5 Players You Should Reach for in Fantasy Football Drafts

Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints

Perhaps no rookie receiver has had as much hype coming out of training camp than has the Saints' Michael Thomas, which is crazy since there was some debate this spring about whether or not he was even the best receiver named Michael Thomas coming out of the 2016 NFL draft.

But after watching Thomas' two impressive grabs in Week 1 of the preseason, and seeing some clips out of camp, the hype seems justified. Saints' players and coaches have spent all offseason raving about Thomas, who's already gained the trust of Drew Brees.

Looking at MockDraftable.com's spider chart on Thomas is also very encouraging when considering his athletic profile. In fact, his height, weight, hand size, broad jump, 20-yard shuttle, and 3-cone drill all exceed the 70th percentile among wide receivers who've participated in the combine, drawing favorable comparisons to great receivers like Larry Fitzgerald, Josh Gordon, and Keenan Allen.

I'll take those comps all day.

While there is some risk in drafting Thomas as he currently sits below Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead on the depth chart, he seems like he's on a fast track to secure that third receiver role on the team, which, in 2015 with an aging Marques Colston, was afforded 10% of the teams' total target share. That's a nice floor for a receiver who'll be reeling in passes from Brees, and whose main competition for more targets will be Snead, an undrafted -- albeit gifted -- inexperienced player.

With prototypical size and speed to be Brees' X receiver, but with also great chance of an immediate role replacing Colston as the team's big-slot receiver, Thomas brings both a floor and upside to the table that most rookie receivers don't have. If you didn't follow the zero RB gospel in your draft and Thomas is sitting there in the ninth round, don't hesitate to grab him.