Olave (foot) cleared to face Vikings in Week 5

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.

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.

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.

Olave won at every level, be it on outs, corners or crossers. He nearly scored three times. Once on the Saints’ first possession, another on the third and again on the fourth. Tyler Shough overthrew him on the first sequence. Olave had his defender beat as he broke inward at the Raiders’ 10-yard line. On the second one, Shough tried to force a tight-window throw from the Raiders’ three-yard line but two Raiders defenders swatted the pass down at the line of scrimmage. The last one was perhaps the biggest heartbreak. Shough connected with Olave on a slant route from the Raiders’ seven-yard line and Olave was tackled immediately after catching it at the one-yard line. Saints TE Juwan Johnson scored two plays later. Olave remains a WR1 against the Falcons next week.

Olave was solid despite playing through a hamstring injury that had him listed as questionable entering the day. His 10 targets led all Saints receivers as he hauled in several key passes to keep the offense on schedule in a game the Saints trailed most of the way. Olave found the end zone in the fourth quarter on an uncontested 21-yard reception to cut the Ravens’ lead to 17-15, setting the Saints up to score on a two-point conversion and tie the game on the next play. Olave has seen 23 targets in his first two games and can be treated as a high-end WR1 in next week’s game against the Raiders.

Olave is officially active after popping up on Thursday’s injury report with a hamstring issue. He logged a limited practice Friday, so hopefully he won’t be too hampered in what could be a high-scoring game. Assuming a normal workload, Olave projects as a solid WR1. While Olave is active, the Saints did declare RB Kendre Miller, QB Zach Wilson, CB Decamerion Richardson, LB Isaiah Stalbird, DL Christen Miller, OL Mason Murphy, and DL John Ridgeway III inactive for Week 2.

Olave left Thursday’s practice as a precaution and was limited again on Friday. The team listed him as questionable heading into the weekend. It seems like the Thursday departure truly was a precaution, and Olave is good to go for a potential shootout with Baltimore. With plenty of passing volume to go around in the Saints’ offense, Olave sits at the end of the WR1 mix for Week 2.

Olave was present at the portion of practice available to media Friday after being limited for “precautionary reasons” the day prior. Although he seems to be trending towards playing against the Ravens, the questionable designation is something fantasy managers will want to monitor when game-day inactives are announced 90-minutes prior to first kick. The good news is that the Saints play in the early window on Sunday, giving managers time to react should they be dealt a surprise on Sunday. Olave will be a volume-driven WR1 against the Ravens, if active.

Underhill adds that Olave’s hamstring issue is not expected to be a “problem.” If this really is a non-issue, perhaps Olave just experienced cramping today and will be back out there on Friday, practicing in full. That said, soft tissue issues that pop up mid-week are typically not good. Saints No. 2 WR Devaughn Vele is worth adding if he is a free agent.

Olave was added to the injury report after not being on it at all on Wednesday. Saints reporter Mike Triplett said that Olave was spotted during the option portion of media practice. This is fairly concerning, though we have scant information on the injury at this point. Friday’s status will be enormous for Olave.