Underhill: Olave’s (hamstring) exit precautionary

Olave missed the first two days of practice this week with the illness, but we’d ultimately still expect him to play. He should be regarded as on the optimistic side of questionable. He’ll be an easy WR1, assuming he plays, against the Giants in Week 6.

Unless we get word that it’s an exceptionally rough illness, we’d expect no worse than a questionable listing on Friday despite the two missed practices. Olave should remain a smash WR1 against the Giants in Week 6.

We expect Olave to be fine for the Saints’ Week 6 game against the Giants. There is currently no cause for concern, but this is worth keeping an eye on. Olave experienced blood clots in his lung last season, and spent much of the offseason recovering. We are not doctors and cannot opine on the matter. For now, expect him to play, but keep an eye out for his hopeful return to practice tomorrow or Friday.

Olave was averaging over 120 yards per game before today’s contest. The Saints’ extreme play volume and tilt to toward passing the ball turned his great role into elite fantasy production. That finally came to a halt with Brian Flore’s defense shutting down Tyler Shough. The second-year passer completed just 16 throws for 96 yards. Shough and the entire passing attack should improve drastically versus the Giants next week. Fantasy managers can keep treating Olave as a WR1 despite this speed bump.

Tyler Shough managed a dismal 96 passing yards in this game, so there simply wasn’t enough production for any New Orleans wideout to post usable fantasy numbers. Vele still tied Chris Olave for a team-high in targets. He has at least four catches and six targets in every game this year. Even after a quiet Week 5, Vele remains a solid WR4 option headed into a Week 6 date with the Giants.

The Saints gave Olave a rest day on Wednesday. He then logged a limited practice on Thursday, listed with a new foot injury, and was reportedly seen sporting a walking boot after practice. ESPN’s Kat Terrell notes, however, that “walking boots are often a precautionary measure.” The fact that the team cleared him right away is reassuring. He can be treated as a low-end WR1, as usual. Olave later told Terrell that his “foot got a little bruised in Thursday’s practice, but he’s good.”

It is tough to say when exactly the injury happened. This is bizarre. Olave took a hard hit to the lower body late in Week 4 and subbed himself out for the team’s final possession. He did not practice on Wednesday. The team listed it as a rest day, and New Orleans Football’s Nick Underhill reported that coach Kellen Moore clarified three times that Olave’s Wednesday absence was not injury-related. Olave resumed practicing in a limited capacity on Thursday with a foot injury. If this injury occurred in-game, he should be considered likely to play. If it occurred in practice today, he would be firmly in the questionable column. Stay tuned.

Vele’s nine targets ranked behind only alpha Chris Olave, although he was headed for another modest fantasy outing before a garbage time touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of the blowout loss. Vele has yet to eclipse 69 yards through the first month of play as he continues to operate in an intermediate role for a Saints team struggling to attack downfield. Fantasy managers could consider sitting Vele against the ferocious Vikings defense in Week 5.

Olave found himself with a relatively quiet receiving line in the first half as the Saints struggled to consistently move the football, something that has become far too familiar under head coach Kellen Moore’s tutelage. As has been the case for some time, Olave got going after the break, ending with his third 100-yard game in four tries, now trailing only CeeDee Lamb in receiving yards through the first month of the season. Fantasy managers will want to monitor the electric wide receiver’s practice status in the coming days after he pulled himself out of the game on the team’s final possession with some sort of ailment. If healthy, Olave remains an elite WR1 ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Vikings.

Vele nearly added a decent first-down pickup to his box score, but he was unable to secure the pass as he was diving to the ground. Aside from that, he had a nice 17-yard gain in which he ripped his leg away from a would-be tackler and scampered away for a few extra yards. Vele is a boom-bust FLEX against the Falcons next week.