The New Orleans Saints have announced that Spencer Rattler will start at QB in Week 6 in Derek Carr’s absence. While Carr has not always been the most popular figure in New Orleans, he had looked good in 2024 and his injury is a big blow for the team.
The effects of this will filter through into fantasy football, and the upcoming NFC South rivalry game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be a tough one for Saints players. Let’s take a look at their fantasy outlooks in Week 6:
Saints’ QB Fantasy Outlook: Spencer Rattler
Spencer Rattler got the nod from HC Dennis Allen and is set to make his NFL debut. Rattler was taken in the fifth round of the 2024 draft after recording 10,807 passing yards and 77 TDs in five seasons of college football split between Oklahoma and South Carolina.
Rattler’s mobility, including 410 yards and 16 TDs in college, could be enticing in fantasy football. However, with Rattler’s translation to NFL football an unknown quantity, he should not start in fantasy football just yet.
Rattler has a decent set of weapons and an O-line that has only allowed 5 sacks in 2024, but still, best to play it safe and select a known quantity. Pick Rattler up in case he plays a tremendous game, but keep him out of your lineup for now.
Spencer Rattler’s point range: 5-18; Prediction: 12
Saints’ RB Fantasy Outlook: Alvin Kamara
Regardless of the situation at QB, fantasy football players should start Alvin Kamara. Kamara will be at least as busy as usual, and while the Buccaneers may be expecting a heavier run-based game, Kamara should tick along nicely.
The question of how much he will feature in the passing game remains to be seen, but given how good a check-down option Kamara is, you’d expect to see several targets.
Tampa Bay is 22nd against running backs in 2024, allowing an average of 23.52 points per game (HPPR) to the position. This certainly bodes well for Kamara, who will have a busy workload and projects to be the best fantasy option on the Saints’ roster.
Realistically, you should not start any other Saints RB than Alvin Kamara, as Jamaal Williams has not had the volume to be a safe start.
Alvin Kamara‘s point range: 8-24; Prediction: 14
Saints’ WR Fantasy Outlooks: Chris Olave & Rashid Shaheed
New Orleans’ wide receiver corps is where the biggest question marks are with a new man under center. It could be that Spencer Rattler has good chemistry with his receivers and a smooth NFL debut, but that is a big ask against their NFC South rivals.
The good news for Saints receivers is that the Bucs are 27th against WRs in fantasy this season, allowing an average of 40.28 ppg to the position. This means there is plenty of hope for fantasy managers that this could be a high-scoring game.
Chris Olave is still a very good option in fantasy football, although he has been up and down and is coming off a 2.00-point week (HPPR). Olave could suffer from a game script where the Saints pull away and the Bucs struggle against the run, but if New Orleans struggles and goes behind, he could benefit from that too.
Meanwhile, Rashid Shaheed is questionable for Week 6 after being a non-participant in Wednesday’s training. Nursing a hip injury, the explosive but low-target-volume receiver looks to be a risky start. If he is cleared to play he poses significant boom-bust potential, and could easily get 0 points or 15. It might be best to avoid Shaheed until you know what the Saints look like under Rattler.
Chris Olave’s point range: 4-19; Prediction: 12
Rashid Shaheed’s point range: 0-18; Prediction: 9
Saints’ TE Fantasy Outlooks: Juwan Johnson & Taysom Hill
Taysom Hill is questionable for Week 6. Having missed the last game and logged four DNPs on the injury report, Hill seems unlikely to play and even if he does, to see minimal snaps. Meanwhile, Juwan Johnson has not been tremendously fantasy-relevant since his Week 1 9.60-point outing (HPPR), having logged only 7.9 points since. Realistically there are safer options out there this week.
Juwan Johnson’s point range: 0-10; Prediction: 5
Taysom Hill’s point range: 0-13; Prediction: 3.5
Also read: Browns’ Week 6 Fantasy Outlooks ft. Deshaun Watson, Jerome Ford, Amari Cooper & more
Dennis Allen discusses Saints QB decision
Dennis Allen spoke to reporters on Wednesday about the decision to start Rattler:
“We just internally talked a lot about it and felt like in this particular game, that he was going to give us the best chance to win,” Allen said. “Both him and Jake have been practicing extremely hard, preparing to be the starter.
“It was kind of the conversation that we had at the beginning of the year that Jake would be the No. 2 to start. … It was really basically going to be kind of a week-to-week deal and we just felt like this was, for this game, going to give us the best option.”
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