The New Orleans Saints will face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 17. We have fantasy football start-sit advice for every fantasy-relevant player for the Saints so you can make the best decisions for your lineups.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 17 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Derek Carr, QB
Week 17 Status: OUT
Derek Carr has the potential to return this week for the Saints for reasons unknown, but his status shouldn’t be of concern in fantasy circles given the carnage around him at the skill positions.
Even with talent coming in and out, Carr has failed to throw multiple touchdown passes in the majority of his games this season, and that is going to render any pocket-locked signal-caller as close to useless.
I give him credit for trying to return to action and finish the season, but my fantasy bills aren’t paid on credit.
Spencer Rattler, QB
There are a few instances this week where our DFS discipline is going to be challenged — “I know [INSERT QB] is struggling and might not be NFL-caliber, but how can I not get exposure to [INSERT DEFENSE]?”
Stay strong, my friends; stay strong.
Spencer Rattler was a disaster against the Packers on Monday night, and it resulted in the Saints being the first team shut out for four quarters this season. I’ll take the over on 0.5 points scored in this spot, but what is it that New Orleans’ backup QB can do that has you the least bit interested?
He’s run for over 25 yards in three starts this season, and that’s something, though his Saints have lost each of those games by at least 23 points while garbage time has factored in. I’m not sure either team is capable of providing such a script this week, so we can rule out the empty stats at the end of the game.
The layup targets are supposed to be where a QB like this thrives, especially in a playbook full of them. Not so much. Over his past three outings, Rattler has completed just 24 of 51 short passes, a rate (47.1%) that falls well short of the NFL average (73.5%)
There’s always 2025, Saints fans.
Alvin Kamara, RB
Week 17 Status: OUT
Alvin Kamara has had a highly productive season (nine top-15 finishes) and is currently sitting at 1.2% over expectation for the year, his best mark since 2021. But the groin injury that sidelined him for Monday night certainly has the potential to hold him out this week, thus leaving you without a big part of your regular-season run in your biggest matchup of the year.
Kamara will turn 30 years old in July, and while the pass-catching skills have aged well, I continue to think that we are on borrowed time with him as a weekly asset. The rushing efficiency is fleeting to say the least (career-high 20.2% of his carries have failed to gain yardage this season), and if Kendre Miller can provide this franchise with confidence that he can be a two-down back, we could be looking at a hit-and-miss RB in an average offense that relies on checkdown passes.
That’s not to say Kamara won’t be usable in 2024 (the Saints have an out if they want it in his backloaded contract), but I think there’s a good chance his ADP reflects more name value than projectable production this offseason.
Kendre Miller, RB
I think we can pretty safely rule out the Saints as a team at this point. They were unable to field a competitive team on Monday night, which resulted in Kendre Miller being fortunate to get to his 31 yards of production.
He’s the lead back in this offense and figures to hold that label for the rest of the season, but I’d rather Flex any receiver with any semblance of upside than chase my tail with this offense.
Chris Olave, WR
Week 17 Status: QUESTIONABLE
Olave is nearing two straight months missed with a concussion, and while it is nice to see him nearing full health, betting on him seeing a full complement of snaps, if active, in this low-octane offense is a long shot.
Add in the fact that the quality of targets is far from a given, and you’re realistically looking at 2025 as the next time you can play this WR1.
This was a lost season for Olave, but don’t lose track of him at a top-heavy position this summer — he still has the tools to be a difference-maker in the first handful of rounds.
Juwan Johnson, TE
Week 17 Status: PLAYING
Juwan Johnson caught both of his targets on Monday night (27 yards), but a 7.1% target share in a Spencer Rattler offense is far from ideal. To complicate matters further, Foster Moreau led the team in receiving with a whopping 33 yards.
Jordan Mims and Dante Pettis accounted for most of New Orleans’ targets, so there’s a world in which the target hierarchy flips this week, but are we sure it matters? Those two saw their 15 targets total 47 yards — that’s not going to get it done.
Before the Week 16 disaster, Johnson had three straight championship window games (Weeks 16-17) with over 11 PPR points. That streak ended on Monday, and it’s possible that he didn’t score 11 PPR points in those two weeks this season.