Saints' Players To Target And Avoid

The NFL season is about to kick off, and for millions of Americans (and people around the world too) that means one thing: to scream about your fantasy football team for the next 4 months!

In Louisiana, there are generally two types of fantasy football players…people who want to win the championship, and people who want to roster as many New Orleans Saints/Dallas Cowboys/LSU Tigers or other various local teams. Whether they win or not, they want a team full of players from teams they cheer for.

You’ve been in a league with at least one of these people before…they take Dak Prescott #1 overall in disrupt the whole draft. They will offer you a trade every week to get Joe Burrow on their team. Just a few years ago, they would do anything to make sure Drew Brees was their QB1.

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

But this year, it might be rough on some of those folks. The Cowboys have a good number of potentially relevant fantasy football players, there’s always a couple of LSU players who will make some noise. The fans who want to load up their team with New Orleans Saints players will not be as lucky.

There is at least one Saint you should have on your fantasy football team this year.

Alvin Kamara Should Be On Your Fantasy Football Team

Look, Kamara is a little older, maybe a step slower, but he’s still one of the most explosive players in football. He has put up season numbers that have helped win plenty of people a league championship, and he might have it in him again this year.

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

If Kamara has lost a step, he’s going to more than make up for it with opportunity. The New Orleans Saints have a new Head Coach, and a new offensive identity. Kellen Moore is now calling the shots for the Saints, and at his last stop (being the Offensive Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles) he took a productive running back in Saquon Barkley and turned him into an MVP candidate.

With an unreliable situation at quarterback, the running game will be instantly important to the Saints. But if they’re playing from behind this season, they’re going to have to throw, and a young QB’s best friend is the checkdown, which is likely to be Kamara out of the backfield.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Even though he’s not the top of the running back pile anymore, Kamara should be owned in all normal leagues, and should probably be starting for you most of the year. If you REALLY want to have a Saint on your roster, this is the guy.

Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed Will Contribute in Fantasy Football

But if you’re not prepared to spend high draft capital on Kamara, but still want a Saint, you can look elsewhere and probably not hurt your team.

Both Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed should see ample targets this year. Using the logic we just rolled out for Kamara, if the Saints are playing from behind most of the year, they will be slinging the rock. Big ‘but’ here though…if the quarterback play isn’t good, it might not matter how many times the passes get thrown if they can’t be caught.

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Slapping either of these guys onto your roster, at an appropriate point in the draft, won’t look wild. If you’re a Saints absolutist, but can’t afford Kamara in your draft, these two will check the box.

New Orleans Saints Fantasy Football Value is Bleak This Year

Once you get by those three players, you’re starting to get into “why am I doing this?” territory.

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Juwan Johnson doesn’t really have a place to start in fantasy football, unless you have a weird 2 tight end league, or you’re using him as a flier on your starter’s bye week. Don’t spend a draft pick on him, unless you have a very deep league.

Maybe you’re thinking “what about Brandin Cooks, he was a great fantasy player before?” and you would be right. But he was good in 2017, when he had over 1,000 yards and 7 touchdowns. Cooks is now over 30, and hasn’t had more than 57 catches in a season since 2021. He’s projected by a few sites to have less than 500 yards this season.

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

What else? Maybe if you absolutely HAVE to have a Saint rostered, you could use your kicker spot to check the box. Blake Grupe will probably be available in most leagues. He’s not projected to be a top kicker this season, with most fantasy sites ranking him in the bottom third of all kickers. Advantage for Grupe is that he does play his home games inside, which could mean some field goal attempts that otherwise wouldn’t exist. But if you’re going to go down this road, just don’t spend a draft pick in your league on him.

According to Sports Illustrated, there’s one more name you might consider, but it feels like a stretch. Running back Kendre Miller is ranked inside their Top 200 fantasy players for this year. So if you’re gonna take a lotto ticket flier, this might be your guy.

Every Saints First Round NFL Draft Trade Since 2010

Saints’ Players To Target And Avoid

Tags: