Saints HC Kellen Moore proves himself correct regarding playmaker’s role following Rashid Shaheed deadline trade
He’s going to play a role more often now.
The New Orleans Saints surprised some people when they traded away wideout Rashid Shaheed shortly ahead of the NFL trade deadline last week. With that sort of notable deal for their offense, it was understandable to wonder who may see the field for the Saints more often going forward.
New Orleans provided fans with that answer in Week 10 versus the Carolina Panthers. Devaughn Vele is set to step up to help the offensive unit for the black and gold.
Devaughn Vele sees bigger role after Rashid Shaheed trade
After the Saints dealt Shaheed to Seattle, their head coach revealed that Vele would be a more central part of the passing game going forward. He would have an increased role going forward and play more snaps. Vele was acquired via trade earlier this year from the Denver Broncos.
Vele actually led the team in snaps when it comes to the WR room. Chris Olave was easily the most productive for QB Tyler Shough, but an injury kept him off the field more than the Saints probably hoped would be the case. Regardless, it is clear that Moore wasn’t lying about Vele’s increased role.
Vele played 32 snaps (88.9%) in Week 10. No other player had more than 25 for New Orleans’ receiver room. New Orleans got the tight ends involved in the receiving game, and Alvin Kamara even had a couple of key pickups in the passing game.
We will see if the increased snaps leads to more targets for Vele. He had one catch for fifteen yards on three targets against the Panthers. His most impactful value should come in the red zone and along the sidelines as a big-bodied target for Shough.
Losing Shaheed surely does hurt the overall explosiveness of the Saints offense, but Vele’s value as a bigger target and impressive run blocking ability needs to be utilized as the Saints try to figure out if Shough is their answer at QB over the latter half of this season. He took a major step toward against the Panthers in Week 10.
New Orleans Saints News
Saints HC Kellen Moore says exactly what he probably shouldn’t about his questionable challenge on non-fumble vs. Rams
The Saints HC made a surprising error on Sunday.
