Wide receiver is no longer a glaring issue for the New Orleans Saints
This time last year, the New Orleans Saints had little help from their wide receivers. Marquez Callaway finished the season as their leading receiver with 698 yards. This season, leading receiver Chris Olave has blown that total out of the water with 940 yards and counting.
Olave has been a huge weapon for the Saints offense this year. As mentioned above, he's currently sitting on 940 yards receiving and while the three touchdowns seem low, he's averaging 72.3 yards per game. In comparison, Callaway averaged 41.1 yards per game in 2021.
Olave isn't the only one doing damage at the wide receiver position but the other player kicking butt and taking names isn't someone that Saints fans expected to. It hasn't been Michael Thomas or Jarvis Landry turning heads as we all expected -- No, it's been undrafted Weber State product Rashid Shaheed that has made all of our jaws drop.
Saints have a bright future at wide receiver position
Shaheed made his NFL debut in Week 6 against the Bengals and immediately showed his NFL squad what he could do with a 44-yard rushing touchdown. It was his first carry or reception in the league and he made the most of it.
The very next week, Shaheed made his first NFL reception, which went for a 53-yard touchdown from Andy Dalton. Again, the rookie proved that he was a fierce weapon and the Saints needed to continue using him.
Shaheed has also been a star on special teams, averaging 22.4 yards on kick returns and 10.9 yards on punt returns. The Weber State star is hopefully going to be a big part of the Saints' offense for many years to come.
Next. All-Time Leaders in Receiving Yards. dark
New Orleans might not have gotten what they wanted out of Thomas and Landry this year but Olave and Shaheed stepping up and becoming superstars certainly isn't a bad thing.