A delayed flight screwed up my schedule, but now we're back with some more fantasy football.
If you feel like taking a big fantasy gamble for the chance at a huge payout, then the New Orleans Saints are your team. Forget Brees, Deuce and Bush, I'm talking about wide receivers - especially the Saints' newest wide receiver, Robert Meachem (27th overall).
Easier to straddle the fantasy fence this way: Saints WR Robert Meachem
Every fantasy player knows about the offensive weapons they have in New Orleans (wow, did I just say that?) and their wide receivers were two of the biggest surprises in fantasy football. Marques Colston (70 rec, 1038 rec yds, 8 TDs) and Devery Henderson (32 rec, 745 rec yds, 5 TDs) broke out in a big way as the #2 and #3 receivers, respectively, behind Joe Horn. Now Horn has moved to division rival Atlanta and Colston and Henderson move up to be the top two receivers while rookie Meachem takes over as the #3 guy.
Except...maybe not. And here's where the big fantasy gamble comes in. Colston will only be in his second season in 2007, Henderson in his fourth. Neither of them are exactly grizzled NFL veterans. Robert Meachem is a very good wide receiver who is bigger than Henderson and may be faster than Colston. It's possible that Meachem ccould end up the #1 wide receiver for the Saints. With Pro Bowler Drew Brees throwing the ball, the #1 wide receiver on the Saints can be worth a six or seven round pick in your fantasy draft.
So, in a gutless display of fence-straddling, I'm going to offer two different projections for Robert Meachem.
- If he has trouble grasping the offense or gets dinged up and ends up as the #3 receiver, he would probably only see about 35 catches for 500 yards and maybe 4 touchdowns.
- If he performs up to expectations and/or Colston or Henderson get injured, he could end up as the #1 receiver or the #2 receiver with #1 receiver-type numbers. Considering how often the Saints throw to Reggie Bush, I think the stats that Colston put up last year (70-75 receptions, 1000-1100 rec yds and 7-10 TDs) is the high end of the projection for Meachem.