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Fantasy Impact: Mohamed Sanu Signs with Falcons

Fantasy Impact: Mohamed Sanu Signs with Falcons
Does Mohamed Sanu have the skills to flourish as the Falcons' No. 2 wideout?

Does Mohamed Sanu have the skills to flourish as the Falcons’ No. 2 wideout?

Being a native Atlantan and hearing the heartbeat of talk radio coupled with the reaction of the fantasy community, Thursday’s signing of Mohamed Sanu has been a complete roast and slaughterhouse. The Falcons inked Sanu to a five-year, $32.5 million deal, with $14 million of guaranteed money and a load of backlash for a player many experts have barked at as being overpaid and miscast as a wannabe No. 2 WR.

Looking at the status of this Falcons’ passing attack, it was clear this was an area that needed to be addressed during the off-season and most likely still in the draft. Coming off a G.O.A.T. type of year, Julio Jones will continue to be Julio Jones and command gobbles of targets in this Kyle Shanahan offense. But what was lacking last year was any semblance of a legitimate No. 2 threat.

Leonard Hankerson had a brief stint of competency but was waived mid-season. The aging Roddy White simply did not get out of his breaks fast enough last year and seemed to be on a different page than OC Kyle Shahanan as the team recently cut ties with the franchise’s all-time leading receiver. Justin Hardy is a second-year wideout out of ECU, who is nothing more than a slot guy and at best the fourth option on this team. In other words, Sanu currently has no competition behind Jones in the pecking order of finding targets from Matt Ryan.

But what can we project fantasy-wise with Sanu moving forward? Coming out of Rutgers, Sanu was billed as a jack-of-all-trades type of WR likened unto the former Steeler Antwaan Randle-El. He was utilized as a runner (nine TDs on the ground), passed for three TDs as a junior and had a monster senior year going for 115 receptions, 1,206 yards and 7 TDs, used solely as a receiver.

Fortunately, when we examine his body type, he’s not a smallish, gimmick-type but a solid 6’2” 210 lbs., former high school track and field star who still is only 26 years old. He ran a 4.54 40 at the 2012 NFL Draft Combine and was seen as a player who could separate well and excel in the short to intermediate passing game. The one glaring comment about his time at Rutgers was the virtual non-existence of his presence in the deep passing game, something we’ve also not seen in the NFL.

Entering into his fifth season in the league, it would be easy for us dismiss Sanu as one of the most overpaid signings of this offseason. His numbers seem to be pedestrian at best:

Year Recs Targets Yards Total TDs
2013 47 78 455 2
2014 56 98 790 6*
2015 33 50 394 2*

*Note: Sanu threw for a passing TD in 2014 and had two rushing TDs in 2015.

However, I think his 2014 season presents us with the best data of how to project Sanu in this Falcons’ offense. The Lions’ newly-signed (and widely cheered from the fantasy pundits) Marvin Jones, if you remember, was out the entire year as Sanu was locked into the No. 2 WR role and we had yet to see the emergence of TE Tyler Eifert due to his injury-filled year. Sanu was paired with All-Pro WR A.J. Green and performed admirably with 790 yards and five TDs, roughly the same total (816 yards, 4 TDs) Marvin Jones achieved in 2015.

The situation in Atlanta seems eerily similar to what it was in Cincinnati in 2014: being a No. 2 guy behind an all-world dominant WR catching short-to-medium routes from a gun-slinging QB with auburn hair (although Andy Dalton’s mane of red fire is clearly in a tier of its own). If we are to give Sanu a slight uptick in terms of targets and production being the clear No. 2 option in this Kyle Shanahan offense, he can certainly find a niche as a low-end WR3 in PPR leagues. The best comparable for me is Pierre Garcon, who won’t wow you most weeks but presents solid, if unspectacular fantasy totals. Garcon finished as WR31, four spots higher than Jones.

I’m seeing the best case scenario for Sanu being 65 catches, 105 targets, 915 yards and 5 TDs, with the added potential of a TD on the ground being utilized on end-arounds and trick plays with his athletic versatility. His expensive price tag this offseason will scream bust potential, but he can still be drafted beyond WR3 territory, which for me is a great value to fill out a bench spot or FLEX position.

His ADP should creep up as we move closer to training camp. Dynasty owners definitely found themselves with a golden opportunity from a player who will have many eyes watching and waiting to throw him and his large paycheck under the bus.

Kyle Borgognoni is an MLB and NFL correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @kyle_borg.

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