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

•New Orleans Saints decimated by injury: FTen players missed some practice time this week, seven of whom missed this game, while left guard Nick Saldiveri and cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo suffered injuries during Thursday night’s game.

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PFF’s fantasy football overview focuses on player usage and statistics, providing all the essential information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2024.

Denver Broncos @ New Orleans Saints

Saints rely on backups at wide receiver: Both typical starting wide receivers missed this game, leaving the team reliant on rookies.

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

Rookie fifth round Bub means and undrafted rookie Mason Tipton were the top wide receivers while being veterans Cedrick Wilson Despite the blow, the Saints held on to two tight sets to keep their best players on the field. Through the first 40 minutes of the game, the three wide receivers were each held to one catch for 10 or fewer yards. Most of their production came when the team was down by three scores.

Going forward, we can expect Tipton to be Shaheed’s main replacement, with Wilson also playing some snaps. Means has been Olave’s replacement as both wide receivers spend more than 60% of their snaps on the outside of the formation and at the line of scrimmage, while Shaheed, Tipton and Wilson spend less than 40% of their snaps from that spot. From weeks 1 through 4, Wilson and Tipton played much more than Means. Tipton is the receiver worthy of inclusion in deeper leagues.

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

During the first five weeks of the season Alvin Kamara was the clear starter, playing 73% of New Orleans’ offensive snaps. Jamal Williams was the clear backup at 21%, and Jordan Mims was the third stringer and played 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 final two minutes of the game.

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

Miller could have a bigger role down the road, which could be especially big late in the season if the Saints are out of the playoffs and want to see what they have as they prepare for 2025 and beyond.

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

The past two weeks since then Josh Reynolds landed on injured reserve, the Broncos have used overall Courtland SuttonFranklin and Devaughn Vele on passing plays, while Sutton and Lil’Jordan Humphrey are used in run plays.

During those two weeks, Franklin led the team in targets (nine) and receptions (seven). On Thursday night, he caught five receptions for 50 yards, leading the Broncos. Although Sutton was constantly on the field, he was not targeted at all in this match. Franklin was the sixth wide receiver on us big plate between Brian Thomas Jr. And Ladd McConkey and now he’s playing the number of snaps necessary to be a fantasy starter. He is worth a waiver target because there is a chance he will lead the Broncos in goal for the rest of the season.

Various comments

• 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 at least he’s taking a step in the right direction to play.
• The Saints have signed an undrafted rookie Jermaine Jackson to include the 53-man roster long-term Rashid Shaheed‘s selection spot, while Equanimous St. Brown was a practice squad for this game, but neither played any offense 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 person for the third week in a row.
• The Broncos released running backs 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 season highs in receptions (two) and receiving yards (18) as rookie running back Audric Etime sets 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. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.
• Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be the result of an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
• Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.