The Baltimore Ravens know where the New Orleans Saints are likely to go first Sunday, and the answer isn’t much of a mystery: Chris Olave.
That’s the job in front of Jesse Minter’s revamped secondary in his first home game as Ravens coach. The Saints aren’t hiding what they want to do.
They want to keep feeding one receiver and let him do the heavy lifting. Baltimore’s defense, fresh off a Week 1 thumping of the Colts, is about to face a much different kind of stress test.
Corner Marlon Humphrey said it plainly when asked about Olave: “A really big challenge,” corner Marlon Humphrey said of the All pro target. “I think he is kind of the leader of that group that they have.
They are all over the place with kind of how they pass the ball around. Their tight ends can block, but they also run routes really well.
"So, I think kind of putting a cap on Olave is kind of where it starts. If you can kind of hold him to the lower side of receptions and yards, then you have a good chance, and then you kind of have to deal with everyone else. But, Olave - he has kind of been the force”
That’s the crux of the matchup. New Orleans has plenty of ways to move the ball, but the Saints have made it clear that Olave is the centerpiece.
Since Tyler Shough became the starting quarterback midway through last season, the numbers have tilted heavily in Olave’s direction. He has 85 targets in those 10 games, while every other receiver on the Saints roster has combined for 107.
Olave has 57 catches; the other nine receivers together have 73.
He’s not just piling up short grabs, either. Olave can hurt a defense from the slot or outside, and he’s averaged more than 14 air yards per target from either spot.
He’s also averaging nearly five first downs per game with Shough, which tells you how often he’s getting the ball in key moments. Since last November, Olave has been top 10 in the NFL in targets despite missing time with injury, and he’s also top 10 in target percentage among receivers at 26%.
The explosive-play profile is just as loud. Olave ranks fifth in the NFL over that span in air yards per target among receivers with at least 50 targets, and he’s producing an explosive play on one of every four targets. Against a beat-up Lions secondary in Week 1, he caught 10 of 13 targets for 180 yards.
Baltimore is walking into this with a very different challenge than it saw against Indianapolis. Daniel Jones, limited by injury, was never going to push the ball downfield the way Shough can.
The Saints, even in a 62-dropback, 86-play overtime game against the Lions, showed who they are and who they trust. They have a better offensive line than the Colts presented last week, plus a much better left tackle, which gives them the freedom to spread the ball around - but usually with Olave as the main destination.
Shough’s own numbers show why the Ravens have to be sharp with their coverage calls. In his 10 starts, he’s dropped back 400 times, more than all but Jacoby Brissett, Jared Goff and Caleb Williams.
He’s been better against man coverage, with 5 TDs to 1 INT and a 111.2 rating, than against zone, where he has 5 TDs to 6 INTs and a 90.3 rating. He also has a 128.4 career rating against dime coverage, with six or more defensive backs on the field, and just 89.5 against nickel.
That matters because Minter leaned heavily on dime in Week 1, using it almost twice as much as anyone else in the league. The Ravens also played zone at a high rate last week, and that may only increase Sunday.
They understand the shape of the challenge. The question is whether they can keep Olave from turning it into a track meet.
Getting All-Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike back from neck surgery could help the pass rush, and Shough has shown he can make mistakes when pressured. Baltimore’s secondary may be the strength of the defense, but this is the kind of game that asks it to prove it.
“Their quarterback is slinging it,” hybrid defender Kyle Hamilton said. “I know they were kind of in 'two-minute mode' for a lot of last game.
He can make a lot of throws on the field. They have Olave, Vele, all those other guys.
The tight ends are good, too, and Travis [Etienne] coming out of the backfield.
“There is a bunch of talent on that offense, and they have a solid O-line, too. You don't put up 400 yards passing by accident. I know they're throwing the ball a lot, but still, it's up to us as a defense, especially as a secondary, to take that as a challenge and go out there and stop it."
In Other News...
Ravens Rookie Receiver Suddenly Leaves Baltimore Facing An Early Test
The Ravens have already hit a delicate early-season snag with rookie receiver Ja'Kobi Lane, who landed on injured reserve after a wrist injury and is now set to miss at least the first four weeks of the season. Surgery was done to help the healing process, and the timing means Baltimore will have to move ahead without one of its young pass-catching options right away.
Lane is not eligible to play in Weeks 2 through 5, which leaves the Ravens waiting for a possible return around Week 6 or soon after. For a team trying to settle its offensive rhythm in September, the setback adds an early layer of uncertainty around a rookie whose availability had been part of the plan. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens May Be Shedding The Problem That Kept Haunting Them Late
Baltimore has spent too much of the John Harbaugh era wrestling with the same late-game problem, the kind of collapses and playoff heartbreaks that turned solid stretches into nagging regrets. The latest chapter around the Ravens is different in tone, with new head coach Jesse Minter preaching something simpler and maybe harder to sustain: play at a high level for the full game, not just when the script is comfortable.
The road win over the Indianapolis Colts offered a useful glimpse of that approach. Even with injuries thinning out the wide receiver group, the Ravens found enough from the players on hand to keep the offense steady and the operation more consistent than it has often looked in the past. The bigger question now is whether this version of Baltimore is really putting the old late-game problem behind it, or just showing a cleaner face before the next pressure test arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Emery Jones Week 1 Scratch Says Plenty About His Ravens Role
The Ravens Week 1 decision on Emery Jones Jr. offered an early glimpse into where he stands in the offensive line pecking order. Baltimore chose not to activate the rookie for the opener and leaned on Andrew Vorhees as the backup guard, a move that suggests the staff is prioritizing the more established option while Jones continues to work his way forward.
Jones still brings the kind of versatility that can make him useful down the road, and offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford has talked about him as a player with future value. For now, though, the path is clear enough: Vorhees is ahead of him, and Jones has yet to earn a larger role as the 2026 season gets going. [Read more 🡒]