Fantasy Football Player Notes

With only nine fewer yards than JSN, Olave is one of the most reliable receivers in fantasy. The Saints are off to a strong start after upsetting the Ravens on the road last week. This upset had a lot to do with Tyler Shough balling out and relying on Olave. Second in the league in targets and yards, Olave is one of the safest receivers in the market. This week, they face the 2-0 Raiders. The Raiders have been admirable this season and have taken advantage of two dysfunctional offenses in the Dolphins and Chargers. They will be put to the test for the first time this season against the Saints. Even with Maxx Crosby wreaking havoc, this defense shouldn't have an answer for Olave. Expect another great performance from the Ohio State receiver this week.

The backfield for New Orleans has been a mess through two games. Last week, with Alvin Kamara back, Travis Etienne led the backfield with a 53.1% snap rate, but he had only 29.6% of the rushing attempts (Kamara 33.3%) and a 33.3% route share (Kamara 23.1%). Kamara had a 17.6% target share while Etienne lagged behind with only a 5.9% share. Etienne finished with ten touches and 31 total yards. This isn't the type of usage that anyone (including myself) projected for Etienne entering this season. Kamara also got the team's only running back red zone rushing attempt. Etienne has posted a respectable 11.8% explosive run rate and 18% missed tackle rate. Etienne could be an RB2 with a bad matchup this week, but he's best viewed as a risky flex at this point until his usage improves. The Raiders have allowed the tenth-lowest explosive run rate, the seventh-lowest rushing success rate, and the fourth-lowest missed tackle rate.

After two games, Devaughn Vele has been the WR15 in fantasy points per game. In the Saints pass happy offense, he has had a 17.8% target share with 1.49 YPRR, a 22.7% first-read share, two red zone targets, and two deep targets. The per-route metrics aren't amazing, but he's seeing a solid market share of the offense and high-cholesterol usage. Vele is a strong flex again this week against a pass defense that has allowed the second-most yards per target and ranked 16th in fantasy points per target against slot receivers.

Juwan Johnson is the TE7 in fantasy points per game with at least 10.6 PPR points in each game this season. He has a 12.2% target share, 1.69 YPRR, four red zone targets, a deep target, and a 13.6% first-read share. I wish Johnson had a higher market share of the passing offense, but I don't hate the healthy high leverage usage. The Raiders are 15th in fantasy points per opportunity allowed to tight ends. Las Vegas has only faced the middling tight end rooms of the Dolphins and Chargers, so take that with a grain of salt. The Raiders do deploy zone coverage at the sixth-highest rate (85.3%). Against zone, Johnson has only a 12% target per route run rate and 1.60 YPRR. Those aren't amazing numbers, so expecting more than low-end TE1 production this week is probably asking too much from Johnson.

Alvin Kamara logged his first game of the 2026 season last week and further muddied the New Orleans backfield with 14 touches and only 22 total yards. Kamara handled the only running back red zone rushing attempt. He played only 29.7% of the snaps but he led the backfield with a 33.3% rushing share and 17.6% target share while seeing a 23.1% route share. He was woefully inefficient with 1.89 yards after contact per attempt, zero explosive runs, and an 11% missed tackle rate. I don't know what Kellen Moore is doing with this backfield right now. I don't expect Kamara to see this type of usage on a weekly basis, but we have to see how this plays out. Don't flex Kamara this week as his usage could decline and it's a bad matchup. The Raiders have allowed the tenth-lowest explosive run rate, the seventh-lowest rushing success rate, and the fourth-lowest missed tackle rate.