Los Angeles Rams vs. New Orleans Saints: Five Saints to watch

It’s barely worth noting that the Los Angeles Rams have a history with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints had a dramatic win over the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football, and the three biggest stars from the Saints (QB Drew Brees, WR Michael Thomas and RB Alvin Kamara) had solid starts to the season.

Suffice to say, the Rams and the Saints will definitely be a Week 2 curiosity.

So if we’re talking about watching a player form the opposing team, Brees is unquestionable a no-brainer. Besides being an elite quarterback, Brees has to be holding a grudge against the Rams for the way the NFC Championship ended. If he comes out like a man possessed and throws for 500 yards, you don’t need a warning. Personally, I’m hopeful that the LA heat will weaken his old brittle bones, and he’ll fling several ducks into the air that NFL superstar LB Cory Littleton (with his classic cleats) will intercept for touchdowns.

So, who else besides their big offensive 3 should Rams fan know about?

C Erik McCoy

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The rookie from Texas A&M was the first-round pick for the New Orleans Saints this year and played pretty well in his first NFL game. He’s obviously still green and prone to mistakes, so it’ll be interesting to see how DT Sebastian Joseph-Day matches up with him.

DE Marcus Davenport

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After the Saints gave up a haul to trade up to draft him in the first-round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Davenport is poised to have a breakout season having posted pedestrian numbers as a rookie. He had two tackles on Monday night, but he has the potential to play like a beast on the same D-line as DE Cameron Jordan — that could be a problem. Let’s see how how the Rams’ O-line address the talents of Davenport.

WR Ted Ginn Jr.

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Think Ginn Jr. is no longer relevant in the NFL? How about catching all seven of his targets for 101 yards? With all of the attention that CB Marcus Peters and CB Aqib Talib are going to be giving to WR Michael Thomas, look out for Ginn Jr. He still has the goods.

TE Jared Cook

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If this game is about revenge, than no look further than former the former Rams tight end. Cook torched the Rams’ defense last season when he was with the Oakland Raiders, and now he’s poised to do it again. He caught 2 passes for 37 yards last week, so he’s still a viable option. But again, if he plays lights out, it’s because it’s personal, not because he’s a significant member of the Saints’ offense.

CB Eli Apple

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The Saints have a lot of great players on defense, which is a recent identity for the team. A couple of years ago, you could expect the Saints to score a bunch points, but still have to sweat out the win because their defense consisted of a couple of plastic bags and a bag of sand. But no more! I haven’t even mentioned CB Marshon Lattimore, who needs needs to game planned for, no doubt. With that in mind, I think QB Jared Goff could take advantage of Apple in a big way by tossing some bombs at WR Brandin Cooks.

Now, is Apple an easy target? No. But if you’re going to pick a guy to throw at, I’ll pick him over Lattimore any day of the week and twice on gameday.

I’ll be honest with you: the Saints are for real. After going through their roster for this article, the Rams can do a lot for their confidence to grab a regular season win against these guys.