If you are a weekly fantasy football fan as well as a Saints fan, here is what you need to know in order to draft Saints players to win your fantasy league. Good luck.
Drew Brees, QB
Brees led the NFL with 5177 passing yards and 43 TD passes. It was the fourth time in the last seven seasons he led in passing yards and the fourth time in five seasons he led in TD passes. There have been six 5000-passing yards seasons and Brees has three of them. Brees’ lowest total in his seven seasons in New Orleans was 4388 in 2009. Brees did tie for the league lead in interceptions with 19, but nobody’s perfect.
Jimmy Graham TE
Graham’s numbers were down from his breakout 2011 due to a wrist injury that required offseason surgery. But he still ended up with 85 catches for 982 yards and nine TDs, finishing in the top three among tight ends in each category. With New England’s Rob Gronkowski recovering from multiple surgeries, Graham is clearly the top fantasy tight end heading into training camp.
Darren Sproles RB
When it comes to weekly fantasy football, Sproles had his lowest rushing yardage (244) in five seasons and ran for just one TD, but his receiving skills make him valuable, particularly if you are in a PPR league. Sproles’ 75 receptions, 667 receiving yards and seven receiving TDs led all RBs by wide margins. It was the second straight season Sproles led all RBs in all three categories.
Marques Colston WR
Colston’s 1154 yards and 10 TDs were tops on the Saints in 2012 and his best totals since 2007. Colston’s 83 receptions were second to Graham. He has four straight 1000-yard seasons and has 34 TDs during that span. Colston has played his entire seven-year career in New Orleans, arriving in 2006, the same season Drew Brees joined the team. Colston turned 30 in June.
Lance Moore, WR
Moore topped 1000 yards for the first time, with his 1041 receiving yards second on the Saints to Colston. He had 65 receptions and six TDs, his fourth season in the last five with at least six TDs. Moore, like Colston, joined the Saints in 2006 and has been with them his whole career. Moore turns 30 in August.
Mark Ingram, RB
In his second season, Ingram, a first-round pick in 2011, led the Saints in rushing yards (602) and rushing TDs (5), but the presence of Sproles and Pierre Thomas, who ran for 473 yards and caught 39 passes for 354 yards makes Ingram a speculative pick going into training camp. (Thomas is a potential sleeper as well.)
Ben Hargrove writes for weekly fantasy football sites like DraftStreet.com.
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