Juwan Johnson Fantasy Overview

2025 Role & Results

a Fantasy Surprise

Johnson compiled 77 catches, 889 yards, and 3 TDs in 17 games.

He ranked eighth among TEs in total PPR points; 13th in points per game. Johnson’s breakout season included nine top-12 fantasy finishes and only four weeks outside the top 16. He reached top-12 status in five of nine games with QB Tyler Shough, with a low finish of TE22.

Johnson Stepped Up for a Thin Unit

Chris Olave stayed mostly healthy, avoiding concussion issues and missing only Week 18. But New Orleans still dealt with major skill-position turnover, trading Rashid Shaheed midseason and losing Alvin Kamara for six games. No. 3 WR Devaughn Vele managed only 25 catches in 13 games.

The result: a career-high 16.9% target share for Johnson, good for 13th among TEs. His 18.6% red zone target share ranked 15th at the position.

Even His Efficiency Looked Solid

Among 28 TEs with 50+ targets, Johnson ranked:

• seventh in yards per catch
• seventh in yards per target
• ninth in yards per route run
• 18th in targets per route run
• 21st in yards after catch per reception

Johnson also saw plenty of on-target looks. His 90.0% catchable-target rate ranked sixth among TEs. Overall, Johnson’s efficiency profile looks solid.

Saints Push the Pace, Lean Pass

The Saints broke in a new offense under play-calling HC Kellen Moore. His unit ranked 23rd in yards and 28th in points but jumped to sixth in pass attempts and 13th in passing yards.

Moore added the ingredients to improve on those finishes in Year 2 of Shough and with more offensive talent surrounding him. The Saints finished first in pace and situation-neutral pace and slotted 11th in total plays.

Zero Missed Games Since 2023

Johnson has played all 17 games in two straight seasons. He needed foot surgery in June 2024 but returned to practice in mid-August.

His last missed time came in 2023, when a calf injury sidelined him for a month.

2026 Opportunity & Projection

Expect Johnson's Role to Diminish

We project Johnson for a similar route rate as last season: 74%

But we have his target share dropping from 16.9% to 15.0%, largely due to the selection of Round 1 WR Jordyn Tyson. That draft capital is backed up by an age-18 breakout, a 34% college target share, and the ability to win inside and out. Our prospect guru Shane Hallam comped Tyson to former Falcon Roddy White, who hit 1,100 yards six times in an 11-year career.

Tyson brings injury concerns after suffering several notable injuries at Arizona State. But he enters the summer healthy and positioned to work as the No. 2 target behind Chris Olave.

The Saints also bolstered their TE depth with Noah Fant and Oscar Delp. Fant shared work with Mike Gesicki last year but proved efficient, setting a career high in catch rate and posting his best yards per route run since 2021. Delp didn’t produce much at Georgia, but a 9.82 Relative Athletic Score and early Round 3 capital make him worth monitoring.

Shough Looks like a Rising QB

Shough enters Year 2 with a full offseason to settle in as the starter. He showed promise last year despite limited receiving help, below-average protection, and a midseason move into the lineup.

Among 42 QBs with 150+ attempts, the rookie ranked:

• 11th in completion rate
• 11th in catchable throw rate
• 13th in yards per attempt

HC, OC Return For Another Season

Johnson returns to the same staff that steered the team to rankings of fifth in pass rate, fifth in neutral pass rate, and sixth in total pass attempts last season.

Per Fantasy Points Data, Johnson also ranked 11th among TEs in first-read target rate at 19.4%, just behind Travis Kelce. That could dip with Tyson on the roster, but there’s no reason to doubt the TE’s fit under this staff.

Paths to Ceiling

If Johnson’s volume dips as expected, he’ll probably need an outlier TD season to hit his ceiling. Last year brought the opposite with a 3.8% TD rate, but his scoring chances should improve if Travis Etienne upgrades the run game and Shough develops.

Johnson also has a history of stronger TD production than we saw in 2025:

• 2021 TD rate: 30.7%
• 2022 TD rate: 16.6%
• 2023 TD rate: 10.8%
• 2024 TD rate: 6.0%

Johnson peaked with a 7-TD season in 2022.

Of course, there’s also the chance that Johnson retains more target share than we’re projecting for him, while also leveraging the positive efficiency and potentially benefiting from his team’s overall offensive improvement.

There’s a route to top-12 fantasy numbers among TEs.