Why Saints' Chris Olave is a fantasy football WR1 with Tyler Shough at QB

The New Orleans Saints have turned their season around. While they're not a playoff contender, nor are they close, the Saints have turned the tide on their season.

Tyler Shough is a huge reason why. Not only has Shough made the Saints even better than they are, but he's also helped the Saints' offense turn into a great one for fantasy football purposes.

No player has been more impacted byShough's emergence than Chris Olave. The Saints' number one wide receiver, as ESPN's Dan Graziano writes, has turned into much more than a solid WR; he's a fantasy football WR 1.

How Tyler SHough has turned Chris Olave into a WR1 in fantasy

"Chris Olave is a WR1 with Tyler Shough at QB, NOT AN OVERREACTION," Graziano writes. "Shough is getting him the ball, and Olave is performing the way a WR1 performs."

New Orleans is in a great spot as a franchise now with Shough at quarterback, and with Olave reaching his potential, the Saints are on the upswing.

For fantasy football purposes, the emergence of Shough has turned Olave from a solid WR2 into a strong WR1. Few players are worth starting over Olave the rest of the season in fantasy.

And looking into 2026, Olave should be a highly drafted player, no later than the second round in most leagues, if Shough is still the quarterback.

More: Saints' Tyler Shough looking more like a franchise QB vs Jets

After years of toiling away for the Saints with Derek Carr and his concussion issues, Olave has finally broken out into the elite WR1 he always could've become.

Shough took over halfway through Week 8, and since then, Olave has been on a tear. Olave has 14.0, 8.7, 21.4, 16.0, 14.7, 6.0, 20.5, and 36.8 fantasy points since Shough took over in Week 8.

Olave is the WR6 on the season in fantasy so far, and behind only some of the best players this season. With two weeks to go, Olave can further prove he's not just a WR1, but that he's a bona fide top-5 wide receiver for fantasy going forward.

Next season, fantasy managers should be pressing to acquire Olave in drafts, as the Shough-Olave connection could turn Olave into a first-round talent for fantasy football.

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• Tyler Shough takes goofy Saints rookie QB history from Archie Manning, Spencer Rattler
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