First Post, Saints WR Race

For the first post I make I thought I'd talk about a topic that has a lot of people talking lately. The Saints like most teams right now are battling it out in training camp to try and cut their roster down to 53 (from 85) and one of the most intriguing battles is taking place in the WR core.

Trying to pick the depth chart at any position right now is no easy task, much less the WR spot. There are so many things to take into consideration when anybody makes a comparison that it’s near futile. But that won't stop me from trying, here’s my WR depth chart / explanation break down:

Before I start my comparison, I was wondering if anyone knew of a website that listed a WR’s catchable passes. It’s easy to find how many catches a WR has, but 50 catches don’t mean much if he was thrown to 150 times. Ok, on with the breakdown.


* Who’s Making The Team *

Colston
Patten
Meachem
Arrington

The first two choices are easy. We all know that Colston and Patten are making the team.

Meachem and Arrington also though, will make the active roster list. Both for mainly the same reason. They have too high of a ceiling to just sit on the practice squad. They’re not going to last there. They’re our two best shots at having a break out player to support Colston. Meachem will end up getting the #3 spot. Arrington plays very similar to a Colston role, goes over the middle and has solid hands, he’s an interesting prospect. Either way, they’re on the team because we don’t want anyone else to have them.

It’s simply a matter of: Unknown potential > mediocre known potential. Yes, you run a risk but if at least one pans out to be good, then it was worth it.


* Who’s On The Bubble *

Henderson
Copper
Moore
Green

This is where it gets really interesting because the options are vast. Let’s basically look at what we have here player-wise.

Henderson – Stretches the field. Iffy hands.
Copper – Ok hands. Good ST’s guy.
Moore – Good hands. Doesn’t do much after the catch.
Green – Undersized WR. Decent return man.

Let’s compare that to who we already have making the team.

Colston – Dependable. Can go over the middle. Good hands.
Patten – Brings experience / leader to the WR core. Decent hands. *Don’t undervalue experience. It’s worth a lot*
Meachem – Good Speed. Decent hands. Good YAC.
Arrington – Good hands. Finds his spot well. Can go over the middle.

So to figure out who else is going to make the team we have to look at what those on the bubble bring that isn’t filled with the other WR’s.

From what I can tell, there’s a clear player that isn’t going to make it simply because we already have bigger / better with his talents. That’s Moore. While he has good hands, his play making ability just isn’t that big it seems. He’s good for the catch, but can’t break it for the big gain.

That leaves us with ST’s beast, Field stretcher, and return man.

Copper gives you good ST’s play but is basically another decent hand WR. Is his ST’s play enough for him to make the team? I think with Payton’s focus on trying to make ST’s better, he’s not going to sacrifice Copper for one of the other two WR’s. Coppers in.

Henderson brings an ability to stretch the field that none of the other WR’s possess (one day maybe Meachem will be able to do this, but he’s unproven as of right now – plus I see Meachem as a play maker with the ball in his hands more than a field stretching deep ball player). The problem with Henderson is he has trouble pulling the ball in for the catch. The way I see it however is, I’d rather a guy that can catch the ball 75% of the time for 60 yards, than a guy that can catch the ball 90% of the time for 6 yards (this is the reason I take Henderson over Moore). Is this a popular way of seeing things? I don’t know. But I just feel Henderson skill on the deep ball will keep defenses a little more true. Due to this, he makes the team.

Green is sadly just the odd man out. He looked to be having a good TC as far as returning goes, but his lack of WR abilities really hurt him. If we could somehow give Lance Moore Green’s return ability or give Green Moore’s catching ability, he’d be sure to make the team. The problem is we can’t. Green doesn’t offer enough WR ability to hold a spot just for a return man, especially when we have players at another position that can return the ball well. If Green was our only man back there, I’d say yes. But it’s simply too crowded for him. He’s not going to make the team.


* Final Group *

Colston
Patten
Meachem
Henderson
Copper
Arrington