Fantasy football projections, Week 16: Buccaneers-Saints featuring Mike Evans, Cameron Brate, Drew Brees, more

The Week 16 matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints features division rivals going head-to-head for the second time in three weeks. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Wide receiver Mike Evans has been held to four catches or less in three straight contests. He caught four passes for 42 yards in a win over the Saints two weeks ago. While he hasn’t found the end zone for six points in any of the last three games, Evans did contribute a score via a two-point conversion in Week 13. Although fantasy owners would surely love for him to have produced more yards and touchdowns in the first two weeks of the fantasy postseason, Evans has a great opportunity to redeem himself in the finals. Now would be as good a time as any for him to put together a huge performance. Evans is better than the 139 yards he’s put together over the last three weeks combined. For that reason he should climb over his projected totals in Week 16.

Should quarterback Jameis Winston struggled to connect with Evans, tight end Cameron Brate will function as a solid option down the middle of the field. Like Evans, Brate was held to just for catches and totaled 47 yards against the Saints two weeks ago. The good news is he managed to nap five receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown last week against the San Diego Chargers. Brate has been targeted at least five times in each of the last four games. That’s pretty good volume for a tight end. Whether or not he reaches his projections against the Saints depends on finding the end zone. In what should be a high-scoring game, Brate may just do that.

Drew Brees left fantasy owners cringing in the first two rounds of the fantasy postseason. He failed to throw a touchdown in both games, snapping his own NFL record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass. Fortunately he redeemed himself in a Week 15 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Brees completed 37 of 47 passes for 389 yards and four touchdowns in a huge win. He now looks to redeem himself in the final home game of the season against a Buccaneers team that held him out of the end zone and also picked him off on three occasions two weeks ago. Bet on Brees to do that. He’ll throw for 300 yards and at least two touchdowns on Saturday, which will be enough to get him above his projections.

Wide receiver Brandin Cooks would certainly love to see Brees live up to that prediction. Doing so would benefit the receiver greatly. Cooks torched the Cardinals for seven catches and a season-high 186 receiving yards and two scores. So much for the Cardinals having an impressive secondary unit. Hopefully Cooks can keep the ball rolling against the Buccaneers. He owes them one after being held to just five catches for 61 yards two weeks ago. As Brees goes, so will Cooks and this week that’s good news for fantasy owners of both players.