New Orleans Saints rookie Jordyn Tyson possesses a route tree that mirrors alpha receiver Chris Olave, allowing offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to deploy them interchangeably across the formation. While Olave dominates the projection models after earning a 30.0-percent target share last season, Tyson projects as an immediate co-pilot in this passing game.
Local beat reports have projected 90 targets, 55 receptions, and 700 yards as a safe floor for the rookie, making his WR40 historical equivalent a value in early drafts. Tyson’s upside is derived from the assumption that Saints offense will make a great leap forward this year. Given his redundancy with Olave, Tyson continues to lose ground to Carnell Tate in PlayerProfiler’s Dynasty Rankings.
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele showed some ...
New Orleans wide receiver Devaughn Vele had a slow start to...
Across 13 games in 2025, New Orleans Saints wide receiver ...
New Orleans Saints rookie Bryce Lance capitalized on extra minicamp reps by scoring touchdowns from multiple quarterbacks while the team’s primary targets recovered from various injuries and medical conditions. The fourth-round pick brings intriguing athletic upside to the roster and posted a 100th-percentile 41.5-inch vertical jump and an elite 4.34-second 40-yard dash after averaging 21.2 yards per reception last season at North Dakota State.
While Chris Olave and first-round rookie Jordyn Tyson project to dominate the target share once healthy, Lance is on-track to win an active roster spot for a suddenly high-octane Saints offense. He is an ideal pick in the fourth round of fantasy football dynasty rookie drafts and should see the field sporadically as a rookie.
Chris Olave has been restricted all offseason as he recovers from a blood clot discovered prior to Week 18. He is expected to exit blood thinner treatment in late June, indicating the clot has been dissolved. Once off blood thinners, the path will be set for Olave to be fully cleared for the start of Saints training camp.
This medical clearance is vital for a receiver entering a contract year on his fifth-year option after commanding a 29.4-percent Target Share and a league-leading 1,840 Air Yards last season. Continue to draft him aggressively in all fantasy football formats, because his production and efficiency profile is elite.
Chris Olave is not participating in team drills. His individual workouts are being monitored to ensure there is no recurrence of the blood clot, which was caught early prior to Week 18 of last year.
Olave is coming off a dominant campaign where he commanded a 29.4-percent Target Share (No. 10) and 1,840 Air Yards (No. 1). He converted that massive opportunity into 100 receptions and 16.8 Fantasy Points Per Game (No. 7).
The Saints are in active negotiations with Olave for a long-term contract extension, which signals those close to the situation are not concerned about his availability. While fantasy mangers should be aware of the situation, Olave is not yet 26 years old and remains a locked-in high-volume cornerstone for fantasy football rosters across all formats.
Chris Olave playing at 195 pounds after an intensive offseason program will not compromise the speed that generated 1,840 Air Yards and 31 Deep Targets last season, both ranking No. 1 at the position.
His physical development aligns with an impending contract extension following a dominant campaign where he posted a 31.8-percent Dominator Rating. Olave commands both an elite target share and air yards share, and with Tyler Shough under center in Kellen Moore’s system, he is locked-in as a fantasy WR1 in both best ball and dynasty fantasy football formats.
In a bit of a head-scratching move, the Broncos sent wideout Devaughn Vele to the Saints for a pair of draft picks in the next two seasons. The surprising part was not that the Broncos chose to move on from Vele after a decent showing as a rookie, but rather the identity of the trade partner.
Vele was drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft by Denver in the seventh round after spending five years in college at Utah. He was mostly inactive in two redshirt years as a freshman, but made an impact as a third-year freshman and followed it up with two above-average seasons as a sophomore and junior. In his three active seasons, Vele chipped in a total of 121 catches for 1,677 yards and nine trips to the endzone. He carried a 13.7 yards per catch (YPC) with him as he declared for the draft after his junior year.
For a seventh-round pick, Vele made his presence felt for the Broncos, even outperforming Bo Nix’s old teammate Troy Franklin, who was drafted three rounds before Vele. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Vele rounded out 2024 having started seven games, accumulating 41/475/3 in the process.
The question then becomes: Why the Saints? They are in the midst of a rebuild and spent a fourth-round pick in 2026 and a seventh-round pick in 2027 on the services of a late-round draft choice who turns 28 in December. On top of that, this is a team that has two wide receivers younger than Vele, a tight end with a new contract, and one of the best pass-catching running backs to play in the league. There is also the question of who will be throwing the ball. Leave it to Sean Payton to fleece his old stomping grounds.
In fantasy, this has little to no effect on New Orleans. Vele is unlikely to cut into the workloads of Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. Tight end Juwan Johnson and his new three-year deal don’t appear to take a hit either. Vele can remain off the fantasy radar in redraft leagues until Olave gets a headache. For the Broncos, this opens up a showdown at wideout to start the season. Currently, Franklin is penciled in as the third wide receiver but rookie Pat Bryant (third round, 2025) has garnered a heap of praise in camp. Whichever takes the WR3 spot is worth a late-round draft pick this fall, with the other to be left on waivers until there is a change. Deeper-bench or 14-plus-team leagues could see them both drafted.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
