Saints' Jake Haener Starting in Place of Injured Derek Carr | Fantasy Football Outlooks for Haener, Alvin Kamara, Juwan Johnson, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and More

The New Orleans Saints season hasn’t gone according to plan, with a number of injuries decimating the team.

Quarterback Derek Carr is the newest member of the injured club, and the team will start Jake Haener in his place. It was reported on Thursday night.

With that in mind, let’s discuss the team’s best fantasy options for week 15.

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Quarterback Numbers

Carr started the season hot, but has otherwise been average or below average this season. 

He has completed 189 of his 279 passes (67.7 completion percentage) for 2,145 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. Carr also has 71 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

Carr scored 12 fantasy points last week, which was his lowest mark over the past five weeks. He had as many as 20 fantasy points in that stretch.

Haener has appeared in seven games this season, but this will be his first start. 

Haener has completed 14 of his 29 passes for 177 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He has 15 rushing yards on 10 attempts.

This is his second NFL season, but the first season he’s got NFL action in. Spencer Rattler is the only other quarterback on the active roster - the team went 0-3 in his starts this season, so the Saints are turning to Haener this time.

Fantasy Outlooks

The Saints take on the Washington Commanders this week. It’s a pretty big game - a Saints win would keep the team's slim playoff hopes alive, while the Commanders are trying to hold onto their wild card spot.

It’s an average matchup on paper for Haener. He’s only an option for those of you in deep leagues, and I’d do my best to avoid him. Starting a QB making his first career start is always a tricky proposition, and the matchup isn’t good enough to warrant it, in my opinion. If anything, I’m adding and stashing Haener.

It’s a below-average matchup for the Saints’ running backs, who are led by Alvin Kamara.

Kamara has scored at least 13 fantasy points in six straight contests, with his pass-catching ability saving some otherwise weak fantasy showings. He hasn’t scored once in that span.

The Saints’ offense obviously takes a hit going from Carr to Haener, but I still like the idea of starting Kamara. He could be a great check-down option in the pass game for Haener, and Kamara should still get a decent amount of carries. I’d be fairly confident in Kamara, and believe he gets in double figures as a fantasy performer again - his ceiling is obviously much higher.

Kendre Miller appears to be the team’s backup RB now. He scored a touchdown last week and had nine fantasy points total.

In a tougher matchup, I wouldn’t want to start Miller, but in a deep enough league, I think Miller has a little starting appeal.

It’s an average matchup for the Saints’ wide receivers and tight ends.

Looking at last week’s numbers, tight ends Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau tied for the most snaps played (49), while Marquez Valdes-Scantling (48) and Kevin Austin (44) were the wideouts who played the most. Cedrick Wilson and Dante Pettis also logged over 20 snaps.

Valdes-Scantling, Johnson and Moreau were the only pass catchers over 20 yards, and I think they are the only starting fantasy options in any leagues.

With no NFL teams on bye, you can be picky with your starters, and I’d probably try to stay away from MVS, Johnson and Moreau in standard leagues. The quarterback situation is the main reason behind that decision, and the average defensive matchups don’t help matters.

If I had to rank the trio of pass catchers in terms of how I think they’ll finish as fantasy performers, I’d take Johnson first. I think the Saints’ offense will focus on the short passing game when airing it out, and that definitely favors Johnson over Valdes-Scantling. 

Moreau has just as good a chance to be the top fantasy asset among the trio, but with Johnson being the better fantasy performer this season, I trust him more.

Moreau and Valdes-Scantling are very close in my book, but with MVS’ big-play ability, I’d give him the slight edge. One big play could help Valdes-Scantling to a decent fantasy showing, and while it’s not something I’d trust much, it’s at least worth starting him in some deeper leagues.