Operating as second year QB Tyler Shough‘s second favorite target, Devaughn Vele reeled in 7 of 9 targets, for 69 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s narrow loss to the Saints. Vele’s outing included two eye popping full extension highlight reel catches, one of which went for a touchdown that brought the Saints within a score after getting shut out in the entire first half.
Trailing only the recently extended longtime alpha Chris Olave, Vele emerged as a reliable target in a close game. With rookie first round pick Jordyn Tyson sidelined for at least a month with a severe hamstring injury, Vele offers plenty of fantasy football upside in the Saints’ high-flying offense after spending the summer as one of the cheapest WRs on the market. Vele will be a popular add on fantasy football waiver wires post-Week 1.
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) ...
The eighth overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, New Orleans ...
New Orleans Saints rookie first-round wide receiver Jordyn ...
The Jordyn Tyson hamstring injury is now a two-month problem, and that puts his rookie season launch in serious jeopardy after the Saints selected him eighth overall. PlayerProfiler has Tyson at a 63.6 ADP and WR31, with elite prospect metrics including a 94th-percentile Catch Radius, 97th-percentile College Dominator, and 99th-percentile college target share, so the talent profile remains compelling despite the injury risk.
Tyson is now on the fast-track to first round bust status. He is a roster clogger in best ball and redraft leagues and should be slow-played in fantasy football dynasty leagues. With Tyson sidelined, Chris Olave should see a slight uptick in volume, Devaughn Vele and Juwan Johnson are best-positioned to absorb the vacated targets, and Barion Brown now has a clear path to WR3 duties.
The Saints rookie exited Thursday’s practice with another hamstring issue, and head coach Kellen Moore recently admitted that New Orleans is “still in collection mode.” For a rookie already battling a troublesome hamstring history dating back to his time at USC, missing valuable practice and preseason reps is far from ideal.
Tyson has sky high fantasy potential, but the risk/reward is a dice roll. With another setback threatening his development and early season availability, expect his ADP to take a hit as fantasy managers start asking the same question, how much risk is too much? Tyson is quickly becoming a redraft stayaway player, though he remains PlayerProfiler’s dynasty WR24 until more information becomes available.
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.
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.
