Fantasy Football Impact Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave and Derek Carr are expected to play

It's been a tough few weeks for fantasy managers Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave. After Derek Carr injured his oblique in Week 5, the Saints played rookie Spencer Rattler and journeyman Jake Haener, which led to some disappointing performances from Kamara and Olave over the last three weeks.

However, fantasy managers received some good news today as Saints coach Dennis Allen said Carr will practice this week and Allen is optimistic Carr will play on Sunday.

That seems to give both Kamara and Olave a fantasy boost, especially this week against a subpar Carolina Panthers defense that gives up most of the fantasy points to the running backs and most to the QBs and WRs as well.

The challenge is that the increase may only go back to the numbers from the first five weeks and not increase massively overall.

Kamara offers the biggest advantage of the two. He averaged 77.6 rushing yards per game and 4.6 catches for 42.8 yards per game and scored 6 touchdowns with Carr as QB. With Carr out, those averages dropped to 39.0 rushing yards and 31.0 receiving yards per game with a total of 1 touchdown. His catches per game improved to 5.7 receptions per game, but that was due to the Saints' inability to pass deep.

Olave should also improve in fantasy. He averaged 4.4 catches per game, 55.0 yards per game and scored a touchdown with Carr. Without him, Olave averaged 3.7 catches and 40.7 yards per game with no touchdowns. The Saints will also be without Rashid Shaheed for the rest of the year, so Olave is likely to be the undisputed main target up front.

Both should have strong games against the Panthers, but after that the Saints face the Falcons and Browns before a bye in Week 12. These defenses are mediocre in terms of yards allowed per game and points allowed per game in both real and fantasy football.

Not bad, but not great.

This theme continues with matchups against the Rams, Giants and Commanders. The first two have losing records, but the Rams give up the 16th-most passing yards per game, the Giants give up the sixth-fewest passing yards per game and the Commanders give up the seventh-fewest passing yards per game.

No one is as strong against the run, but the Saints, with and without Carr, are averaging just 116.4 rushing yards per game, which is 21st in the NFL.

Overall, Carr's expected return is positive for Kamara and Olave. However, given that the Saints are 2-6 after this week's match against the Panthers with some difficult games, it's safe to assume that neither will become the secret ingredient in a championship roster.