8 Fantasy Football Sleepers for Week 1

Mohamed Sanu, WR, Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan gets a lot of flack, but the Atlanta Falcons passing offense is really not a bad unit. The worst they have ranked in schedule-adjusted Passing NEP per drop back has been 11th. Ryan has finished each of those seasons above the league average in Passing NEP per drop back, and he ranked 9th among the 39 quarterbacks to record at least 150 dropbacks in 2015.

Does throwing to Julio Jones help? Sure. But that is a strong enough offense to support more than one fantasy-relevant pass catcher. With exceedingly little competition for that spot this year, we have Mohamed Sanu.

Last season wasn't a great year for Sanu. He was buried in the Cincinnati Bengals offense and was fairly inefficient on his 49 targets, but he showed some real promise before. A.J. Green missed some time in 2014, thrusting Sanu into a role in which he saw a career-high 98 targets, and he finished 38th in Reception NEP per target that year among the 87 wideouts to see at least 50 targets. Not stellar efficiency by any stretch, but as the second receiver in a strong passing offense, it should certainly do the trick.

Most of all, he could also benefit from a great matchup this week against on a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that our metrics had ranked 28th against the pass in 2015. The Falcons have a solid implied total of 25.25 in this one, and all of their passing-game weapons are worth a look.