Brees: Saints WR Michael Thomas' improvement 'has been awesome'

For a young receiver, earning the trust of a future Hall of Fame quarterback is vital. Saints rookie Michael Thomas already gained more than a modicum of confidence from Drew Brees.

"His improvement over these six practices has been awesome," Brees said, via The Times-Picayune. "From Day 1 until now, the same mistakes are not being made. He's on to the next set of challenges, and he's continuing to progress well."

"I gave him a route that we have literally never repped before together," Brees said. "In fact, I don't think we'd ever even talked about it. But I was just in the moment, and he's my guy at that position, so I gave him the signal. He goes and makes the play and ran the route just like I imagined."

The 6-foot-3 receiver was drafted in part to help replace Marques Colston, especially in the red zone. It might not happen out of the gate, but having an early rapport with the starting quarterback is a solid first step towards a productive first campaign. Getting raved about is the cherry on top.

Fantasy Impact: 

Thomas will likely take over Marques Colston's role which means he'll play about 60-70% of the snaps. Brandin Cooks is locked in as the WR1, while Willie Snead turned in a good first season as the team's WR2. With Coby Fleener bound to soak up targets at tight end, Thomas will have a tough time being fantasy relevant unless he's able to overtake Snead.

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