New Orleans Saints WR Rashid Shaheed has posted a unique stat profile through two seasons. He’s a threat to score from anywhere on the field but has yet to earn targets in bulk. That’s not the interesting part — his 67.9% catch rate, alongside his 16.3 yards per catch, is something you rarely see.
Entering his age-26 season with the proven ability to maximize the value of his opportunities, could Shaheed be a fantasy football cheat code in 2024?
Rashid Shaheed’s 2024 Fantasy Outlook
- Total Fantasy Points: 151 (107 non-PPR)
- Receptions: 44
- Receiving Yards: 724
- Receiving TDs: 4
These are PFN’s consensus projections, correct as of August 16. The most up-to-date projections can be found in our Who Should I Draft Tool.
Should You Draft Shaheed This Year?
The Shaheed experience has been a wild ride through two NFL seasons. The upside is undeniable, and he looks unstoppable when he has space to operate.
Rashid Shaheed ranks ultra high in a number of categories bc of his average depth of target and small sample size, but this one cracked me up.
On throws of 10+ yards, @NextGenStats expected him to complete 48% of his catches. He caught 85% of them. pic.twitter.com/gZUG2DF6YF
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) August 11, 2023
That said, we’ve been unable to get anything close to consistency. Through 27 career games, Shaheed has five games with over 18 fantasy points (PPR) and six games with under five.
I worry that the consistency may not be coming anytime soon. The Saints explored using Shaheed in the slot much more often last season, a spot on the field that often helps elevate the fantasy floor.
It didn’t work.
Shaheed’s Slot Stats
- 2022: 24.7% of his snaps, 28.6% of his targets
- 2023: 45.3% of his snaps, 14% of his targets
That doesn’t mean Shaheed is a bad player or void of value in our game; it just means that his development would require something that we’ve yet to see signs of.
All of that said, there’s a chance Shaheed spikes at the perfect time. In Weeks 15-16, he faces a pair of opponents that ranked among the worst four in the league last year in terms of opponent passer rating on deep balls.
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As for the situation and if it’s tailored to what Shaheed does well. I understand the narrative around Derek Carr, but you haven’t been paying enough attention if you think what he brings to the table is a limiting factor. Over the past five seasons, on passes thrown 15+ yards down the field:
- Higher passer rating (105.4) than Joe Burrow (102.6)
- Higher yards per attempt (13.2) than Patrick Mahomes (12.8)
- Higher TD rate (9.3%) than Aaron Rodgers (8.8%)
No, Carr isn’t a franchise-defining quarterback who elevates the talent around him in a major way, but he can be at the head of a true Shaheed breakout.
It’s worth an 14th-round pick to find out, isn’t it?
Other WR2s are going in this range and might offer a higher weekly floor (Brandin Cooks and Jerry Jeudy types), so it matters greatly what you’re trying to accomplish at this ADP. I tend to work with high-floor players in the first half of the draft, opening me up for a few dart throws late that have the potential to break out.
That’s how I end up on Shaheed and/or Joshua Palmer a lot in this range. Shaheed has the explosive skill set that I want, and Palmer has a path to lead his team in targets any given week.
I’ve got a few teams where I landed the Nico Collins/Cooper Kupp tandem that I feel great about. In doing so, I loved adding Shaheed. He’s not someone I’m counting on weekly, but he has the potential to be a true game-breaker when his matchup lands him in my lineup.
