Fantasy Football Player Notes

It's been rumored in camp that Godwin looks good, but that he's lacking something. He also missed a few practices throughout training camp, so it's something worth monitoring early in the season. The Saints cornerback unit is extremely good, especially since they added Janoris Jenkins at the end of the season. He'll replace the inconsistent Eli Apple opposite Marshon Lattimore. It's a tougher matchup than last year when Godwin hung 7/125/2 on them in Week 5, then 3/47/1 in Week 11. The Saints may not decide to shadow Mike Evans with Lattimore anymore considering Godwin's success, though Jenkins surely changes things. The combination of Lattimore and Jenkins allowed 87-for-159 passing in their coverage for 1,205 yards and seven touchdowns while intercepting six passes. That amounts to a QB Rating below 80. It is worth noting that Godwin's big game last year came while in New Orleans, but it was also before Jenkins was there. You're going to start Godwin in season-long leagues as a WR2 at worst, but it's not a week to feel very confident in cash games. I do like him better than Evans in tournaments, though.

Evans is reportedly doubtful for this week's matchup, which means that fantasy managers need to start preparing for Plan B. Even if he does somehow play, it's unlikely that he's going to return top-30 value.

Gronk always has the chance to score, but after a year away from football, he might not be ready to take on a full snap count. If that's the case, he's a touchdown or bust play at the TE position this week. I recommend looking elsewhere if you can.

Jones should still be the lead option in this backfield, but the presence of Leonard Fournette limits his overall ceiling. Additionally, the Saints DST is an extremely difficult matchup for RBs. All of those things point towards Jones being a RB3/FLEX option at best this week.

Fournette should see some touches in this matchup, but it might not be enough to be FLEX worthy. There's a possibility that Fournette takes on more of a workload in upcoming weeks, but it's going to be hard to trust him right away in this matchup. He's a RB4 at best this week.

Howard could be the TE leader in snaps on this team, but he's not worth looking at in fantasy until we see him actually put it together on the football field.

Mike Evans is reportedly going to suit up in this matchup, which negates any FLEX appeal that Miller had at one point this week. He can remain on your bench.

McCoy is the passing-down back, which carries some value in this matchup. The Saints allowed the 10th-most fantasy points through the air to running backs last year, as the 95 receptions they allowed ranked as the fifth-most. Still, McCoy is sharing a lot of snaps and is clearly the No. 3 on this team. He may be usable in deep PPR formats that utilize multiple flex spots as a semi-decent floor play, but he doesn't come with any upside.

While we don't know how many snaps Mike Evans is going to play, his presence in the lineup quashes any appeal that Watson had as a fill-in option. While Watson could play the majority of the snaps if Evans truly is out there just as a decoy, it's too unpredictable of a situation to roll out Watson into your starting lineup.