The NFL's best WR corps?
by SaintBevo on Sep 22, 2009 8:13 PM CDT
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There was some discussion recently around the Saints WR corps and whether they should be considered among the league’s best. To sum up the basic arguments:
Before I weigh in, lets look at the contenders for the league’s best corps (in my opinion):
- Arizona – Probably the clear favorite. Led by perhaps the league’s best in Larry Fitzgerald amd Anquan Boldin. Steve Breaston is no slouch either.
- Detroit – Calvin Johnson alone makes this group stand out, with servicable Bryant Johnson and Dennis Northcutt.
- Green Bay – With Greg Jennings in his prime, veteran Donald Driver and young Jordy Nelson and James Jones, this is another strong contender.
- Houston – again, Andre Johnson is studly enough to earn this group consideration and Kevin Walter is a solid #2. Andre Davis and Jacoby Jones round out the group
- Minnesota – Honestly, I only include them because John Clayton recently said that they may be the best. Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin? Give me a break.
- New England – Another strong contender for the top spot. Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Joey Galloway are a very strong top 3. Young Julian Edelman had a big day against the Jets.
- Pittsburgh – Not as flashy as some, but still good. Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes are the headliners, but their backups Limas Sweed (hook ‘em) and Mike Wallace are explosive.
- New Orleans – They definitely lack the star power of Arizona, New England and some of the others but depth and versatility are the strengths of this group. Colston is a big, physical threat who gets open and catches everything. Henderson is a burner who can stretch the defense and his hands seenm to be improving (knock on wood). Meachem has battled the bust label, but is big and physical with good speed. Perhaps we’re seeing him put it together this year. Lance Moore, when healthy, is the perfect zone-buster. He runs perfect routes and has great hands.
The Saints WR corps definitely benefits from the Payton system and Brees pulling the trigger. Each of these players by theselves would not be as good and Brees makes everybody look better. However, Brees and the system definitely benefit from them as well. Would this team be as good with Joe Horn, Willie Jackson and Jake Reed? How about Quinn Early and Floyd Turner? Umm…no.
I’d say the Saints WRs, while not the best group in the league, are in the top 3. What do you think?
This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.
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Best wide receiver CORPS
…not best wide receiver. Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald may be studs, but nobody has the depth we do. Any of these guys could be a starter on most NFL teams. Brees is good, but he doesn’t do it all himself; and if he had to play with talented but undisciplined players who can’t run consistent routes or make adjustments to blitzes and coverages, he wouldn’t have the stats he does. Our guys are top-notch.
Super Bowl 44: "If you play in this league and it's not your goal, there's something wrong with you." -- Marques Colston
agreed!
if you look at shockey’s comments… he talks about how brees is a machine when it comes to prep and how much he expects from his receivers. i think that’s the key. brees prepares like no other and has the same level of expectation from his receiving corps.
i think people are kinda undercutting colston on his abilities. the dude’s a stud, and i don’t know why people don’t consider him to be a GREAT receiver. he has great hands, good speed… he’s physical and blocks well. what does he have to do? 8 for 8 against philly? c’mon… he’s awesome.
i'm with you
Brees deserves alot of credit but all of these guys make him look better(at least on paper) than he really is all the time. How many times have we seen Lance reach back behind him and catch the ball. Same with Colston. Although we all know that Brees is great, his receivers give him better stats when they make good catches on bad throws. They are definetly underrated with everyone saying that it’s all Brees.
Superbowl bound!!!...I hope? Go Saints! :D
by skinnykinney on Sep 23, 2009 3:53 PM CDT up reply actions
Well… on the other hand, Lance may have to reach back for the ball, but in some of those cases if Drew throws it ahead of him it’s a pick instead of a completion. Drew (almost always) throws the ball with an utterly insane precision where (usually) only his guy can have any chance to make a play on the ball. Sure there are exceptions but they are rare.
I think both sides make the other look good. What makes this offense so good is that the mentality and style of play and the abilities of all the different pieces all fit together extremely well. Drew is one of the, if not outright the, best QBs in the league right now, but he couldn’t do it without his OL providing him with some time to throw, or without his receivers making difficult catches when he puts the balls into those insanely tight windows, or without a credible running threat to keep defenses honest, or without Payton making good play calls. But then our receivers couldn’t make those awesome catches without the balls being put where they are put. And our OL couldn’t give Drew time if he wasn’t able to move around in the pocket a bit. Etc. Take even one of those completely away and we’re an average team at best. Even reducing one of them is going to make it harder to be elite if we manage it at all. It’s the fit that makes us so good.
sometimes it is where he has to put it
and other times it’s the receivers making those throws completions that most wouldnt catch. We have a great bunch. They all do their job. The whole OL-QB-WRs-RB feeding off of each other is true. You can’t be successful passing the ball everytime and you can’t be successful if the QB is on his back. But, if everyone has the same O-line and running backs, Brees would still be the best but make some bad throws that our awesome receivers make good catches on. I believe Brees to be the most accurate passer but they’re not always going to be easy balls to catch.
Superbowl bound!!!...I know! do you?! Go Saints!!
by skinnykinney on Sep 24, 2009 5:08 PM CDT up reply actions
oops tried to vote for Saints but hit NE instead
please forgive me
NICE POST BEVO, and by post I mean Fanpost.
Smell Greatness
i love the saints WR's..
But i’ve gotta be realistic and put the Cardinals above them, I’d definitly give them the 2nd best though. and it’s not always the QB that makes the recievers better (i know Brees is a GOD but..) look at what happened to Jay Cutler, he was a superstar in Denver where he had Brandon Marshall and Royal…then he goes to Chicago where he has…umm…hmm…devin hester?? I’m not saying this is the case at all with us, but think about if drew didnt have colston and our other great recievers catching for him.
NE and Arizona
are the only ones I would even talk about possibly being better.
Superbowl bound!!!...I hope? Go Saints! :D
You include Minnesota and Pittsburgh in this ranking but not Buffalo?
Come on ;) gotta have better research. I voted for Arizona, but to be honest, there’s no way Buffalo’s WR corps isn’t as good as the Vikings’ and the Lions’.
"What in the hell have I gotten myself into?" - Bruce Smith HOF
Buffalo does have a good corps
but Berrian, Harvin, and Sidney Rice is good too. Definetly have better than the Lions because CJ is only one man. TO…i’m still waiting for him to prove that he’s still got it. Pitsburgh is better with Ward and Holmes while Sweed has looked promising and Wallace has done pretty well so far while being consistent. You guys do deserve some attention but you guys rely heavily on the run game when Lynch is playing. Same with Minnesota too though.
Superbowl bound!!!...I hope? Go Saints! :D
by skinnykinney on Sep 23, 2009 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions
second that, Buffalo belongs up there
im pretty sure that everyone who is a saints fan voted for the saints and everyone else voted for the cardinals. post this somewhere else where you’ll draw from all the fanbases equally and im sure you’ll get different results. my opinion is that drew brees is just a spectacular qb who puts where his receivers will get it.
just bitter from having Lee Evans on my fantasy football team :)
but seriously, Buffalo probably could/should be in the conversation. They’re better than Minnesota imo (I thought Clayton was crazy when he said they were the best).
You’re probably right. But there are a lot of teams with a bunch of WRs that are “pretty good” that haven’t yet proven themselves elite. They may turn out to be by EOY but right now they haven’t proven it. Indy, NYG, Cincinnati (don’t laugh), Baltimore (no don’t laugh here either the kid here is making his guys look VERY good right now), even Dallas and a few others all could have made the list. Maybe even should have. But none of them truly are the best WR corp in the leagues right now, they only deserve an honorable mention for potential. And so does Buffalo… right now. That may well change before the year is over.
we should obviously
base this somewhat on this year’s performance—and buffalo’s on-paper awesome WR tandem isn’t really blowing up so far.
buffalo’s had 3 WRs catch passes, for a combined total of 13 catches for 201 yards and 2 TDs. those are the same stats for mario manningham (he actually has 7 more yards than that).
…so how are the giants not up there? even without plax, manningham and steve smith (no relation) are making eli look like a real quarterback (smith, by the way, has 16 grabs for 214 yards and a TD). i don’t see the case for buffalo, though—that’s just fandemonium!
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