Our Week 2 matchup preview -- Fantasy Index Weekly -- is now available in the subscriber area. (Click through to see a sample report.) Fantasy Index Weekly is a comprehensive preview of each matchup this weekend.
NEW ORLEANS (vs Tampa Bay):
The Saints have flaws. They’re not good enough defensively, and they might really miss Jimmy Graham in the red zone (they settled for four field goals in the opener). But such issues can be set aside for this week. New Orleans is at home, where it tends to play a lot better, and it’s playing Tampa Bay, which is definitely one of the punching bags of the league. Lots of yards and points in this one. ... Those who selected C.J. Spiller can be encouraged by how the running backs were used in the passing game in Week 1. The Saints tend to ...
This report is taken from today's Week 2 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 19 pages of camp reports, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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... lead the league in completions to running backs every year, and that’s not going to change just because Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas aren’t around. The team’s running backs combined for 15 catches for 154 yards in the first game. Spiller catches the ball better than any of those guys, so he should start cranking out games with 5-6 catches when he’s healthy. But Spiller has been down for a month since undergoing knee surgery, so not realistic to count on him playing a big role in this game (if he plays at all). They’ll want to bring him along carefully and make sure he’s healthy for the games when they actually need him. ... Mark Ingram looks awfully appealing. Tampa Bay can’t seem to stop anyone right now, and the Saints have been more careful over the last year about not forgetting about the run. Ingram had four 100-yard games last year, and he’s a candidate for one of those for sure. They’re also using him more now in the passing game; he caught a career-high 8 passes in their first game. With Spiller iffy, they may need to use him a bunch in that capacity again. Ingram isn’t a bell-cow back. At Arizona, Khiry Robinson had only one fewer carry and 3 fewer receptions. But Ingram is definitely in the mix to be a top-10 back this week. Those who are stuck looking for a warm body can think about Robinson (if Spiller is ruled out). When New Orleans overlooked a similarly weak Tampa Bay team last October, it needed to pull out a 37-31 win in overtime, and Robinson (with Ingram out) ran for 89 yards and a touchdown in that game. ... Drew Brees has a must-start look about him. The Bucs, after all, just let Marcus Mariota throw 4 TDs against them in his first-ever game. Brees has thrown for more than 320 yards in three of his last four against this opponent (all wins). Only knock is that he made a few too many bad decisions against them last year -- in those two games, he threw twice as many interceptions (6) as touchdowns (3). And maybe the Saints really try to emphasize the run. But this isn’t one to overanalyze. When Brees is playing at home against a really bad opponent, he tends to go over 300 yards and throw multiple touchdowns. He also needs just 3 TDs to reach 400 for his career, and that’s a mark they’d probably like to reach at home (they’re on the road in Week 3). ... Brandin Cooks was a disappointment in the opener, catching only 4 passes for 49 yards. Not terrible, but this is a guy who’s looking to join the league’s elite receivers. We still believe he will. We saw him make too many plays in the preseason, getting behind defenses and creating after the catch. He caught 9 passes for 56 yards in his one game against the Bucs last year. ... There doesn’t seem to be much difference between the other two receivers. Marques Colston and Brandon Coleman both create mismatches with their tight end type size, and they seemed to play about the same amount of time at Arizona (they both got 7 targets). Colston has more experience; Coleman is younger and more athletic. If you buy into the theory that Brees will throw at least 3 TDs in this game, most likely Colston or Coleman will catch one of them. ... Benjamin Watson wasn’t a factor in the first game, with 3 catches for 19 yards, but this looks like a Watson-type game. They’ll be in the red zone on many occasions, and he’s the kind of tight end who’ll sneak free for some end zone looks. ... The Saints Defense is a lackluster bunch. Not much of a pass rush, and it’s missing half of the starters in its secondary. But look at the opponent. With Jameis Winston at quarterback, the Bucs are the chalk favorite to lead the league in interceptions. Winston made the Tennessee defense look very good on Sunday, with 4 sacks, 2 fumbles and 2 interceptions (including one taken back for a touchdown). Crappy as New Orleans is, this defense is probably the best available option on waiver wires this week. ... Sean Payton likes veteran kickers. He’s been happiest in the past when guys like John Carney and John Kasay (in their 40s) have been kicking for him. So it was no surprise last week when Payton worked out Nick Novak and Caleb Sturgis. But Zach Hocker is the kicker for now, and he bought himself some job security with 4 field goals in his first game.
