The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key New Orleans Saints players heading into their matchup with the Los Angeles Rams to help you craft a winning lineup.
Spencer Rattler, QB
Spencer Rattler was replaced by Tyler Shough in the third quarter last week, and this seems like a move toward the future for an organization that has no choice but to play the long game.
Over his last six games, Rattler has thrown just five touchdown passes (five interceptions) and has been unable to regularly get this offense into scoring position.
Shough was a second-round pick in April, and while he’s an older rookie (26), the team will want to see what he brings to the table before preparing for a 2026 draft that will see them again pick high.
Tyler Shough, QB
Shough threw 30 passes in what was essentially extended mop-up duty last week against the Buccaneers, and he predictably struggled (17-of-30 for 128 yards and an interception).
I’m not the least bit confident that he will turn into even a top-20 quarterback the rest of the way, but there are talented players by his side, and that, at the very least, makes him interesting in Superflex situations.
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The Saints still have both Carolina games ahead of them in addition to matchups with the Dolphins (Week 13) and Titans (Week 17). In those deeper formats, if Shough can show signs of life, he might prove to be a worthwhile add.
I’m not counting on it, but in those formats, starting quarterbacks don’t live on the wire, and once Shough has this job, I suspect it’s his for the rest of the season.
Alvin Kamara, RB
Alvin Kamara has three straight games without a rush gaining more than seven yards, four straight with under 12 rush attempts, seven straight without a touchdown, and 48 straight without a 25+ yard rush.
Outside of that, all is well for those hoping that Father Time would wait at least one more year to sap the upside from this 30-year-old running back.
This offense is struggling to cross midfield, and without a profile that includes chunk plays or high-end volume, I’m not exactly sure how Kamara can reverse course on what has been a dismal season up to this point, aside from a trade.
The Rams are coming off their bye and have only allowed one running back to hit 15 PPR points this season. That was Christian McCaffrey in Week 5.
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It’s hard to find a ton of running backs I feel great about at this point of the season, so it should tell you something that I still like the prospects of 25 RBs over what Kamara brings to the table in this matchup.
Some bust seasons come out of nowhere. This isn’t one of them. Entering last season, I argued that the writing was on the wall, and I proved to be wrong, but the foundation of that take was strong.
If you’re swimming upstream with a Kamara-led backfield, it’s because you opted to prioritize resume over reality, a mistake that has undone many a fantasy manager in the past.
Chris Olave, WR
Chris Olave has seen double-digit targets in six of his team’s first eight games, a number that has only been topped by Cooper Kupp (2021) since 2019.
The volume is great to see, and I think it sticks regardless of who takes the most snaps in any given week under center for the Saints, but we don’t get points per target.
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Olave has reached his expected point total just once this season, and asking him to do so against a Rams defense coming off a bye isn’t something I’m comfortable with. Los Angeles is a top-10 defense against the deep pass in passer rating, touchdown rate, and interception percentage, a strength that figures to be on display this week with Olave’s aDOT up 54.5% over the past three weeks.
I couldn’t imagine benching New Orleans’ WR1 for your favorite Packer or Bill receiver. The locked-in volume keeps Olave inside of my top-25 at the position this week … barely.
Rashid Shaheed, WR
We obviously aren’t talking about a large sample size from Shough, but what we have seen up to this point works in Rashid Shaheed’s favor.
Usage With Shough Under Center
- Shaheed: 8 targets on 23 routes
- Juwan Johnson: 6 targets on 30 routes
- Chris Olave: 6 targets on 31 routes
Shough missed Shaheed on what probably should have been a 34-yard touchdown last week. Missed opportunities, sadly, will be part of the experience in New Orleans until they solve the quarterback position, and that’s why I don’t think you can feel great about Shaheed as a flex option.
Not yet.
Give me another week of plus-volume, and I may change my tune. But Olave does profile as the stronger target earner, and I am very much skeptical about betting on two members of this offense succeeding in a way that matters to us.
Juwan Johnson, TE
Juwan Johnson’s profile is an easy sell, and that’s what makes him a streaming option every week, but the offensive environment makes him a safe play exactly 0% of the time.
He’s been on the field for 85.8% of New Orleans’ offensive snaps this season and ran 46 routes in Sunday’s loss to the Bucs. They clearly like what he can do out in space, and we know this team is going to be in a passing script more often than not, creating a path to double-digit PPR points, which he’s now done five times.
But where’s the ceiling?
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Johnson hasn’t scored since Week 2 and has more games under 30 receiving yards this season than ones of 55+. The Saints’ offense is broken and concentrated on their top two receivers, a tough combination for a TE to survive in for fantasy purposes.
If you’re cycling through the position and want to hold out hope because the Rams have allowed a TE to clear 17 PPR points twice over the past five weeks, be my guest. You know the risks that are involved, and his median range of outcomes isn’t friendly: He’s my TE20 for Week 9.