2025 Team Previews: New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints 2025 Team Preview
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
** = target in drafts at this ADP
Relevant Players
Alvin Kamara, RB (ADP: 41, RB15): Kamara is by far the brightest light on a bleak team for fantasy production. He’s the rare RB who has maintained star value for a long period of time. Kamara burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2017, and for years has remained a stalwart high-level contributor despite never morphing into a traditionally successful RB. We’re going on Year 9 of Kamara’s career, and he’s never logged a 1,000-yard rushing season. He has always made his bones by being one of the most efficient RBs per touch in the league, racking up tons of receptions both out of the backfield and lined up wide, and through consistently scoring touchdowns.
At his absolute peak, Kamara has turned in seasons with 18 and 21 touchdowns; that is not happening anymore, but he did score eight times last year. He will be 30 by the time Week 1 rolls around, so if you fear Father Time beginning to take his toll, you’re not crazy. But while wear and tear comes for us all, Kamara’s usage over the years has been less punishing than his peers in his age group. Because of how he’s been used historically, I wouldn’t look at their barren roster and just pencil in a silly amount of volume for him. Instead, I’d expect his usage in the passing game to rise from last year – and for reference, he drew 89 targets with 68 receptions, 543 yards and two receiving TDs in 14 games – which is a big plus. I’d expect Kamara to be force fed touches around the goal line, and I would expect him to be a very strong RB2, which is pretty much how he’s being drafted. Of course he can provide value on this ADP, but with the Saints likely experiencing major pain at the QB position, points aren’t going to come easily. I think this is the right range for drafting this living legend.
**Chris Olave, WR (ADP: 76, WR35): Olave is a scary player to draft because he’s had massive concussion issues recently, and the risk of further head trauma could mean he misses huge chunks of time, or even hangs up his cleats. That’s speculative, but all we’re doing is speculating. I choose to draft optimistically though, and if you’re planning for a full season of Olave, this ADP is absolutely wonderful. We know Olave is an A-tier route runner, and while his stats weren’t good in 2024, that part of his game is intact.
Olave was in the 87th percentile vs. man last season (76.3%), the 81st percentile vs. zone (82.2%) and he was dicing up press without issue (82nd percentile, 77.1%). Name a route, and Olave aced it, unless the route was a corner, which he only ran 3.2% of the time. His chemistry with Derek Carr deteriorated last season, and I don’t know that we’ll ever know why, but Carr is retired and in his place we have a rookie who will be eager to pepper his best pass catcher by a country mile with targets. Setting aside the middling production in a disastrous season for the Saints, Olave amassed over 1,100 receiving yards in 2023 and topped 1,000 as a rookie too. He has yet to have a touchdown spike season, but that’s one of the more fickle stats in our game. With enough targets, a player of Olave’s caliber will inevitably see positive regression there, and if it’s this season, at this ADP, that’s a possible league winner. People won’t be pumped to have Saints on their team, but even the worst offenses can produce fantasy value. Focus on how good the player is, and Olave is elite.
Interesting Sleeper(s)
**Rashid Shaheed, WR (ADP: 155, WR60): Shaheed was a player I had pegged as a value last year, because he was drafted like a dart throw deep threat only receiver when he’d actually shown he was capable of a bigger role. Shaheed posted an absurd 66% success rate on nines in 2023, running that route over 20% of the time. Before getting hurt last season, he was absolutely cooking defenses deep, with a 17.5 yards per reception mark, and three touchdowns in only six games.
All of Shaheed’s touchdowns last season were from 43 yards or further, and his average depth of target (ADOT) went from 14.6 in 2023, which already seemed to be a strain on sustainability, to 17.6 last year. Maybe he would’ve cooled off because that archetype of player always winds up being so all or nothing that they wind up being a drain on rosters over the long haul. Or maybe those numbers eventually would have come down but Shaheed would remain a crucial part of the passing game because he’s actually just good. Injury cutting his season short right as it was taking off sucked, but it could mean value for the people who re-invest in him, since the ADP is still a big bargain.
Notable Players
Tyler Shough, QB (ADP: 206, QB34): Shough is pretty much the last starting QB off the board, and it makes sense. He’s very old for a rookie, spent seven seasons in college at three different schools and only started for an entire season once, in 2024, for Louisville. He was solid, but 23 touchdowns and six interceptions don’t make for the stuff of legend, and his accuracy on multiple short and medium depth routes are alarming. Every starting QB is relevant for two-QB and SuperFlex leagues, but Shough tests the outer limits of that mindset. His deep ball has people wowed, and it looks cool, but that doesn’t make you an NFL-caliber QB. Outside of being a depth option in multi-QB formats I’m not very interested at all, and I expect New Orleans to be back in the QB market come NFL draft time next year.
Juwan Johnson, TE (ADP: 235, TE30): Johnson always provides touchdown upside when he’s healthy, and that’s not nothing. He also carries hefty doughnut risk if he doesn’t find the painted area, but this is a position where even the players with lower weekly ceilings carry just as much dud risk. I wouldn’t consider Johnson a late round dart throw if you’re trying to luck into a season-long TE on the cheap, but he’s definitely playable if you stream the position in the right matchups.
Taysom Hill, TE (ADP: 297, TE38): I was hyping Hill as a season-long option at TE last year and his production warranted my faith. His whole appeal was that he got looked at sideways because of the completely non-traditional route he took to production, when my whole conceit was who cares how someone arrives at their production if it’s a lock to be there. Hill wasn’t going to get consistent target share as a TE, but he was locked into red zone rushing opportunities, the occasional target, with a helping of passing opportunities too. So if the opportunities are roughly the same as other TEs, and he’s specifically a weapon in the red zone, why not take that chance when the whole position aside from the elites are all high risk? I’d be there this year too if Hill hadn’t torn his ACL in December. I don’t expect him to be ready any time soon, and when he does come back he’s a 35-year old without a true position coming off a major knee injury who relies on his athleticism and burst. We’ve probably reached the end of the line for him as a fantasy asset sadly, but I salute him for the fun he’s given us.
Brandin Cooks, WR (ADP: 299, WR95): Cooks is back where it all began, except now he’s pretty much washed. He put up a shocking eight touchdowns in 2023 for the Cowboys, which served as perfume for an otherwise stinky campaign that year. Cooks can still sting teams down the field, but the consistency is gone. He has not gone for 700 yards in the last three seasons, after being a perennial 1,000-yard man, and because of his size he’s got to strike from long range to score a bunch of TDs. The WR depth here isn’t appealing, so it’s easy to see the name and anticipate some hidden value. Don’t buy it, and don’t waste a pick. Go for upside elsewhere.
Handcuffs
**Devin Neal, RB (ADP: 218, RB65): Neal is my bet to be the proper handcuff for Kamara, but the room is crowded. His sixth-round draft position doesn’t inspire confidence, but he scored a combined 34 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Kansas, essentially posted 1,500 yards from scrimmage in back-to-back years and surpassed 20 receptions for three straight campaigns. His skill set mirrors Kamara’s, he’s explosive, and this team is probably going to be bad so there should be chances for him to show what he can do. I’m intrigued as a very late flier.
Kendre Miller, RB (ADP: 291, RB82): Miller has been in New Orleans for two years and failed to make a dent in their RB rotation. The sheer volume of names the team’s brought in to compete for work behind Kamara means he’s on thin ice. I’m not enthusiastic.
Cam Akers, RB (ADP: N/A): Akers showed a lot of promise early in his career, but injuries sapped his explosiveness after his rookie season, and since 2022 he’s been on four teams. It’s clearly not working out wherever he goes, and it’s hard to imagine him thriving on the Saints who are dealing with a potentially very painful transition period at QB. It’s really been a long time since Akers was useful, and unfortunately once RBs hit this point they don’t make it back.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB (ADP: N/A): Much of what I just wrote for Akers applies to Edwards-Helaire, except his peak never even reached Akers’ with the Rams. CEH has Louisiana ties, but that doesn’t mean anything in terms of opportunities at the NFL level. In theory, he’s a dual threat RB who serves as quality depth with similar skills to Kamara. In practice, he’s not in the same ballpark as Kamara in any facet of playing the position, and would likely only get on the field in times of severe duress.