New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed had about as good of a rookie season as you can ask for from a UDFA. Climbing his way up the depth chart, Shaheed is now slated for a starting role in three-receiver sets. What is his fantasy football projection?
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Rashid Shaheed’s 2023 Fantasy Projection
Shaheed certainly isn’t your conventional sophomore-year breakout hopeful. UDFAs are rarely relevant at the NFL level, let alone in fantasy. Shaheed is already 25 years old, too. But he did such a great job earning a role as a rookie that we had to take notice.
It took multiple injuries to Saints wide receivers for Shaheed to even get on the field. He wasn’t even active until Week 6, and it wasn’t until Week 11 that he played more than around 15% of the offensive snaps.
Shaheed was mostly used as a situational deep threat. However, he did start to produce more consistently down the stretch. From Weeks 12-18, Shaheed averaged 3.7 receptions per game for 62.8 yards. He saw at least four targets in each of his final five games.
Shaheed averaged 8.4 PPR fantasy points per game on the season, which included multiple games in which he barely saw the field. He was a fantasy WR5, which obviously isn’t moving the needle, but is good enough to warrant a spot on fantasy rosters. That’s an incredible rise for a rookie UDFA who didn’t play for the first five weeks.
While it was a small sample size, Shaheed averaged 2.77 yards per route run and 14.4 yards per target. Both numbers would’ve been inside the top 10 had he played enough to qualify.
Should You Draft Rashid Shaheed This Year?
Betting on Shaheed is, of course, betting on an outlier. But there is reason for optimism. Derek Carr should mesh well with Shaheed. Carr averaged 9.4 air yards per attempt last season, the second-most in the league.
While he only completed 32% of his downfield throws, nearly 60% of those passes were catchable. That’s on the receivers. Shaheed already proved to be a potent deep threat.
Shaheed is obviously behind Chris Olave but has a really good shot at being the team’s WR2, given Michael Thomas’ inability to stay on the field. Thomas is healthy now, but we have no reason to believe his body is still capable of playing football. It hasn’t done so since 2019.
Beyond Shaheed, the Saints’ wide receivers consist of Tre’Quan Smith, rookie A.T. Perry, and journeymen James Washington and Bryan Edwards. Shaheed is safely in the WR3 role.
Shaheed currently has a WR68 ADP (No. 172 overall). This ranking reflects his status as the Saints’ WR3 with Thomas healthy. Since I do not believe Thomas will play anywhere near a full season, I am treating Shaheed like he’s the WR2. As a result, I have him ranked at WR55. Suffice it to say I will be throwing multiple darts at Shaheed if that ADP holds.
No one is drafting Shaheed with the expectation that he will be a consistent every-week starter. He projects as a guy you throw in your final Flex spot, hoping for a boom week. Given his price and the upside he flashed, he’s exactly what you look for in a late-round flier.