The NFL on Friday suspended New Orleans Saints wide receiver Willie Snead for the first three games of the season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. 

This comes as a pretty big shock with just over a week until the start of the regular season. 

Not only will it impact Snead's fantasy viability, it will have a direct correlation on how second-year receiver Michael Thomas and veteran Ted Ginn perform early in the season. 

Now that Brandin Cooks is on the defending champion Patriots, Thomas figures to be the Saints' No. 1 receiver heading into the 2017 campaign. The Ohio State product put up 92 receptions for 1,137 yards and nine touchdowns en route to finishing as the ninth-best fantasy receiver last season. He also caught a whopping 75 percent of the passes thrown in his direction by future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees. 

The expectation here has to be that Thomas' usage rate will go up from the 8.1 targets he received per game last season. Heck, that could have been said before the suspension to Snead. Look for top-five fantasy production from Thomas as a sophomore in 2017. 

In an unrelated matter, Ginn joins the Saints after spending the past two seasons in Carolina. The 10-year veteran actually put up his best two-season span of his career, tallying 98 receptions for 1,481 yards and 14 touchdowns. He becomes a potential late-round add in summer-ending drafts.