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Chris Olave injury: status, history and who gets his targets if he is out

New Orleans Saints · Wide receiver · status this week: not on the week 7 injury report (week 7 report, captured Wed 21 Oct, 6:15am)

Checked Oct 21, 2026.

Over his 4 full seasons on record, Chris Olave played 55 of 68 regular-season games (81%), and 6 of 6 so far in 2026. Season by season.

The New Orleans Saints room absorbs +5.15 receptions, and Barion Brown takes the largest single share at +0.89. The work stays overwhelmingly inside the wide receiver room.

Where the work goes

Change in projected receptions for every other player in the offense. The bars are small on purpose — a vacated role is shared out, and any tool showing one replacement absorbing a whole target load is telling you something the data does not support.

Receptions gained if Chris Olave sitsBarion Brown+0.9WR 11% snapsKevin Austin Jr.+0.8WR 11% snapsJalen Cropper+0.6WR 0% snapsCedric Tillman+0.6WR 4% snapsDevaughn Vele+0.6WR 92% snapsBryce Lance+0.6WR 66% snapsNoah Fant+0.2TE 56% snapsJuwan Johnson+0.1TE 63% snapsOscar Delp+0.1TE 29% snapsTreyton Welch+0.1TE 7% snapsAlvin Kamara+0.1RB 30% snapsTravis Etienne+0.1RB 46% snapsKendre Miller+0.1RB 30% snapsCJ Donaldson+0.1RB 32% snapschange in projected receptions

Every player in the room

PlayerCatches nowIf he sitsChange
Chris Olave WR · 81% snaps5.80—OUT
Devaughn Vele WR · 92% snaps4.004.55+0.55
Juwan Johnson TE · 63% snaps3.904.05+0.15
Alvin Kamara RB · 30% snaps2.502.63+0.13
Noah Fant TE · 56% snaps2.202.36+0.16
Travis Etienne RB · 46% snaps1.902.03+0.13
Kendre Miller RB · 30% snaps1.401.53+0.13
Bryce Lance WR · 66% snaps1.101.65+0.55
CJ Donaldson RB · 32% snaps0.700.83+0.13
Kevin Austin Jr. WR · 11% snaps0.701.45+0.75
Oscar Delp TE · 29% snaps0.700.85+0.15
Jalen Cropper WR · 0% snaps0.501.14+0.64
Barion Brown WR · 11% snaps0.401.29+0.89
Cedric Tillman WR · 4% snaps0.300.94+0.64
Treyton Welch TE · 7% snaps0.100.25+0.15

Injury history

Over his 4 full seasons on record, Chris Olave played 55 of 68 regular-season games (81%), and 6 of 6 so far in 2026.

SeasonTeamPlayedMissedListed outQuestionableInjuries listed
2026NO6 of 6002Hamstring, Illness
2025NO16 of 17113Back, Illness
2024NO8 of 17933Head, Concussion, Hamstring
2023NO16 of 17103Ankle, Concussion, Illness
2022NO15 of 17212Hamstring, Concussion

Regular season only. Games played counts games with at least one offensive snap; designations are from the official weekly injury report, which does not list players on injured reserve, so a long absence shows as missed games rather than as weeks listed out.

What the data says happens

Measured across every regular-season game from 2018 onward, each beneficiary compared against his own trailing four-game form and net of what the same players do in weeks the room’s number one actually plays.

When a team’s number-one wide receiver does not play, what each position group gains:

RoomReceptions gainednt
Receivers+0.5841,53711.16
Tight ends+0.1751,0803.33
Backs+0.1131,0112.00

The room total is predictable. Which player takes it is not. Every candidate predictor of who gains — pecking order, snap share, route depth, trailing targets — correlates at roughly r = 0.02. In any single week one player usually takes about 60% of what was vacated; it is simply not predictably the same one.

Chris Olave’s full stats and usageSnap share, target share, game log and this week’s projection

Cascade effects 2018–2026, paired within player, net of control · projections as-of-week with no lookahead · 2026 week 7