• Javonte Williams carries the Denver Broncos to victory: Williams scored two touchdowns and was one of their best receivers as well as their most impactful runner.

•New Orleans Saints decimated by injury: Fifteen players missed some practice time this week, seven of which missed this game, while left guard Nick Saldiveri in addition to cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo suffered game-ending injuries Thursday night.

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2024.

Denver Broncos @ New Orleans Saints

Saints rely on backups at wide receiver: Both of their typical starting wide receivers missed this game, leading the team to rely on rookies.

The Saints were down their top two wide receivers. Rashid Shaheed was placed on injured reserve Thursday after having surgery to repair his meniscus, so his season is over. Chris Olave suffered a concussion last week and, ideally, won’t be out long-term. 

Fifth-round rookie Bub Means and undrafted rookie Mason Tipton were the primary wide receivers, while veteran Cedrick Wilson mixed in. Despite the blowout, the Saints stuck with a lot of two tight end sets to keep their best players on the field. For the first 40 minutes of the game, the three wide receivers were held to one catch for 10 or fewer yards each. Most of their production came once the team was down three scores.

Going forward, we can expect Tipton to be Shaheed’s primary replacement, while Wilson also plays some snaps. Means has been Olave’s replacement, as both wide receivers spend over 60% of their snaps lined up on the outside of the formation and on the line of scrimmage, while Shaheed, Tipton and Wilson spend less than 40% of their snaps from that spot. From Weeks 1-4, Wilson and Tipton played much more than Means. Tipton is the receiver worth rostering in deeper leagues.

Kendre Miller returns to the Saints lineup: Miller missed nearly all of training camp and the first six weeks of the season due to a hamstring strain.

Over the season’s first five weeks, Alvin Kamara was the clear starter, playing 73% of New Orleans’ offensive snaps. Jamaal Williams was the clear backup at 21%, and Jordan Mims was the third-stringer, playing less than two snaps per game. Last week, Mims ended up playing 16 snaps to Williams’ three, although nine of Mims’ snaps came in the last two minutes of the game.

Mims was the only healthy inactive for the Saints Thursday, allowing Miller to debut. He played three of the Saints’ four snaps on their second drive, but he didn’t see the field again until the third quarter. He led the team in rushing yards with 36 on six carries, largely thanks to four carries on their final drive, including a 16-yard carry while they were down 30 points.

Miller could get a larger role over time, which could be especially large late in the season if the Saints are out of the playoff picture and want to see what they have as they prepare for 2025 and beyond.

Troy Franklin’s role expands: Franklin set a career-high in receiving yards, breaking the 31-yard mark he set for himself last week.

Over the last two weeks since Josh Reynolds landed on injured reserve, the Broncos have generally used Courtland Sutton, Franklin and Devaughn Vele on passing plays, while Sutton and Lil’Jordan Humphrey are used on run plays.

During those two weeks, Franklin has led the team in targets (nine) and receptions (seven). Thursday night, he caught five receptions for 50 yards, leading the Broncos. While Sutton has constantly been on the field, he wasn’t targeted at all in this game. Franklin was the sixth-wide receiver on our big board between Brian Thomas Jr. and Ladd McConkey and now, he’s playing the number of snaps needed to be a fantasy starter. He’s worth a waiver-wire target because there’s a chance he will lead the Broncos in targets over the rest of the season.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Saints tight end Taysom Hill missed his third-straight game due to a rib injury. He was limited in practice this week after not practicing last week, so he at least is taking a step in the right direction to play.
• The Saints signed undrafted rookie Jermaine Jackson to the 53-man roster long-term to take Rashid Shaheed’s roster spot, while Equanimeous St. Brown was a practice squad elevation for this game, but neither played a snap on offense. St. Brown didn’t play his first snap until the end of the third quarter, while Jackson didn’t play on offense.
• Broncos tight end Greg Dulcich was a healthy inactive for a third straight week.
• The Broncos released running back Blake Watson to make room for other players returning from injured reserve. This left Denver with three running backs on the roster.
• Broncos wide receiver Marvin Mims set a season-high in receptions (two) and receiving yards (18), while rookie running back Audric Estime set career highs in carries (five) and rushing yards (29).

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.