Saints Wide Receivers Still Looking For Identity In 2015
Heading into offseason this year the New Orleans Saints had some question marks to address in several areas.
Who would replace huge redzone target tight end Jimmy Graham?
Where would the team generate some much needed pass rush after the release of linebacker Junior Galette?
What would the Saints choose to do in order to solidify a leaky secondary riddled with injuries?
The list goes on and on in so many areas, but the one that didn’t seem to be a problem was the group at wide receiver.
Really the only question was who would the Saints keep at such a seemingly deep position after not even choosing one in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Sep 13, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston (12) reacts during the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
You knew that Marques Colston would return to reclaim his crown as the #1 receiver with sophomore player Brandin Cooks sitting at #2.
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It appeared that practice squad holdouts Brandon Coleman and Seantavius Jones would battle it out for the third and fourth spots.
Meanwhile the remaining fifth spot would be secured by a Sean Payton-pardoned Joe Morgan or someone like Josh Morgan or dark-horse Willie Snead during the ensuing training camp battles.
Colston was given plenty of rest because, hey, he’s been one of the clutch receivers for the Saints barring a disappointing 2014 season and Cooks seemed to be fully healed from his injury that sidelined his rookie season.
Coleman looked good in camp with the occasional case of dropped passes while players like Snead were making a push for the final roster.
Photo courtesy of Richard Crank, New Orleans Saints
It appeared that the Saints would have some tough decisions moving forward due to the overabundance of talent…right?
The dust settled with Colston, Cooks, Coleman, and Snead being the four horsemen to gallop into the regular season with Joe Morgan being added shortly later.
With these five players and the savvy play calling of Payton combined with quarterback Drew Brees the offense would be a forced to be reckoned with…right?
Well actually heading into Week 4 for a Sunday night matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, the wide receiver corps itself has had a reckoning and it opened up a set of new questions:
Who is this group and who will become a serious receiving threat to opposing defenses?
Colston has appeared to be a shadow of himself and the fear that the Saints may have held onto him too long is becoming a frighting reality.
He’s played a total of 130 snaps on offense while being thrown at 18 times with 11 receptions for 145 yards with his worst game being against the Arizona Cardinals where he had 3 receptions for 29 yards.
Usually Colston has been rock steady for his time in New Orleans but now just seems to be rocked and instead of a #1 receiver on the Saints depth chart he’s looking more like #3.
Aug 22, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks (10) catches a touchdown over New England Patriots strong safety Duron Harmon (30) during the first quarter of a preseason game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Cooks has been limited to what was thought to be a breakout season for him and with 197 snaps has only 16 receptions for 190 yards and no touchdowns.
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Game planning from both opposing defenses and from the Saints have likely limited Cooks in producing home run plays like we saw in the preseason against the New England Patriots, but it still has to be frustrating for him as well as the Saints.
Coleman has been the most disappointing so far although he has been responsible for one of two touchdowns for the receiver group.
The disappoint comes from watching the effort he put into getting that touchdown in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals to almost a non-factor the rest of the way.
I believe that the Saints truly intended to use the 6-6, 225 pound frame of Coleman to help replace Graham, but that hasn’t been the case.
Coleman is second in receiver offensive snaps with 132 but he hasn’t made the most of it after being targeted 16 times and only snagging eight of those passes for 83 yards and the one score.
Sep 20, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandon Coleman (16) catches the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first quarter of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
After getting four receptions in Week 1, that number decreased to three in Week 2, and one in Week 3 for nine yards.
Yikes.
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Coleman’s inconsistency and lack of fight to grab passes is becoming a bit alarming for someone who was thought to take over for Colston eventually.
Snead has been a pleasant surprise in the season and unlike Coleman, his receptions have increased from one in Week 1 to five last week against Carolina.
He has snagged six of his ten receptions in the 0-9 yard range over the middle or left side of the field with a total of 151 yards for the season and one touchdown and also has the best per catch average of all receivers with 15.1
There have been growing pains for Snead with a fumble in Week 2 after a nice catch and run as well as a crucial dropped first down catch last week, but he is slowly living up to the the trust that was placed in him by the coaching staff.
Ok one final question for this receiver group: Where the heck is Joe Morgan?!?
After being brought back following Week 1, Payton said that the prodigal son of the Saints offense would play a “role” in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and raved about his speed and physicality.
Nov 24, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Morgan (13) on a 67-yard run in the first quarter of their game against the Baltimore Ravens at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Yet Morgan only played eleven snaps total in that game and has yet to record a reception after the thought was he would help stretch the field and ease some of the pressure on Cooks.
He wasn’t used last week against the Panthers and it’ll be interesting to see if Morgan will be more involved in the passing game against the Cowboys, especially since Brees is returning and is said to be able to make even the deep throws.
What this receiver group will be in 2015 is still a mystery that may not be solved immediately even if they show up against Dallas.
While they look good on paper, there is still an uncertainty as to who they are and only time will tell as the season goes on what the identity of this group will be.
Time, that at 0-3 and two games down in the NFC South, the Saints can’t really afford to spend…..