Chris

Olave

Olave suffered the concussion early in the Saints’ Week 6 loss to the Bucs and did not return. He has suffered multiple previous concussions and did not practice this week, so it’s no surprise to see him ruled out a day in advance. Rashid Shheed’s status remains up in the air. If he is also ruled out, Bub Means will be the team’s de facto WR1.

He will almost certainly not clear concussion protocol ahead of Thursday night football. Look elsewhere for wideout help if you need it. Bub Means led the Saints in targets in Week 6 and will perhaps be their No. 1 receiver on Thursday if Rashid Shaheed also remains out.

It was an estimated report, but it’s extremely unlikely that Olave will be cleared to play on Thursday night with the quick turnaround. He left early in Week 6 and did not return. With Rashid Shaheed also on the report, New Orleans’ other three receivers on the active roster are: Mason Tipton, Cedrick Wilson, and Bub Means. Means led the team with eight targets against the Buccaneers last week.

Olave took a shot to the head on his first reception of the game. He immediately left with trainers for the locker room to get a concussion evaluation. He was ruled out a few minutes into the second quarter. Bub Means has been a favorite target of Spencer Rattler early in this game and should see more work for the remainder of the game.

Olave took a punishing helmet-to-helmet collision in the first quarter. He caught a short pass, turned upfield, and was immediately hit by a Tampa Bayu defender. Olave coughed up the ball for a fumble-six and immediately left the game. Bub Means is seeing more snaps in his absence.

Olave was victimized by the highest press coverage rate in the league in this one, struggling to get off the line throughout the evening. Teammate Rashid Shaheed out-targeted the veteran alpha nine to four, with another eight targets finding their way to running back Alvin Kamara. Furthering the fantasy woes was the departure of Derek Carr in the fourth quarter with an oblique injury, which could affect his ability to suit up against the Buccaneers on a short week.

Listed with hip and rib issues heading into Week 4, Olave checked out a few times late but never missed more than a snap or two as he corralled eight passes for 87 yards. He’s banged up, but seemingly in zero doubt of missing Monday night’s showdown with the Chiefs’ strong pass defense. Olave is parked on the WR1/2 borderline for the time being.

Olave also lost two receptions to penalty. Playing through a hamstring injury, Olave paid the PPR bills with new season highs for both yards and receptions. He was agonizingly close to several touchdowns, but it just wasn’t meant to be in the Saints’ two-point road loss. Olave also seemed banged up late — perhaps with renewed hamstring soreness — but he played through it and made several critical fourth quarter catches. That included getting tackled at the one-yard line. Provided he avoided new injury, Olave will be a high-end WR2 for Week 5 against the Chiefs’ tough secondary.

As is Chris Olave (hamstring). Whereas Olave seems like a snap-count concern after his late-week soft-tissue injury, Kamara’s status never appeared to be in much doubt. He can still be fired up as an RB1 for this twice-annual grudge match. Inactive for the Saints are QB Spencer Rattler, TE Dallin Holker, DT John Ridgeway, LB Demario Davis, OG Cesar Ruiz and WR A.T. Perry.

Olave has been trending toward playing despite suffering a hamstring issue in practice on Friday. Both he and Alvin Kamara are good to go for Week 4. The injury makes Olave a riskier bet for fantasy purposes, but he is still the No. 1 receiver on a team with an explosive ceiling. Fantasy managers should still bet on Olave as a high-upside WR2 versus the Falcons this week.