Emmanuel Sanders

With Michael Thomas sidelined, Sanders will be asked to step up and play a bigger role in the offense. "But Mike, wasn't he a full-time player already?" Well, no. He played just 33 snaps in Week 1 while Thomas played 55 and Tre'Quan Smith played 44. Despite that, Sanders tied for the league-lead in red zone targets (4) in Week 1. He was playing in the slot 48 percent of the time, which might go down considering Thomas' absence on the perimeter. The Raiders have a young cornerback duo in Trayvon Mullen and Damon Arnette, and it wasn't the best of debuts for Arnette, who allowed 110 yards and a touchdown on just five targets in his coverage. Mullen seems to be a competent NFL cornerback, but he's not going to be shadowing anyone. I'm expecting the Saints to move the veteran Sanders around and get him matched up with the rookie to take advantage of his inexperience. Sanders can be played as a WR3 this week who should have a solid floor, though we don't know how high his ceiling is in his age-33 season.

Emmanuel Sanders scores in Saints debut

Saints WR Emmanuel Sanders caught 3-of-5 targets for 15 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's Week 1 win over the Buccaneers.

Fantasy Impact

It didn't take long for Sanders to make a splash in his Saints debut. While he only managed 15 yards receiving, he did score, which saved the day for his fantasy managers. Sanders gets a familiar matchup with the Raiders in Week 2.