The New Orleans Saints will be shifting significant expectations onto a pair of young receivers in 2024, and the early returns look good.
With the departure of Michael Thomas this offseason, Chris Olave has become the unquestioned WR1 in the Saints offense, with speedster Rashid Shaheed right behind him. As WWL's Bobby Hebert broke down after Tuesday's practice to kick off minicamp, the pair very much looks the part.
"It seems like every practice Chris Olave has at least five or six catches and then today Rashid Shaheed was very active," Hebert said, "he had four to five and was also contributing at a high level.”
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The final tally was of 9 catches on 10 targets between, with the lone incompletion coming on a strong pass breakup by Marshon Lattimore. Both Olave and Shaheed hit on deep shots as well, with Olave beating Lattimore downfield early in the practice for what would've been a 50-plus yard touchdown from Derek Carr. Later it was Shaheed dusting Rezjohn Wright in coverage on a deep ball from Jake Haener in 2-minute action.
"Nice plays," Hebert continued. "Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave, you can see they’re the 1-2 receivers."
Olave had his second consecutive 1,000-yard season in 2023 and has an eye on even more production this season with a new offense and continued chemistry with QB Derek Carr. Shaheed emerged as one of the league's premiere deep threats with 719 yards and 5 touchdowns on 46 catches.
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On Ryan Ramczyk's health
Saints head coach Dennis Allen gave a non-update on Ramczyk this week that indicated he hadn't progressed from his knee issue and there is currently no timeline for his return. He was the lone Saints player absent from practice that was not at the team facility this week.
“We’re gonna have to just wait and see. This might be the case until the end of August. They’ll probably know by the middle of training camp whether he’s ready to roll, but yea, to me no update is not good. It’s not like, oh, he’ll be ready. It’s like, oh, we don’t know.”
On Pete Werner's day
One of the standout players on Tuesday was Pete Werner, who dominated one team session with back-to-back plays behind the line on run plays by Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams.
"He knows he needs to take that next step. I’m not saying overtake Demario Davis, but to be right there whenever it does come the time to pass the torch, the leader on that defense and the linebacker position, it is Pete Werner."