Juwan Johnson — Week 1: One Touchdown to Tie, One Catch to the Eight
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
Johnson caught three of seven targets for fifty-four yards Sunday, and all three catches came in the last seventy-three seconds of regulation and overtime: the nine-yard touchdown that tied it at 24–24 with a minute thirteen left, an eighteen-yard catch on the drive that ran out the clock, and a twenty-seven-yard catch to the Detroit eight in overtime, two snaps before Noah Fant's touchdown. Fant was targeted eight times to Johnson's seven, in a 31–30 loss to the Lions.
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Juwan Johnson did not catch a pass Sunday until there was a minute 13 left in the fourth quarter, and then he caught three of the biggest ones the Saints threw. First and goal at the Detroit nine, New Orleans down 24 to 17: Tyler Shough short right to Johnson for nine yards and the touchdown that tied it. That throw was worth +2.2 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and +9.3 points of win probability, the chance of winning before and after a play. With 21 seconds left he caught an 18-yarder deep middle to the Detroit 44, and the Saints spiked it, threw once more, and a 62-yard field goal missed wide right at 24 all.
The overtime catch was the longest of his day. First and 10 at the Detroit 35, a minute 53 left, Saints down 31 to 24: deep right, 24 yards in the air, pushed out at the eight for 27. +1.9 expected points. The next throw was to him too, first and eight from the eight, incomplete, and the one after that was Fant's touchdown. The line: seven targets, three catches, 54 yards, one touchdown, +1.0 expected points on the seven. The four incompletions: third and seven from the New Orleans 30 in the first quarter, punt; first and 10 at the Detroit 20 in the third; third and 12 from the 23 with two minutes left, down seven, which is the play before Shough converted fourth and 12 to Bryce Lance; and the one from the eight in overtime. Neither of his third-down targets was caught.
The tight end room got 15 of the 57 throws. Fant had eight of them and caught four for 33 yards and the overtime touchdown, and both of Shough's interceptions were thrown his way; the eight came out at −8.5 expected points. Johnson had seven and one target before halftime. Chris Olave led the Saints with 13 targets, Travis Etienne and Devaughn Vele nine each, and the passing game ran through those three until the end, when it ran through Johnson.
Back in June the preview's read on Johnson was a TE10 season across all 17 games, availability the clearest reason for the rank, and an open question about whether the target volume would hold with more mouths in the room. Sunday there were more mouths — Fant's eight targets is the answer to that, and Johnson's seven is the other half of it. A game with 57 throws cannot say what the split looks like in a normal one. New Orleans is at the Ravens on Sunday the twentieth. Fant's number is the one next to his.
_Data via nflverse._
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