To a majority of the world, Bub Means is the definition of the “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t really familiar with your game” meme that Shaq blessed us all with a few years back. A fifth-round pick in the 2024 Draft out of the University of Pittsburgh, Means played a total of 19 offensive snaps across the first five weeks of the season. Then, with injuries mounting in Week 6 against the Buccaneers, the rookie logged a 71.4% snap share and led all Saints wideouts with eight targets. So… What happened?
Not to take anything away from Means’ raw talent, but this is certainly a situation where fantasy value is being created more by circumstance than actual skill. To be completely frank, New Orleans is just running out of healthy bodies at key offensive positions. Chris Olave (concussion) and Rashid Shaheed (knee) did not practice during Monday or Tuesday’s session and it seems like only the latter has even a tiny chance of suiting up on Thursday. Don’t forget Spencer Rattler is still starting in place of Derek Carr (oblique). Heck, even Taysom Hill (ribs) is beat up and hasn’t played since Week 4.
There’s an obvious path here to Means being viable through sheer volume. If both Olave and Shaheed are ruled out, there simply isn’t anyone else. Sure, Alvin Kamara will get his share of the targets and will likely see around 25 touches when everything is said and done, but who else is there? Mason Tipton? Cedrick Wilson? Juwan Johnson? None of these names really have all that much fantasy cache, so you might as well roll with the upside of the unknown. Means ran 34 routes in Week 6 and caught a touchdown. At this point, that’s enough to take notice.
Now, I would also advise everyone to not get too carried away. The Saints have one of Week 7’s lowest implied team totals. They’re starting a rookie QB on a short week against a Denver defense that is surrendering the second-fewest yards per opponent passing attempt (5.3) — though one that will likely be without top corner Patrick Surtain II (concussion). All that said, Means should be in line for six or seven targets and at least an 80% snap rate. In any league with at least 12 teams, that’s enough to be a WR3 or a FLEX consideration.
Start or Sit Bub Means? Start.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
