Defenses can’t focus on Colston

By Darrell Laurant  |   Monday, July 30, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

New Orleans Saints
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Swimming up from the bottom of the draft pool to pull off a 1,000-yard receiving season, Marques Colston of the New Orleans Saints got a lot of attention last season.

Unfortunately, that's not always a good thing for a receiver. It's guaranteed that opposing defenses now know that the Saints' No. 12 is someone to keep an eye on. As a consequence, Colston can look forward to a year of being jammed, bumped and shadowed with a lot more intensity than in 2006.

Yet there is only so much attention that DBs can devote to the second-year pro out of Hofstra. Otherwise, they may neglect Devery Henderson, the league leader in yards per catch and one of the fastest wideouts in the NFL. Or Terrance Copper, who was plucked off the waiver wire last season; he added 23 catches and 385 yards to the totals put up by Colston, Henderson and Joe Horn (now in Atlanta).

How did these three no-names -- Colston, Henderson and Copper -- become three-quarters of one of the best receiving units in the league?

Two words: Drew Brees. A top quarterback naturally makes his receivers look good, and Brees completed 64 percent of his throws en route to an NFL-best 4,418 yards last year. That means that more often than not, he delivered the ball in places where Colston, Henderson, Copper and Horn could catch it.

And now, as of Tuesday, there's Robert Meachem, the Saints' first-round draft pick out of Tennessee who signed for five years for what is said to be over $11 million.

Meachem is neither quite as fast as Henderson nor quite as big as Colston (6-foot-2 to 6-4), but the fact that New Orleans drafted him first speaks volumes. The Saints really didn't need Meachem, but they had to have him.

As a Volunteer in 2006, Meachem caught 71 passes from Erik Ainge for a school-record 1,298 yards, fifth best all-time in the venerable and revered Southeastern Conference. He can slip into seams in zone defenses like Colston, and he can beat defenders deep like Henderson.

Although Meachem had some knee problems in the spring that limited his performance in the OTAs, that seems to be behind him now.

Given the fact that there is only quarterback and one football on any given play, Colston may not crest the 1,000-yard plateau this season. Instead, what the Saints offer in the passing game is an offensive buffet (including Reggie Bush as well as the wide receivers) and Brees is hungry.

Besides, being the main course isn't always fun.
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