After watching their wide receiver room get decimated by injury throughout the entire 2024 NFL season, the New Orleans Saints were hopeful that the first year in the Kellen Moore era would yield different results. Unfortunately, we’ve barely made it to mid-August, and the Saints have already been bit by the injury bug in a pretty significant way.
It was troubling enough when concussion-plagued wideout Chris Olave tweaked an ankle early last week, but at least with Olave, the injury was considered relatively short-term. Unfortunately, the ankle injury that second-year wide receiver Bub Means suffered in New Orleans’ preseason opener this past Sunday turned out to be far more serious.
Means was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a lower leg injury that forced him to be carted off the field against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first weekend of preseason action. In a cruel twist, the Chargers were the very same opponent, and SoFi Stadium was the very same field where Means’ rookie season ended last year due to an ankle injury.
It was unfortunate timing for the rookie out of Pittsburgh. After receiving only one target in the first five weeks of his first NFL season, Means began to step into a larger role in the Saints offense in Week 6. He was targeted eight times and caught five balls, including one for his first career touchdown. But only two weeks later, Means’ season had ended, seemingly just as quickly as it was getting started.
Bub Means May Have Been in Line for Breakout Sophomore Season
Prior to his injury, Bub Means had been listed as a second-teamer on the Saints depth chart. But just because Means wasn’t yet in line to start in New Orleans, it doesn’t mean that the former fifth-round pick wasn’t expected by some around the organization to step into a bigger role in 2025.
The Saints wide receivers will be one of the fastest groups in the entire league, but it’s a room that lacks a great deal of size. At 6-foot-2, Bub Means was one of the bigger-bodied options among the guys on the training camp roster and he plays a physical brand of football. These attributes could’ve created a pathway for Means to secure a roster spot heading into the regular season. And they could’ve propelled Means to playing the best football of his career.
“I’ve transitioned my entire game. I’m a better route runner. I’ve grown mentally in the game. I block better, my overall effort has improved,” Means said back in July, per Rene Nadeau of Crescent City Sports. “I’ve taken my game to a whole new level.”
Bub Means wasn’t lacking in self-confidence, and he clearly understood the assignment in the offseason. New head coach Kellen Moore was asked back in May what he expected from his wide receivers group. His response laid out the blueprint for Means’ offseason program.
“There’s a mental side of it on understanding your assignment,” Moore said, according to Ross Jackson of Louisiana Sports. “ And then there’s the physical component, which comes down to fundamentals. The finish part of it, the play style. There’s a lot that goes into that.”
Unfortunately, Bub Means won’t get the opportunity to prove that all of his offseason work paid off, at least for the foreseeable future. Means will be seeking a second opinion on his ankle injury, but either way, the outlook for 2025 isn’t great.
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