Devaughn Vele

Panthers defenders were flagged at least three times for deserved unnecessary roughness penalties against Shough today. Panthers DT Derrick Brown, LB Christian Rozeboom and S Lathan Ransom all lowered their shoulders on Shough after he had given himself up by sliding at the end of a scramble. He briefly met with the training staff after taking Rozeboom's knee in his lower right back and glute, but was able to return, and ended up leading his team in rushing. Shough relied heavily on WR Devaughn Vele until Vele left with a shoulder injury. The departure seemingly reminded Shough of WR Chris Olave's existence, leading the two to link up for four completions, 62 yards and one touchdown on the Saints' seventh drive. Shough is a mildly interesting QB2 against the Jets next week.

Vele was diving all over the place against the Panthers, catching 5-of-6 targets for 69 yards before exiting. The big-bodied wide receiver picked up multiple first downs and played a key role on the Saints' 17-play third drive. He first found a soft spot in the Panthers' zone coverage, gaining 10 yards on a curl route by picking up a few yards after the catch. He later went sky-high on a dagger route and high-pointed the ball before being met in the air by CB Mike Jackson, who tackled him for a 17-yard gain. He could be a boom-bust FLEX against the Jets next week, if active. He did not return.

Saints WR Devaughn Vele is questionable to return to Sunday's game vs. the Panthers due to a shoulder injury. He led New Orleans with six targets, five catches, and 69 receiving yards before exiting late in the third quarter. We'll update his status when we know more.

Vele's 40 yards were a far cry from his shocking Week 13 total of 93, but he actually led the team as Tyler Shough attempted only 20 passes in rainy conditions. One of Vele's grabs was a huge late third-down conversion. Having now easily consolidated Rashid Shaheed's vacated targets in this high-attempts offense, Vele is displaying some WR4 juice. It's just so hard to tiebreak in favor of a Saint with bye weeks over and the fantasy playoffs beginning. Despite an improving Tyler Shough, this is not the greatest of fantasy environments.

It was business as usual for Johnson, who has at least four catches in three-of-four Tyler Shough starts. He scored in Shough's first two starts but has since run dry in that department. That is to be expected with Shough taking his lumps on a week-to-week basis. Johnson led the Saints in targets this week, though Devaughn Vele paced the team in catches and yards. Johnson will remain a low-end TE1 for his Week 14 matchup with the Bucs.