New Orleans SaintsOur read
Written Oct 19, from his facts through last season
Nineteen point seven a game through five weeks of 2026, with no missed games, is exactly the season we drew up when we put him WR6 overall and 274 points before it started. Our preseason pace was 18.3 a game, so he is beating it. The target picture has not slipped either: 29% of New Orleans looks last year, and this year he is taking 46% of the team's air yards in his games, WR4 among 64 qualifiers. That is a genuine No. 1 receiver's diet, and Kellen Moore and Doug Nussmeier are back calling the same offense.
The case against more is the scoring. Only 1 touchdown on 54 targets through five weeks, and last year his red-zone share of his own touches was 9.6%, WR132 among 223. This year it is 11% of the team's red-zone carries and targets in his games, WR26 among 64. Add -0.4 yards after the catch over expectation on his 39 catches, WR48, and you see why a week lands at 8.6 points like week 5 of 2026 did. His average target sits 11.8 yards downfield, so the scores have to come from distance or from a red-zone diet he has never really been given.
The availability history is real: 9 missed weeks in 2024 after a concussion, and he closed 2025 on the injury report with illness. He has played 16 games in two of his three full seasons, so we are not bracing for a wreck. He belongs in your lineup every week until New Orleans takes its bye in 2026, and we would hold him straight through that rest and keep starting him after. The touchdowns should drift back toward what a 29% target share usually earns.