The Week 1 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals features a top-notch offense against a top-notch defense. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 1: Saints-Cardinals featuring Drew Brees, Mark Ingram and Carson Palmer
We break down the Week 1 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals.
New Orleans Saints
The 2015 season will be missing a familiar face in the Saints’ passing game: tight end Jimmy Graham was shipped to the Seattle Seahawks via trade. That means quarterback Drew Brees will really have to make some magic happen. Sure, he has sophomore Brandin Cooks to look to, but beyond him and veteran Marques Colston, there isn’t much in New Orleans in terms of receivers. Fortunately Brees is elite, and he should be able to get creative against the Cardinals. No matter who is catching passes, Brees is still an elite fantasy quarterback and he should do just fine in Arizona this week.
One thing Brees will have to help him out is a solid running game. Mark Ingram is fully healed from a broken hand suffered last season and proved that he can be an absolute workhorse on the ground. The Cardinals do boast a tough defense, but with C.J. Spiller sitting out Week 1, Ingram will get lots of work on Sunday. He should be in most fantasy lineups, although his ceiling may be limited by the Cardinals.
Arizona Cardinals
If Carson Palmer can play a full 16 games this year, the Cardinals will challenge for a playoff spot. He joined the team in 2013, giving them a quarterback option Arizona hasn’t seen since the days of Kurt Warner. Palmer is not afraid to throw the ball down the field and he’s got some weapons to work with this year. A shootout with the Saints could mean some big-time numbers to kick off the season.
Some of those numbers will come to the benefit of wide receiver John Brown. Veteran Larry Fitzgerald called Brown the future of the Cardinals’ passing game. That’s high praise and it’s well deserved. Brown is a player coming up -- perhaps last year’s version of Michael Floyd, who never really broke out as much as he should have. Brown is that guy this year, and he could get off to a flying start should Sunday’s game produce a lot of scoring.
