The Saints' high-powered offense returns (almost) fully in-tact.
How high is Alvin Kamara's ceiling? How strong will Michael Thomas' and Drew Brees' connection be? What else should you expect from this unit in 2019?
Our analysts rank all their key players by scoring format, project their season-long stat lines and analyze their overall outlooks heading into the season.
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Saints Fantasy Rankings, Projections
Drew Brees, QB
- Pass: 371 comp | 524 att | 70.8 comp% | 4,172 yds | 28.4 TDs | 9.6 INTs
- Rush: 31 car | 19 yds | 1.7 TDs
Alvin Kamara, RB
- Rush: 207 car | 977 yds | 9.9 TDs
- Rec: 81 catches | 729 yds | 4.3 TDs
Latavius Murray, RB
- Rush: 160 car | 683 yds | 6.4 TDs
- Rec: 23 catches | 169 yds | 0.7 TDs
Michael Thomas, WR
- Rec: 103.8 catches | 1,216 yds | 8.3 TDs
Ted Ginn Jr., WR
- Rec: 40 catches | 543 yds | 3.8 TDs
Tre'Quan Smith, WR
- Rec: 39.7 catches | 576 yds | 4.2 TDs
Jared Cook, TE
- Rec: 51 catches | 637 yds | 4.7 TDs
Note: Projections as of August 22.
>> Get our experts' latest fantasy rankings and projections in our Draft Kit.
Saints Fantasy Outlooks
Chris Raybon breaks down Sean Payton's playcalling tendencies to forecast who will benefit most.
- It was thought by some that Latavius Murray was signed to assume a role that saw Mark Ingram average 12.0-55-0.55 rushing and 1.7-14.0-0.09 receiving in 11 games with Alvin Kamara active last season. The resulting per-game averages of 12.45 PPR and 10.73 standard points would have placed Ingram at RB23 in PPR and RB20 in standard. But this is Kamara's backfield now, according to Jeff Duncan of The Athletic, which tells me it's Kamara's splits without Ingram we should be looking at. Without Ingram over the first four games of last season, Kamara averaged 13.8-65.8-1.25 on the ground and 8.8-84.0-0.25 on 11.8 targets in the pass game.
- Drew Brees' pass attempts per game went from 42.1 in 2016 to 33.6 in 2017 to 32.1 in 2018. Given his age, performance down the stretch (6.77 YPA, 6 INT in last seven games), and the surplus at the position, it doesn't make sense to invest in Brees in 1QB fantasy leagues.
- Last year's starting tight end, Ben Watson, was in on just 60% of pass plays and spent 14% of them blocking, but tight ends coach Dan Campbell has indicated the Saints will use Jared Cook like he was used in Oakland, where he was in 89% of pass plays and spent just 4% of them as a pass blocker in 2018. That usage in this offense would have been worth 9.4 PPR and 5.6 standard points, or TE8 numbers.
