The Best Players to Stash in Fantasy Football From the NFC South

Nick Toon, WR, New Orleans Saints

The Player

At 6'4" and 220 pounds, Nick Toon certainly has the body of an NFL wide receiver. His 37.5" vertical also demonstrates his explosiveness and ability to climb the ladder in jump-ball situations.

He doesn't, however, possess the deep speed to challenge a defense over the top, but that's not where he wins. His ability to shield and make contested catches in traffic make him a Marques Colston type prospect, and he may be in line to replace the aging receiver as soon as this season.

Toon has great hands and leaping ability, and with Joe Morgan threatening defenses deep, he could do a lot of damage over the middle and even in the red zone in the absence of Jimmy Graham. His 0.78 Reception NEP per target ranked 25th in the league among receivers with at least 20 targets and was on par with both Jeremy Maclin and Eric Decker last season albeit with drastically different volume.

While the sample size is limited, it does suggest that he has the ability and athleticism to produce in this offense.

On film, he seems most similar to Kenny Britt or Alshon Jeffery: big, strong and physical, capable of overwhelming smaller defensive backs on the outside or over the middle. The 2012 fourth-round pick has no fear going over the middle, and while he may not separate decisively from man coverage, he has the ability to shield defenders with his body to make contested catches in traffic.

The Opportunity

Unless you expect Drew Brees to throw for fewer than 4,000 yards in 2015 (he has averaged over 5,000 yards over the past five seasons), someone will be emerging in a Saints offense that lost Jimmy Graham, Robert Meachem and Kenny Stills from its aerial attack. That leaves 228 vacated targets to fill, although some suspect that much of that could be replaced by a more balanced attack and a healthy Brandon Cooks.

Still, Cooks and Colston are the only returning receivers who received more than 35 targets last season, and there is definitely room for Toon to break into the starting lineup and help Brees stave off the "old and declining" narrative that is leading many to predict his demise.

While the team did invest heavily in their offense line this offseason, drafting tackle Andrus Peat in the first round and trading for center Max Unger, that doesn't necessarily indicate a massive philosophical shift for a Saints offense that has ranked outside of the top five in pass attempts just once (2009) since Sean Payton became the head coach in 2006.

Drew Brees and Payton made household names out of players with lesser talent (Colston, Stills, Lance Moore and Devery Henderson come to mind) with a pass oriented that system that was most successful when Brees had great protection from his offensive line.

While last season the team regressed to its lowest Adjusted Passing NEP per play score since 2006 (0.12), Brees was still top-10 in the NFL in Passing NEP per drop back at 0.17. It clearly wasn't Brees' best season, but issues along the offensive line and injuries to Jimmy Graham and Colston were arguably more influential than Brees' decline as a player.

With the aforementioned 228 vacated targets up for grabs, I'm not ready to write off this passing attack and push Mark Ingram into the spotlight for this team. It would be completely uncharacteristic of Sean Payton and would be based on the incorrect assumption that Jimmy Graham elevated Drew Brees, instead of the other way around. Remember, the Brees threw for 5,000 yards in 2008 with Lance Moore and Devery Henderson as his top targets while Jimmy Graham was still a kid playing basketball in Miami.

This is still a quarterback who can turn no name receivers into relevant fantasy contributors. And Nick Toon has the ability to be next in line.