, and click here for my latest WR rankings.

Make sure to stay tuned to the FanSided fantasy football hub throughout the season to find plenty of fantasy coverage including sleepers, rankings, injury news, and overall strategy tips leading up to your draft. You can also follow @FansidedFantasy on Twitter where I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have, keep you up to date on all our latest coverage, and even help you through any draft-day dilemma that may come up.

In this post, we focus on the Saints wide receivers who are ready to step up once again this season. We’ll start with an overview of New Orleans’ passing offense, and after that we’ll take a look at each option on the depth chart to see the fantasy potential and current ADP (average draft position) of each of the Saints wide receivers.

Sep 13, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) signals to wide receiver Willie Snead (83) during the second half against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Saints Wide Receivers-Overall Outlook

The Saints were the only team in the NFL to average over 300 passing yards per game. Brees led them to 310.6 passing yards per contest which was substantially more than the Patriots who finished second with 287.8. The Saints also led the NFL in completions and passing first down percentage while finishing tenth in passing touchdowns

With all those catches and yards to go around, it’s not surprising that the Saints wide receivers were good plays throughout the season. The leader of a deep corps was Brandin Cooks while Willie Snead emerged as a strong #2 but fell just short of 1,000 yards.

This offseason, the Saints pass-catchers did have some turnover as they replaced tight end Ben Watson with free agent signee Coby Fleener. They also parted ways with ten-year receiver Marques Coltston who is still contemplating a return to action once his shoulder fully heals. To help replace Colston, the Saints drafted Michael Thomas out of Ohio State in the second round.

There should be plenty of work to go around for all the Saints wide receivers as well as the running backs and tight ends. Brees usually distributes the ball well which should give players opportunities to be productive for fantasy this year,

Let’s take a look at each of the options from the Saints wide receivers and evaluate the latest ADP info from fantasypros.com to see when and where you should look draft one of the Saints wide receivers in your draft.

Dec 27, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks (10) gestures after a catch in the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Brandin Cooks

Cooks is in the group of fringe WR1 options that offer top-ten upside. He currently is being drafted as the 14th receiver off the board which lands him at the end of the third round. Cooks is headed into the sometimes-magical third-year for receivers and is a good bet to lead the team in targets, catches, and receiving yards. He isn’t a big-bodied receiver to target in the red zone, but he still scores enough to be a good option.

Last year, Cooks ended up with 1,138 yards on 84 catches and got into the end zone nine times. He should be able to reach and exceed those totals this season with the possible exception of the touchdown production. The Saints don’t typically force the ball to their #1 option, though, and they have a relatively deep corps around him which keeps him from being a top-ten lock.

Cooks has had a pretty quiet preseason, but he is healthy and should be ready to get going when the regular season starts. He started a little slow last year not reaching 80 yards or finding the end zone in any of the Saints first four games. Once he got rolling, though, he finished strong with 100 yards and a touchdown in three of the last four weeks of the fantasy football season.

Look for Cooks to be a strong WR2 pick this season and ultimately could work his way into top-ten consideration for next season.

Aug 26, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Willie Snead (83) catches a pass ahead of Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Cortez Allen (28) during the first half of a preseason game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Willie Snead

Snead is being extremely under-drafted in many formats this season. The second option among the Saints wide receivers is lasting until the 12th round when he is being taken as the 44th receiver off the board. He’s a strong WR5 if you can get him at that point in your draft.

Snead would ideally fit in as the team’s third WR, but he showed he can produce as the #2 option last season. He joined the team as an undrafted free agent out of Ball State and racked up 984 yards in his 15 games on 69 catches. He found the end zone three times and posted a pair of games over 100 yards.

Snead has been great all preseason as well. He led the team in receiving in Preseason Week 3 against the Steelers hauling in all four passes thrown his way for 58 yards and a touchdown.

Don’t over-reach and take Snead too early, but as a fourth or fifth receiver he’s a safe and reliable option. If Cooks were to go down, he could even end up a must-start play.

Aug 11, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas (13) catches the ball past New England Patriots cornerback Justin Coleman (22) during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Michael Thomas

Thomas has been solid this preseason and has moved up to third in the depth chart of the Saints wide receivers. He played with the starting team offense in Preseason Week 3 but didn’t made a catch until after Brees left the game when he hauled in his only target for 23 yards from Luke McCown.

Thomas has a ton of upside, and Sean Payton was quoted earlier this preseason as saying he would draft Thomas if he played fantasy football. With all due respect to Payton, I wouldn’t draft Thomas until the closing rounds of my draft since he isn’t sure to get enough looks to produce early in the season.

Right now, Thomas is going a little high in the 15th round as the 51st receiver taken. At some point this season, Thomas will probably be startable when we get to bye week craziness. However, behind Cooks, Snead, Fleener, and the running backs, he may not get enough work to be a consistent option early in the season. If you want to use a closing-round lifer on Thomas, go for it, but don’t go all in too early.

Aug 20, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandon Coleman (16) attempts to make a reception during the first quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Coleman

The Saints wide receivers are such a productive group that any receiver even on the fringes of playing time usually gets lots of fantasy football attention. Last preseason, that was Brandon Coleman who as a 6-foot-6-inch target was a hot sleeper to emerge as one of Brees’s red zone options.

He disappointed, though, for most of the season totaling 454 yards on his 30 catches. He found the end zone twice, but only one time after Week 1. Coleman was held under 60 yards in 15 of the 16 games of the fantasy season, and ultimately he wasn’t worth carrying through the season.

This preseason, he hasn’t fared much better and was clearly passed on the depth chart by rookie Michael Thomas. Coleman looks like he’ll be kept as the team’s fourth WR, but he is a long way from having any kind of fantasy impact.

Aug 26, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Garrett Grayson (18) celebrates with wide receiver Tommylee Lewis (87) after a touchdown pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half of a preseason game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Steelers defeated the Saints 27-14. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Other Saints wide receivers

Tommylee Lewis: Lewis reminds some people of a poor-man’s Darren Sproles based on his five-foot-seven-inch size and shiftiness. It looks like he’ll be on the team this year and could get some gadget plays from time to time. Over, though, he can be left on waiver wires until he secures a more regular part of the passing game.

Jordan Williams-Lambert: Williams is an un-drafted free agent from Ball State. He hung around through roster cut downs and is likely headed for the practice squad. He’s a big-bodied slot option that could be interesting if he somehow got on the active roster.