The Saints had a promising 2025 with first-year HC Kellen Moore. They produced the WR6 and TE8 in fantasy football last year, and rookie QB Tyler Shough was the QB9 once we assumed the starting job in Week 9. For a team that finished 6-11, these are promising signs from an offense that, realistically, should only get better.
The front office set out to make sure that would be the case. After the Saints’ run game ranked 28th in total rushing yards and 31st in rushing TDs, they signed former Jaguars RB Travis Etienne (a Louisiana native) to a 4-year contract. They also had a glaring hole opposite WR1 Chris Olave. During the season, they traded Rashid Shaheed to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seahawks. Devaughn Vele, acquired prior to the 2025 season from Denver, saw 34 targets from Weeks 8-15 before suffering a season-ending injury. Those 34 targets yielded 21 receptions for 264 yards and one touchdown.
That kind of limited production is what led the Saints to spend the 8th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson.
Kellen Moore has been an offensive play-caller in this league for a long time. And all of his offenses have one thing in common — they utilize a 2nd WR early and often.
So let’s dive into why Tyson is not only the key to unlocking Moore’s offense, but why he’s on a path to becoming fantasy’s top rookie WR in 2026.
Jordyn Tyson Can Overcome The Dreaded Injury-Prone Tag
Kellen Moore Likes to Throw
As a former QB, it’s not a big secret that Kellen Moore likes to throw the football. He was very effective at it while in college, and it clearly works for him as a playcaller in the pros. In six of his seven seasons — we’re excluding his one-year stop in Philadelphia for obvious reasons — Moore averages 610 pass attempts a season. And last season, with a rookie QB starting half the season, Moore dialed up 591 pass attempts (more if you consider the team allowed 49 sacks).
In his seven seasons as a playcaller, the WR1 had a target share of 23.7% or higher three times. Those seasons all saw the WR2 with a target share below 14%. The other four seasons? The WR2 had target shares of 18.93%, 17.37%, 16.07%, & 19.87%.
Having a second WR1 on the team is what helps this offense go. Moore aims for the sticks and bleeds the clock. He also wants to threaten defenses at every level. Chris Olave has a career yards-per-reception average of 12.8. Last year’s de facto WR2, TE Juwan Johnson, averaged 11.5 YPR. Jordyn Tyson, the new WR2, averaged 14.3 in college.
Having another force on the outside opposite Olave is what will allow Tyler Shough to grow even more as a passer. He no longer has to key in on Olave to threaten a defense. He has another capable weapon on which to lean.
But will Tyson last a full season? That was the burning question heading into this year’s NFL Draft.
Tyson’s Injury History
Jordyn Tyson began his career at Colorado (before Deion Sanders arrived). Late that season, he suffered a gruesome knee injury, tearing three different ligaments. He transferred to Arizona State following that season and would see only four targets late in the season as he spent the bulk of the year in recovery. But a gruesome knee injury does not mean a player is “injury prone,” right?
Tyson bounced back in 2024, registering 1,098 yards and 10 TDs, en route to earning 1st-team All-Big 12 honors. However, he missed the team’s bowl game after breaking his collarbone. That’s now two pretty serious injuries, though unrelated, in three years.
Last season, Tyson saw 97 targets and netted 61 catches, 711 yards, and eight touchdowns. But, once again, he suffered a hamstring injury that cost him three games. That’s now at least one injury in each of his productive college seasons.
Most doctors and physical therapists will tell you that “injury-prone” is a myth made up by people who know nothing about medicine or how the body works. But what happens when patterns provide reasonable doubt?
Be sure to check our fantasy football preview of Jordyn Tyson and the 2026 Saints!
Talent Wins Out
I don’t know if Tyson is injury-prone. What I do know is that he’s immensely talented and has room to get even better. Once upon a time, another talented WR with WR1 upside walked into a Kellen Moore offense when there was an already established WR1. That WR? CeeDee Lamb.
Lamb finished his rookie season with 111 targets (17.37% target share), second on the team behind Amari Cooper, and ahead of former WR2, Michael Gallup. He followed that up with a team-leading 120 targets (18.55%), overtaking Cooper. He then took a massive leap in Year 3, leading the team with 156 targets (28.06%) while the WR2 saw 74 targets (13.31%).
Kellen Moore knows talent. When looking at the rest of the WRs on the Saints, the talent dries up quickly.
Devaughn Vele may as well be a 10-year veteran as a 29-year-old 3rd-year WR. Ja’Lynn Polk was acquired for a bag of chips after being over-drafted by the Patriots. The team spent draft picks this year on Bryce Lance (4th round) and Barion Brown (6th round). Holdovers include Mason Tipton, Kevin Austin, and Bub Means.
Tyson will have a clear path to earning targets. If you think he is injury-prone, you have little reason to believe in this offense. Believing in Tyson’s availability means the potential for this offense is sky high.
Jordyn Tyson 2026 Fantasy Football Outlook
I currently have Jordyn Tyson with a projected target share of 18.9% for 2026. I don’t for one second believe there’s any kind of ramp-up period. The Saints drafted Tyson to be a playmaker. And a playmaker he will be.
If Tyler Shough takes the kind of leap in Moore’s offense many in the industry believe he’ll take, Tyson possesses top 24 upside at WR. (For what it’s worth, Lamb finished as the overall WR24.)
And if Shough is the QB we expect him to be, it won’t be because Chris Olave has a repeat of his 2024 performance. It will be because of the impact Jordyn Tyson has on Kellen Moore’s offense.
Looking for your favorite team? This link will take you to the rest of our 2026 Look Inside team previews.
A Look Inside the New Orleans Saints
Editor’s Note: While this article focused on Jordyn Tyson in fantasy football, we don’t want to leave you hanging on the rest of the team. Here is a quick look at the other fantasy-relevant Saints from Ryan Weisse.
Tyler Shough
Shough was better than I thought possible last year. I knew he had a strong arm, but I was worried about age and knee injuries. I know a thing or two about age and knee injuries. However, Shough came in and played great football in Moore’s system. He was the QB10 after taking the starting role in Week 8. If you get rid of his first bad start, he was the QB9. And if you look at him after the team’s Week 11 bye, he was the QB5. Those are solid numbers, and it should only get better in Year 2. You are sleeping on Tyler Shough.
Travis Etienne
I would have bet stupid money that Etienne would stay in Jacksonville, but the allure of home won out. He should lead the backfield whether Alvin Kamara stays or not. Etienne will need volume to repeat his 2025 top-10 finish. He touched the ball 296 times last year and scored 13 TDs. No Saints back had more than 164 touches last year, and the whole group managed just five TDs. Etienne likely finishes somewhere in the middle of those numbers. He is still a top-20 fantasy back, but his ceiling isn’t quite as high as last year.
Alvin Kamara
Kamara could not stay healthy last year…or the year before…or the year before that. In fact, He hasn’t played a full season since 2017, his rookie year. That has not stopped him from being fantasy relevant, but last year saw a massive drop in production to go with missed games, and that is a recipe for disaster. Playing second-fiddle to Etienne should improve his efficiency, but his days of being an RB1, even an RB2, are over. Still, there is upside for as cheap as he is in fantasy drafts right now, and Kamara’s scoring upside makes him intriguing in Best Ball formats.
Chris Olave
The world got scared off of Olave after his disastrous 2024, where he was dealing with multiple concussions. There was talk of his career being over. Instead, he put up his best numbers since entering the NFL. He had career-highs in catches (100), yards (1163), and TDs (9), finishing as the WR6 in fantasy. Now, with Tyson in town, his 156 targets seem primed to come down, but not so much that you should ignore him. He might not be top-10, but he is certainly a top-20 receiver in fantasy.
Devaughn Vele
Vele performed admirably after taking over the WR2 spot last year. In fact, over his last four games, he was a top-25 fantasy WR before suffering an injury. Unfortunately, that says a lot more about Jordyn Tyson’s upside than Vele’s. Vele is likely to slide to WR3 on the team, and trail Olave, Tyson, Juwan Johnson, and even the RB group for targets. He just won’t matter in fantasy as his team’s fifth option. It was a good run.
Juwan Johnson
The lack of a WR2 really opened things up for Johnson. He was targeted 102 times and finished as the TE8 in fantasy. Now, Moore’s scheme is TE-friendly, but Johnson will still take a back seat to Olave and Tyson, and his targets will fall into the 80-90 range. He is a better streamer than an every-week starter.
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You can also see where Jordyn Tyson and the rest of the Saints fall in our 2026 Fantasy Rankings here!
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