Fantasy Previews for Week 1 of the NFL Regular Season: New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals

Sep 11, 2015 04:50 PM EDT
Brandin Cooks
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks scores a touchdown during a 2014 game."

New Orleans Saints

Brandin Cooks (Wide Receiver): Cooks is the primary passing target for the Saints offense.  He will get the lion share of targets and is the best wide receiver the Saints have. Cooks will be lined up all over the formation so he will have a lot of opportunities to make plays. Cooks is playing a strong passing defense but he should still be a WR1 considering his competition in the offense.  

Josh Hill/Benjamin Watson (Tight End): These two will fight it out for goal line looks and targets in the middle of the field. Hill has the edge on goal line work and should see some opportunities however Watson will likely be the early down tight end who could see some big plays come his way. Watson is also the elder of the two and the veteran so he should see the field first.

Marques Colston/Brandon Coleman/Willie Snead (Wide Receiver): These receivers will fight for the scraps. The targets thrown their way will be indiscriminant and random but Brandon Coleman has the potential to do some pretty great things with his size and length. They should remain on your bench until your certain of their abilities.

Drew Brees (Quarterback): Brees should have a tough time against the Cardinals however he does have a significantly better offensive line. Brees should keep the Saints in the game and have a low tier QB1 day.

Mark Ingram (Running Back): Ingram will be leaned on heavily to produce against a stout Cardinals defense. Ingram will catch some passes out of the backfield but may find no running room. If you have Ingram you will have to start him but if you have another player waiting in the wings take a chance on him (Doug Martin, Ameer Abdullah, Joseph Randle).

Arizona Cardinals

Larry Fitzgerald/John Brown/Michael Floyd (Wide Receiver): The Cardinals wide receivers are going to have a field day with the Saints secondary. John Brown seems like the immediate guy to break out however Larry Fitzgerald could tear up the Saints as well. Michael Floyd is a game time decision so if you have to start one Fitzgerald and Brown are your best bets.

Andre Ellington/ Chris Johnson/David Johnson (Running Back): Ellington will get the start and should have a decent day against the porous Saints defense but is a pretty significant injury risk. There are no hard hitting defensive linemen on the Saints so Ellington should be a solid RB2 with RB1 upside. If he goes down both backups statuses will immediately be elevated.

Carson Palmer (Quarterback): Palmer should go off on the Saints secondary however the Cardinals offensive line is in bad shape and could succumb to different blitz packages. Palmer is a strong QB2.

 

 

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