Emmanuel Sanders signed with the Saints yesterday. It's a little surprising that San Francisco didn't make a huge effort to bring him back; they must be very comfortable with what they have behind Deebo Samuel, or will be adding someone early in the draft. Sanders definitely fills a need area for New Orleans.
The Saints have last year's most productive wide receiver in Michael Thomas, and a capable tight end in Jared Cook. But they had about weakest wide receiver situation behind Thomas a year ago. Ted Ginn doesn't bring much to the table at this point, and it doesn't look like TreQuan Smith is going to be a significant player.
Last year, only six teams had a lower producing No. 2 wideout than New Orleans did.
| NO. 2 WIDE RECEIVERS, 2019 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 67 | 1157 | 17.3 | 8 |
| Robert Woods, LAR | 90 | 1134 | 12.6 | 2 |
| Michael Gallup, Dall. | 66 | 1107 | 16.8 | 6 |
| Odell Beckham, Clev. | 74 | 1035 | 14.0 | 4 |
| Mike Williams, LAC | 49 | 1001 | 20.4 | 2 |
| DK Metcalf, Sea. | 58 | 900 | 15.5 | 7 |
| Emmanuel Sanders, tot. | 66 | 869 | 13.2 | 5 |
| Calvin Ridley, Atl. | 63 | 866 | 13.7 | 7 |
| Robby Anderson, NYJ | 52 | 779 | 15.0 | 5 |
| Marvin Jones, Det. | 62 | 779 | 12.6 | 9 |
| Cole Beasley, Buff. | 67 | 778 | 11.6 | 6 |
| Chris Conley, Jac. | 47 | 775 | 16.5 | 5 |
| Christian Kirk, Ariz. | 68 | 709 | 10.4 | 3 |
| Diontae Johnson, Pitt. | 59 | 680 | 11.5 | 5 |
| Golden Tate, NYG | 49 | 676 | 13.8 | 6 |
| Sammy Watkins, K.C. | 52 | 673 | 12.9 | 3 |
| Will Fuller, Hou. | 49 | 670 | 13.7 | 3 |
| Anthony Miller, Chi. | 52 | 656 | 12.6 | 2 |
| Curtis Samuel, Car. | 54 | 627 | 11.6 | 6 |
| Hunter Renfrow, Oak. | 49 | 605 | 12.3 | 4 |
| Corey Davis, Ten. | 43 | 601 | 14.0 | 2 |
| Auden Tate, Cin. | 40 | 575 | 14.4 | 1 |
| Emmanuel Sanders, S.F. | 36 | 502 | 13.9 | 3 |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 45 | 501 | 11.1 | 5 |
| Allen Lazard, G.B. | 35 | 477 | 13.6 | 3 |
| Preston Williams, Mia. | 32 | 428 | 13.4 | 3 |
| Ted Ginn, N.O. | 30 | 421 | 14.0 | 2 |
| Adam Thielen, Min. | 30 | 418 | 13.9 | 6 |
| Phillip Dorsett, N.E. | 29 | 397 | 13.7 | 5 |
| Emmanuel Sanders, Den. | 30 | 367 | 12.2 | 2 |
| Kelvin Harmon, Was. | 30 | 365 | 12.2 | 0 |
| Nelson Agholor, Phil. | 39 | 363 | 9.3 | 3 |
| Willie Snead, Balt. | 31 | 339 | 10.9 | 5 |
Table lists the No. 2 performing wideout for each team last year, with the Saints representative, Ginn, down near the bottom (sorted by yards). Sanders actually shows up on the list twice, having spent half the season with Denver and half with San Francisco. His total numbers would slot him up in the top 10.
Nice signing, I think, for both the Saints and Sanders himself.
--Andy Richardson