Saints’ Rashid Shaheed: Underrated Fantasy Football Sleeper

Highlights

The Saints’ offense is often overlooked for its ability to allow players to create legitimate fantasy production.
Klint Kubiak should allow the offense to ascend to a new level in 2024.
After displaying real talent through two seasons, Rashid Shaheed is poised to break out in year three in a new role.

The New Orleans Saints are often dismissed and even disliked by many NFL fans outside of New Orleans.

Their issues with cap space, poor offensive line play, and poor quarterback play are the culprits for this sentiment towards the Saints. Many fans seem to take great issue with Derek Carr, too.

Carr is almost certainly not the answer for the Saints at quarterback. Thankfully, for fantasy purposes, the long-term success of the franchise is completely irrelevant. All that matters is whether a team can create an offensive environment that allows for fantasy points to be scored.

Carr and the Saints’ offense seem to be grossly overlooked in this sense. Last season, the Saints ranked ninth in scoring offense and Carr threw for 300+ yards in six games, which was tied for most games with at least 300 yards. This was also an offense that allowed Chris Olave to finish as the WR16 and Alvin Kamara to finish as the RB11 (RB4 following suspension).

While the criticism of the Saints as a franchise is fair, they seem to be underrated in their ability to produce meaningful fantasy assets. As the new full-time WR2, third-year man Rashid Shaheed is poised to have a big season in the Saints offense.

This Saints’ Wide Receiver is Silently One of the NFL’s Most Dangerous Deep Threats

Rashid Shaheed is quietly a premier downfield weapon, proving himself to be an elite deep threat in the NFL.

New Opportunity in the Offense for a Talented Player

For the first time in his career, Shaheed is in line for a full-time role

Through two NFL seasons, Shaheed has been known for his ability to stretch the defense as a downfield burner. He was impressive in this role, finishing the season with seven receptions of 40+ yards. He also had four touchdowns that were at least 30 yards in length.

Shaheed has shown true talent as a deep threat, but this kind of usage tends to create unreliable production in fantasy, as was the case with Shaheed. But, moving into his third season, Shaheed will likely be much more than a vertical weapon. Interviews with Shaheed from training camp indicate that he’ll be used in all facets of the offense (via Saints.com):

I know that my role was going to be bigger going into this offseason. I tried to make that a focus into being in the best shape that I possibly could, knowing that there might not be many times where I come out of the game…

Coach Kub[iak] is going to be counting on me to make a lot of plays for this team, and I’m super excited for that role. I feel like I’m ready for it. I’m going to do whatever it takes. To be on the field, I’ve got to do it.

Shaheed’s only obstacle to becoming an every-down receiver is his issue with blocking. He is listed at 6-feet and 180 pounds, which is incredibly small for a receiver.

But the NFL is now in an era where smaller receivers can find a way to stay on the field. If Shaheed can demonstrate improvement as a blocker this offseason, he will be a mainstay in the New Orleans offense.

Offensive Improvements in New Orleans

Klint Kubiak will revamp the Saints’ offense

Not only will Shaheed play a bigger role in the offense, he will also be part of an offense that is functioning at a higher level. The Saints replaced offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael with Klint Kubiak, who is coming over from the San Francisco 49ers.

Carmichael’s offense was rather stagnant over the years and refused to incorporate many modern offensive strategies, such as putting receivers in motion to put them in favorable situations. The Saints actually ranked dead last in the use of motion last season. They were also at the bottom of the barrel in play-action usage.

Shaheed 2023 Deep Threat Ranks (WRs Min. 60 Targets)
Category	Shaheed	Rank
Yards/Reception	15.6	T-11th
ADOT	14.6	T-8th
30+ Yard Receptions	9	10th
40+ Yard Receptions	7	3rd
20+ Yard TD Receptions	4	T-7th

Kubiak should bring life to this offense and pull it out of the 2010s. His relation to the Shanahan coaching tree should give fans hope that his system will allow Carr to play quarterback on “easy mode” by providing him with simple reads and wide-open receivers.

If everything comes together, the Saints’ offense should do a 180 in 2024, opening the door for Shaheed to break out in year three.

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference and fantasy data from Fantasy Pros, unless stated otherwise.