The New Orleans Saints will face the Green Bay Packers in Week 16. We have fantasy football start-sit advice for every fantasy-relevant player for the Saints so you can make the best decisions for your lineups.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 16 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Derek Carr, QB
Derek Carr (fractured left hand) has yet to officially be ruled out for the season, but all reports seem to be pointing in that direction in this lost season for New Orleans.
Carr still has two years remaining on his deal (though the team does have an out available to them this summer), making it important to note that — assuming his 2024 is over — he will have posted a triple-digit deep passer rating for the sixth time in his career. He doesn’t get the love he should for his touch on the long pass, and that will likely be reflected when I am higher than you on Chris Olave this summer.
Spencer Rattler, QB
Do you know how hard it is to appear in four games, have a 30+ yard completion in each of those contests, and still average under six yards per pass attempt?
That’s the situation we have with Spencer Rattler. This roster opened the season with plenty of playmakers capable of making impact plays, but just about all of them will be watching this game.
There are a handful of backup QBs starting this week, and Rattler is the one I have the least confidence in.
Alvin Kamara, RB
Alvin Kamara made one of the better touchdown catches you’ll see from a running back last week and became the fourth player in NFL history with 50+ rushing TDs and 25+ receiving TDs in his career (Lenny Moore, Marshall Faulk, and Christian McCaffrey).
The versatility and production have been special this season when you consider the numerous moving pieces. Unfortunately, he’s dealing with a groin injury and that means he likely won’t be at your disposal for Monday night
The Saints are taking a cautious approach, and I’d expect that to be the case for the remainder of the season. If he suits up again in 2024, I’m likely to read that as New Orleans is fully sold on its RB1’s health and, thus, starting him.
Kendre Miller, RB
Alvin Kamara is set to undergo more testing on his ailing groin, and that feels like coach-speak for “I’m looking to shut down a running back with over $14 million left on his contract.”
Reporting late in the week has that as likely to keep Kamara out of Week 16 at the very least and could possible be a laying of the foundation to end his season.
If I have this read correctly, Kendre Miller, a third-round pick just a season ago, will get the chance to build on the nine carries for 46 yards that he put on film last weekend against the Commanders.
This, of course, isn’t an ideal spot. The Packers own the seventh-best run defense in terms of yards per carry allowed to running backs and figure to be operating with a lead, something that could lead to a script that trends away from Miller (12 catches in 12 NFL appearances and 12.4 carries for every catch during his three seasons at TCU).
That said, this could be a Zamir White situation from last season, where a young back is loaded up with work in an effort to evaluate. If that is reported to be likely, he could sneak into my top 30 this week.
This is a quantity over quality play, but after four months of wear-and-tear on fantasy rosters, that puts him firmly in the Flex conversation.
Juwan Johnson, TE
The situation in New Orleans and trying to project target shares is beginning to feel like shuffling chairs on the Titanic. Would it be nice to get right? Sure, who doesn’t like being right? But would it impact the well being of any fantasy roster if I did nail it?
Nope.
Foster Moreau had more catches than Juwan Johnson had targets in the loss to the Commanders last week because of course he did. This roster is void of NFL-level playmakers not named Alvin Kamara, and with no stability under center, why get cute and take on a Packers defense that looked pretty good on Sunday night?
Johnson has scored on 13.6% of his career receptions — that’s the type of note that can be fun to use when streaming if the offense has a level of promise to it. This unit lacks that, and with an implied team total hovering around 15 points for Monday night, I’m very comfortable in taking the ‘less is more’ approach with any positive-based exposure to the Saints.
If you want to bet unders — we can have that discussion (the Best Bets column publishes every Sunday morning!).
