Marquez

Valdes-Scantling

The man they call MVS ends the year having appeared in eight games, and he didn’t pick up more than four catches in any of them while finishing with 19 catches for 411 yards with four touchdowns on 44 targets. Valdes-Scantling will tantalize with a few plays down the field every year, but the overall results always have — and likely always will — remain uninspiring.

Valdes-Scantling got a limited session in Wednesday before being listed as a full-go for the Thursday practice. Assuming no setbacks, the 30-year-old should be able to play against the Buccaneers in Week 18, and should be on fantasy benches either way.

Valdes-Scantling missed last week’s game with the same torso injury but was cleared to play in Week 17. He was hampered and ineffective for much of the game before taking a brutal, legal hit in the fourth quarter and being knocked out of the game. Head coach Darren Rizzi said after the game that the veteran receiver re-aggravated his previous injury, so we wouldn’t be shocked if he doesn’t suit up in Week 18.

The Saints declared QB Derek Carr, RB Alvin Kamara, DT Khristian Boyd, RB Jordan Mims, LB Anfernee Orji, DT John Ridgeway III, and WR Mason Tipton inactive for the game. None of these absences come as huge surprises, as Carr and Kamara were declared out earlier in the week. Valdes-Scantling will play through his chest injury and should serve as the de facto number one receiver against the Raiders; although, it’s hard to trust a receiver in this offense.

MVS missed last week’s game against the Packers with the same injury, but the fact he’s been a limited participant in both practices to start the week is a good sign. The Saints are short on receiver talent as they limp their way to the finish line of a disappointing season. Valdes-Scantling returning to the lineup would at least give Spencer Rattler a “known commodity” at the position to throw to.

The Saints limp towards the end of the regular season in what has developed into a lost year after starting the season with the second most points scored through two games in league history. They will no trudge forward without the remaining two primary offensive pieces after losing Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Taysom Hill to injuries earlier this season. Wide receiver Bub Means was also ruled out by the team with an ankle injury while Marquez Valdes-Scantling is listed as questionable after failing to practice all week.

Valdes-Scantling is currently the Saints’ No. 1 WR so this is a concerning development. The volatile field stretcher has been absent through two Week 16 practices and is currently on the wrong side of questionable for Monday night.

Valdes-Scantling didn’t make his first catch until the third quarter when Spencer Rattler ripped a laser over the middle of the field to MVS for a 39-yard gain. He would later haul in a 25-yard reception late in the fourth quarter to help setup a Blake Grupe field goal, but the veteran field-stretcher was largely held in check despite seeing a team-high seven targets in the defeat. Valdes-Scantling won’t have any fantasy upside in Week 16 against the Packers.

The seven yards were actually a new season high, but today was the first time in four weeks MVS failed to find the end zone. The really bad news is that Derek Carr appears to have suffered a season-ending wrist injury. Valdes-Scantling was already a dicey WR4 with the veteran QB. With Jake Haener, MVS couldn’t really be justified inside the top 50.

Valdes-Scantling has now scored in each of his first four games as a Saint, becoming the second Saints wide receiver in history to do so. His deep routes on the perimeter are one of the only times Derek Carr will throw deep, and the connection has worked thus far. With offensive playmaking options dwindling for the Saints, MVS is the team’s WR1. He is a boom-or-bust WR4 heading into Week 14 against the Giants.