New Orleans Saints 2014 Offensive Grades
Nov 9, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston (12) carries the ball as San Francisco 49ers cornerbacks Perrish Cox (20) and Chris Culliver (29) chase in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The 49ers won 27-24. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
The wide receiving corp of the Saints was another disappointment, but only because so much was expected from them coming into this season. The statistics that not a single Saints receiver (or TE) recorded a 1,000 yard receiving are a bit misleading in terms to the year as a whole.
The unit still surpassed it’s performance of the 2013 season and has seen an influx of young talent with players like Cooks, Stills and even Toon. The unit produced 37 plays of 20+ yards this season, compared to only 31 in 2013. While some players struggled with drops, as a whole the receiving unit, like the running game, was on the rise. Play calling had just as much to do with problems the group faced as their play did.
Dropped passes are one of the first statistics brought up in review of the 2014 receiving group, and they are compared to last year’s statistics. According to Sporting Charts, the Saints in 2013 had 15 dropped passes all season. That was the lowest number for the Saints I could find going all the way back to 1992.
2014 saw the Saints drop 30 passes, and while it’s never good to go up in this category it isn’t uncommon. 2011 saw the Saints post 27 drops and it is considered the best year offensively of any Saints team in history. 21 drops were tallied in 2009. Sean Payton saw his ball club have 41 in 2007.
Starters:
MARQUES COLSTON. B-. Colston drew the ire of Saints fans this season by starting off struggling with drops and having a 7 game drought where he didn’t catch a touchdown in that span. There are what I would consider “extenuating circumstances” in his case, however, so we at the Believer have given him a higher grade than others you’ve seen might have. After Brandin Cooks was forced to go to IR due to injury, Colston grabbed 4 of his 5 touchdowns in the final 6 games. Also, this was the first season in which Colston was targeted less than 100 times by Drew Brees since the 2008 season (A season he lost time due to injury). While drops definitely came into play this year, it wasn’t Colston’s worst year in that category. After having time to review, Colston finished the season on a high note and performed well enough to get a solid grade. It wouldn’t be an incorrect statement to say the entire team struggled early on due to play-calling.. WR. New Orleans Saints
WR. New Orleans Saints. BRANDIN COOKS. A-. If it hadn’t have been for injury Cooks likely would have finished with over 1,000 yards receiving and over 100 yards rushing. It wasn’t till after the first few games of the season that the Saints even started using Cooks in deep post routes and other routes on the tree as they decided to take it slow and feel him out. He was everything draft experts said he would be, and probably could have returned from his injury before the season was over but the team opted to play it safe. Oh, something else, Cooks only had a 1.5% drop rate which is better than any other receiver on the team. Cooks is the perfect example of a Flanker wide-out and has the potential to be great.
B. Like Colston, Stills has faced his share of irritated fans. Stills did improve his numbers from last season, but the one that stands out the most to me is that his catching percentage went up 11%. That percentage is based on how many receptions a player makes against the times he is targeted. Not only did Stills become a more reliable target but he also showed he could run more of the route tree. In 2013 Stills emerged as a legitimate deep target. In 2014 Stills showed he can be a complete wide receiver.. WR. New Orleans Saints. KENNY STILLS
Reserves: (Players who saw limited snaps/playing time)
New Orleans Saints. ROBERT MEACHEM. D. Meachem might be my favorite players in terms of those I’ve met and spoken with. Be that as it may, he simply didn’t show up on the field as in year’s past. While being out on offense over 250 snaps, Meachem only recorded 7 receptions for 114 yards and zero touchdowns. He showed that he is still a very capable blocking wide-out, but that can’t be the only reason you have a receiver on the field.. WR
New Orleans Saints. NICK TOON. C-. Nick Toon surprised everyone here at the Believer. I was personally fairly vocal about my disappointment in Toon’s previous performances. For the most part, Toon showed improvement in almost every area. In 239 offensive snaps Toon brought in 17 receptions for 215 yards and a touchdown. What brings his grade down? Two things. First, his fumble in limited snaps is never a good sign. Secondly, and this was the biggest reason for his dropped grade, he had poor route running in multiple games. Specifically, Toon ran poor routes in the Saints and Panthers game that took place in New Orleans. Because of this he received a lower grade.. WR
F. The biggest disappointment of the receiving group has to be Morgan. This is an example of a talented player who let his off the field conduct and various incidents get him removed from the team. Morgan didn’t necessarily do bad on the field, but he wasn’t as electric as in his 2012 season premier. A combination of injuries and in house displeasure led to his final release.. WR. New Orleans Saints. JOSEPH MORGAN
A. Saunders only caught one pass while with the Saints this season, but in his short time here it was the fresh air he breathed into the Saints return game that lands him with such a high grade. Let me rattle off some stats for you: 2 kick returns for 120 yards (99 yard long) and 9 punt returns for 99 yards (32 yard long). The 11.0 YPR average is almost 8 full yards higher than Brandin Cooks’ punt return average. Saunders might have cemented himself a spot for next season.. WR/PR/KR. New Orleans Saints. JALEN SAUNDERS
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