The Saints turned over a lot of their roster in the offseason, leading to excitement about the players who are left. Mark Ingram is locked in as the feature back, Brandin Cooks should be the No. 1 wideout with Kenny Stills gone and only Marques Colston to contend with, and Josh Hill is set to step in for Jimmy Graham at tight end.
But it's not a certainty that things will go down as expected. Mike Triplett of ESPN.com says not to expect a major breakthrough from Hill. "I think he'll pop up on the fantasy radar since he'll get an opportunity at more touches with Graham gone. But I think Hill's 5 TDs last year were a bit misleading since he was usually benefiting from being the 'open man' on those plays instead of a red-zone monster. He had only 14 catches overall."
Triplett actually thinks Benjamin Watson could be a late-round sleeper; that it was he who led the team in catches during the OTAs and minicamp practices he saw. Now, Watson is a 34-year-old tight end and it seems a little optimistic to believe he'll do anything of note this season. But it does at least throw some cold water on Hill; this is still a youngster who has been only very minimally used.
Sean Payton has had a lot of good things to say about Hill all offseason, and the fact that New Orleans didn't add anyone of note (at least so far) speaks well of Hill. But Triplett's take is a reminder to make sure you back up a player like Hill with a slightly safer option.
Triplett is very high on Brandin Cooks, saying he could write a love letter about his potential this year. While he likes Ingram, he thinks both main backs (Ingram and C.J. Spiller) could be very close in total yards. New Orleans, then, might have two very nice running back options this season.
--Andy Richardson