Bub Means Waiver Wire Fantasy Outlook Week 7: Is Saints WR a good pick with Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave injured?

Bub Means was never supposed to be a breakout player in 2024. He sat behind Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed in a New Orleans Saints wide receiver room that was entering a new era - one without former star Michael Thomas, who had been released during the offseason.

But then he did break out. In Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he caught five passes for 45 yards and a touchdown - the first meaningful numbers of his career. And with Olave (concussion) and Shaheed (knee) missing Tuesday practice and putting their status for Thursday's "revenge game" against former head coach Sean Payton and his Denver Broncos into doubt, could Means put up an even better performance?

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Bub Means fantasy outlook: Is he a good waiver wire pickup in Week 7?

New Orleans Saints v San Francisco 49ers - Source: Getty

The fortunate thing about Bub Means is that he is facing a Broncos team that is continuing to be among the shallowest in the league.

When looking at that roster, one can see a complete lack of star power that has been hampering the organization ever since Peyton Manning retired at the end of the 2015 season. On the defensive side especially, it has been ages since Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware terrorized quarterbacks, while the "No Fly Zone" bannered by cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Chris Harris shut down passing games left and right.

Nowadays, the only defender to have any worth whatsoever is cornerback Pat Surtain. Justin Simmons was released in the offseason and joined the Atlanta Falcons. And while Riley Moss looks to be promising, he has yet to have a standout performance. Meanwhile, none of the front seven have made a significant impact.

The only concern for the Saints is the quality of Means' fellow receivers. Should their two main men be out, he will be sharing the field with Cedrick Wilson, who has not exactly proven himself of starting caliber throughout his career.

But that apparently does not matter much when there is also a monstrous running back duo for Spencer Rattler to hand off to in Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams, or the slightly less monstrous tight end duo of Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau, who are too large for defensive backs to outmuscle, to feed.

Either way, Means is someone to stash in a sleeper trove - one to keep in reserve on a waiver wire.