While it’s only been a two-game sample size so far, the New Orleans Saints are getting everything they’ve paid for out of wide receiver Chris Olave.
After reaching a four-year extension worth up to $132 million during training camp, New Orleans’ expectations for its top wideout became clear. The team paid Olave to be its No. 1 threat, and he has rewarded that confidence through the early part of 2026.
With quarterback Tyler Shough, the duo has combined for 69 completions for 910 passing yards, six passing touchdowns and a 101.8 passer rating while averaging 9.2 passing yards per attempt since last season.
This season, things are off to a particularly hot start. Olave’s 19 receptions for 268 receiving yards (11.7 yards per catch) and a touchdown have bolstered Shough’s passer rating when targeting the top receiver to 129.7. Olave ranks No. 2 across the NFL in receiving yards for players with two games played.
Shough leads the league in passing yards among those quarterbacks with only two games played. The two have been off to an explosive start in 2026, even more impressive than their 2025 production.
The difference from 2025 (a career year for Olave) to 2026 is astounding. Comparing the 11 game appearances Shough made, including nine starts, in 2025 to the first two games of the 2026 season shows just how much the chemistry has grown between the two, even just a pair of games in.
Looking at the efficiency metrics shows an 11.2% increase in completion percentage, a 3.3 passing yards per attempt leap and a massive 36.5 passer rating boost.
This has happened not just because Olave received a contract, of course. But also because of the way both players have settled into Head Coach Kellen Moore’s system.
Over the course of his first four years in the NFL, Olave consistently gained approximately 40% of his annual receiving yards in the intermediate area of the field, 10-19 yards from the line of scrimmage.
Moore hasn’t asked him to change that; instead, he’s dialed up ways to turn the routes Olave already wins running into more explosive patterns.
Hitch routes are a great example. Per Pro Football Focus, Shough and Olave connected on hitch routes for an average of 5.4 receiving yards per catch last year. That average is now up to 11.1 so far in 2026. On his eight catches on 11 hitches run, he’s also converted six first downs and accumulated 111 of his 268 receiving yards on the season.
