The New Orleans Saints prepare for their Week 14 road matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looking to salvage something from a disastrous season. Chris Olave playd through a back injury last week that is clearly still an issue. Should fantasy football managers be concerned about their top receiver’s availability?
Chris Olave Injury Update
Olave has been relatively healthy throughout the 2025 campaign after his 2024 season was derailed by multiple concussions. The fourth-year receiver has suited up for all 12 of the Saints’ games this season, providing consistency in an otherwise chaotic year for New Orleans.​
The veteran receiver popped up on Wednesday’s practice report ahead of Week 13 with a back injury and left practice early. The injury occurred during that Wednesday practice session, which raised more concern than issues players are simply managing from previous games. Olave did not practice on Thursday before returning to limited work on Friday.​
Olave ultimately played in the Week 13 contest. He caught four of seven targets for 47 yards and a touchdown during the 21-17 defeat to the Dolphins.​
Olave looked fine during the game with no noticeable aggravation of the back injury. However, he did not practice on Wednesday to open Week 14 preparations. Underhill reported that the back issue flared up after the game.
This is not exactly what fantasy managers want to hear, but it remains early in the week. Wednesday practice absences are largely meaningless for evaluating a player’s availability, especially for veterans dealing with minor ailments. There is no cause for concern just yet.​​
As long as Olave can return to practice Thursday or Friday, he should be in line to play Sunday against Tampa Bay.
Olave’s Fantasy Outlook
Do you know how talented you have to be to earn four end zone looks in a three-game span for maybe the worst team in the NFL?
Olave has done that. Twice.
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He only had one catch for four yards in the first half in Miami last week, but Tyler Shough found him while scrambling on the first drive of the second half for a 17-yard TD, once again making him a profitable starting piece, even in a low scoring environment.
This Olave season is what we thought the floor for Justin Jefferson would be. There are ceiling limitations, but he has seven finishes as a WR2 or better through 13 weeks and isn’t killing you.
I see no reason to expect anything but top 20 production this week against a Bucs defense that forces you to throw.
I can’t promise it’ll be pretty, but Olave has 115 targets this season for a reason and that level of volume puts less pressure on the quality of each individual look.
— PFSN Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe
