Devaughn Vele — Week 2: Twenty-Nine Yards on Third and Thirteen

Seven to nothing, Ravens, eight 59 left in the second quarter, third and 13 at the New Orleans 36. Tyler Shough threw deep middle to Devaughn Vele, 20 yards in the air, and Vele took it 29 to the Baltimore 35. +3.5 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 8.7 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. The drive went on to a 23-yard field goal, the first New Orleans points of the day.

The line: seven targets, five catches, 64 yards, three first downs, +5.4 expected points on his targets. 69 air yards, 13 after the catch. The catches: 11 on third and seven with 49 seconds left in the first quarter, converted; the 29; 13 on second and eight from the Baltimore 42 with 11 seconds left in the half, out of bounds at the 29, and after one incompletion Daniel Carlson hit from 47 with two seconds left; five on third and six with six oh six left in the fourth, a yard short, which set up Shough's first fourth-and-one sneak; and six on second and 14 with two 48 left, the snap before Juwan Johnson's 25-yarder. The incompletions were both in the fourth quarter — first and 10 from the New Orleans 47, broken up by Travis Jones, and first and goal from the seven with a minute 54 left. Three third-down targets, three catches, two conversions. The halves were uneven: three targets, three catches and 53 yards before the break, four targets, two catches and 11 yards after.

Seven targets were second on the Saints behind Chris Olave's 10, ahead of Alvin Kamara's six and Johnson's four, on 34 throws. In Week 1 it was nine, tied for second behind Olave's 13. That is 16 targets in two games.

Back in June the preview had Vele 90-fifth among receivers over nine games and said the volume had never been established, and it expected the first-round rookie Jordyn Tyson to slot in above him. Week 1 contradicted the first half of that with nine targets, seven catches and a touchdown, in a game Kamara missed and the Saints ran 62 pass plays. Sunday Kamara was back, the pass plays fell to 37, and Vele still had seven targets, so the share went up while the volume came down. The second half of the read has not been tested: the Saints placed Tyson on injured reserve before the season, per NBC Sports, and he has not played. Two games say Vele is the second receiver in this offense as it stands. They cannot say what happens when the room fills. New Orleans is home to the Raiders on Sunday the 20-seventh.

_Data via nflverse._