Crazy old Donte? He was (and is) a pretty good receiver still… even if he did make the news in a very bad way recently…

These are my top 4. Eric is a native boy, and has the Saints receiving records for receptions and yards. I believe this could eventually be broken by Colston who is my second pick. If we move to 18 game seasons then I see Colston grabbing many records, and putting them in his back pocket.

These last two picks might shock some people, but maybe it won’t. For my third and forth slots I have chosen speed demons Stallworth and Henderson. These two would spread any defense, and Martin plus Colston would rip the middle of the field. This may not be the best receivers to ever play for the Saints, but it would be the best combination.

I did some research, and found some 40 times to see how fast these two players are. (if anyone has more accurate times then feel free to correct me)

Donte Stallworth 4.22
Devery Henderson 4.37

40 times and actual speed on the field are two different things, but I see both of these guys showing that speed on the field.

Any list missing Jubilee Dunbar and Guido Albert Merkens Jr. is not worth my consideration. Who put together this list? Where is Speedy Thomas? Al Dodd? Ike Harris? Tinker Owens? Larry Burton? Bob Newland?

Best Saints’ receivers: A) Joe Horn; B) Eric Martin; C) Colston; D) Abramowicz . Colston will end up best if he can get and stay healthy.

Best receivers Saints ever had, in addition to those 4: Wes Chandler, John Gilliam and Ken Burrough.

Hopefully this gives Big and Easy a heart attack.

In my humble opinion, with the possible exception of Morten, NO former Saint that chose to go from New Orleans to the Falcons should even be put on the ballot ….

Sorry, Bobby. That goes for you and Ironhead, too.

seems to be an important component of judging the single best Saints receiver of All-time. As some of you know, I have written previously about the Saints beginning years at Tulane stadium. Except for the fact I am old enuff to have seen every Saints game, what a great lifetime experience it has been to have lived the Saints since Day 1.

When you consider stats, the first 11 seasons of the Saints (‘67-’77) were 14 regular season games (16 began in ’78) and the West Coast offense began its infancy in ’79 (49ers under Bill Walsh) which was also the year the Saints had 4 Pro Bowl offensive players (Manning, Chandler, Muncie and Childs). So, as usual very difficult to compare stats during different eras.

Seems stats are part of the equation, but one must then consider hands, players that required the defense to know where they are on each play, route running, yac, leadership, longevity, style of offense, downfield blocking ability, supporting cast, consistency and TD’s, .

1. Love Colston’s performance and potential to date but he is not even in the conversation yet (hopefully one day as that would be a good thing for us fans as it means he has excelled for next 3-5 seasons).

2. Horn – loved his emotion and passion. Impressive stats for the era. Biggest challenge for him is consistency (not unusual for players that are so emotional) in both his downfield blocking and hands. Too many dropped passes at times when his team needed him most. I am a big fan of everything Joe brought to the table but he ranks 3rd on my list.

3. Wes Chadler – Man was he exciting. Defenses always had to locate him. Problem with having him in this conversation is most of his NFL success happened after he left the Saints (4 yrs, 1 Pro Bowl) to San Diego (7 yrs, 3 Pro Bowls and 1 All-Pro). Worthy of consideration but not enuff contribution to the Saints.

4. Danny Abramowicz – 17th round draft choice that willed and overachieved his way to greatness for the Saints (7 years). Taking a play off was not even close to being in his vocabulary. By far, the best hands of any Saints receiver ever, he just didn’t drop a pass no matter who was about to level him. Finished in league top 10 (3 seasons running, ‘68-’70) in total catches and total yds. First Saint to post a 50 catch season (remember 14 game season) four years running (‘67-’70). First Saint to lead league in # catches (1969, 73 total catches). 1st Saint All-Pro selection (back when All-Pro was more exclusive than a Pro Bowl selection). The man loved to block and leadership by example was his middle name. AND, he did all this for an expansion team that always lost more than they won and had offered very little as a supporting cast. Defenses always tried to stop him and usually failed.

5. Eric Martin – During his day, the NFL game was much closer to today’s game than the game of the ’70’s and ’60’s. First Saints ever with 80+ catches (’88 season). 1 Pro Bowl in his 9 saints seasons. 48 career TDs. Played hurt. Lived in the middle of the field. Super route runner and down field blocker.

When comparing Martin and Abramowicz – their longevity was fairly equal (119 games, 9 yrs – Martin) vs (111 games, 7 yrs – Abram.). Tds 39 Abram vs 48 Martin. Fairly equal in ypg and yds/rec. Martin had Bobby Hebert and a much stronger supporting cast than Danny A. Martin had a tendency to fumble the ball (18 fumbles in 119 games- Martin versus 5 fumbles in 111 games Abram). Martin had 7 yrs of high-level production for the Saints while Abramowicz only had 4 yrs of significant production. Being on some bad teams really took its toll on Abramowicz.

When I take into account everything, I give Danny Abramowicz the edge as #1 and Eric Martin is so close he gets #1a.