Camp Battles: WR
 

Of course, Its too early to tell for sure, but lets have some fun.
Barring trades and injuries (and suspensions) I see us keeping these 6 WR's

1. Horn: Will return to pro-bowl form, he's too proud not to.

2. Stallworth: This is his year to step it up, but next year is his pro-bowl year.

3. Pathon: Dependable 3rd WR that can play every position, he stays, as he should.

4. Henderson: Will be our best WR in 3 years, and a pro-bowler

5. Gardner: 2nd round talent. He still intrigues me. Size and speed. He's my surprise to make the final roster, if he continues to develop as most 2nd year WR's do. His development opens up several trade scenarios next year. His value is enhanced by his ability to play ST.

6. M.Lewis: BARELY! It comes down to Crowell and Lewis and Lewis wins it due to his ST play. But we keep Crowell on our speed-dial in case 1-6 get injured. Lewis has to show he knows what north/south is, and it ain't east/west. This may be the beermans last year here if he continues with the east/west returns.

Crowell: returns to 90% of former self but they go with the youthful prospect instead.

D. Lewis: Practice squad, gets picked up by some other team short on WR depth.

The rest are simply camp targets for AB, JT and TB.

Camp Battles: WR
 

Good subject, Danno.

Before I give my opinion on the wide receivers, I\'d like to comment on something the WHOLE coahing staff has said. They\'ve said something different this year and I believe them for the most part.

What was said was this: They don\'t care who starts, they are going to put the best men on the field. Maybe they have said this before, but they have me convinced that they mean it this time. I know certain players are guarateed to strart, but I consider the wide reciever position one to keep an eye on.

Now for my prediction. I predict Stallworth will have a better year than Joe Horn. That\'s right, I said it!! Somebody had to say it -- :P

Stallworth came on strong at the end of the season. I look for that to carry over to this season. I think it\'s a misconception that Stallworth regressed last year. Just the contrary, I think he actually improved. Considering Stalloworth started 7- games his first year and only 3 his second year. His numbers were almost as good having only started 3-games last year. Look at the numbers:

Year Team G GS No Yards Avg Lg TD 20+ 40+ FD
2002 New Orleans Saints 13 7 42 594 14.1 57 8 11 2 26
2003 New Orleans Saints 11 3 25 485 19.4 76 3 6 3 19

He was on pace to have more receptions. He had almost as many yards. His average went up 5.3 yards per catch. He had more catches of 40+ yards. Keep in mind this is only starting 3 games.

Of course, my prediction is based on Stallworth staying healty for the entire season. If that happens, I think my prediction will prove to be true.

Joe Horn -- Joe will get his catches. Probably won\'t see the ball as much as in years past. I think he gets his 1000 yards.

Paython -- Sees reduced role. Coming in mostly on 4 receiver sets. Probably gets about 400 yards.

Henderson -- Wins the 3rd receiver spot about half way through the season. With his speed and play making ability at the 3rd spot, he makes a huge impact for a rookie receiver. About 600 yards and 8TDs.

Michael Lewis -- I think he makes the team, but sees very little playing time at receiver.

Crowell -- Don\'t know.

D. Lewis -- Don\'t know.

Camp Battles: WR
 

I\'ll quote myself then:

Camp Battles: WR
 

I think Derrick Lewis will have a good preseason (assuming health) when he gets on the field with O\'Sullivan because they\'ve ironed out a good bit of chemistry in Europe. That should get him a spot somewhere, but I don\'t think in New Orleans.

Stallworth is a witch. Flat out. If he stays healthy people are gonna hate us like they hated the Rams four years ago.

Michael Lewis has been reliable as a receiver almost everytime they\'ve used him as one. He\'s a no doubt New Orleans guy, but Dante Hall raised the value of a return man. He\'ll get traded before he gets cut. He probably is a longshot though. Hate that.

Joe Horn. When I think of him and remember the third and long catch that sealed a win against TB a couple years ago, I think he\'s a classic example of what a number one receiver should be. He\'s our Michael Irvin. Then I think of his drop this past year that turned our whole game sour against TB, and I wonder about the guy. I don\'t question his heart though, and he\'s on my short list of guys I want to throw to in a clutch scenario to win a game. (among active players)

Talman Gardner played like an athelete learning to be a receiver when I saw him play. That doesn\'t mean much to me, but that\'s not a bad thing either. (as opposed to a natural receiver who is atheletic)

I hate LSU (no offense), so I\'ve no comment on Henderson. Yeah, he\'s fast. Whatever.

Jerome Pathon. Is it me or is he a receiver lacking an identity? How much upside does he have? How much does he have to contribute? I just don\'t know. He\'s made some plays, he\'s been invisible. He\'s who I\'d cut if it were me, but that\'s more because of uncertainty than any harsh judgement.

Germane Crowell. Big guy, was part of an outstanding receiving core with Herman Moore and Johnny Morton, and the only thing that\'s impressive is that when you can say outstanding and Detroit Lion you\'ve got something. We\'ll see. Guys on the comeback trail tend to be hungry if not desperate, and the more fire we have the better. I hope he pans out, to be honest.


I have a question though. Could our WR corps be smaller than normal because of fullbacks and tight ends? Might they look to bigger formations and seldom have more than three WR\'s on the field at anytime?

Camp Battles: WR
 

I think you might be a LITTLE high on Henderson Danno ;) but otherwise I mostly agree.

I\'d say:

1. Horn - Agree with Danno. He comes back big time. Of course, considering the injuries he had last season, I don\'t think his play fell off all that much. Maybe he dropped a few more than usual, but otherwise I think close to 1,000 yards and double digit TDs with an injury is pretty damn good. He showed tremendous guts in the Atlanta game playing injured too.

2. Stallworth - break out baby. He gets it together... finally.

3. Henderson - Pathon is average, Henderson is dangerous. Henderson becomes our number 3 WR by midyear and explodes in the second half of the season.

4. Pathon - same old Pathon. He\'ll make some clutch catches on 3rd downs and do what he\'s always done - whatever is asked of him and whatever it takes.

5. Gardner - too damn talented not to play sometime. He\'s a guy who if he keeps his head on straight can take Pathon\'s spot in a year or two.

6. Crowell or D Lewis - hard to say. I think M Lewis is done though. With Stallworth and Henderson to return I only see the Beerman making the team if there\'s an injury. There\'s just not much room for a 170 LB WR on our team. He\'s not much faster than Donte if any, and Henderson is probably still more explosive than both.

D Lewis was in NFLE, so he could step it up. I also think Crowell may be ready to prove something. I don\'t seem him being a star, but he has had great years in the past. He can definitely make this team.

Great post Danno, and good thread.

Camp Battles: WR
 

Slow down! I like the guy and think he will revive our return game, but predicting him as a pro-bowler (even a few years down the road) is the mother of all long-shots. Or do you mean he\'ll be in Hawaii as a returner?
Horn: 10/11 TDs? Stallworth: 14-16 TDs? I don\'t wanna put words (or numbers) in your mouth, Billy, but that would be the natural assumption the way you rank our receivers.

1. Horn - Not the big return to form some expect, but another solid year as #1 WR. Close to 1,000 yards again.
2. Stallworth - The key player in this group. If he stays healthy, he\'ll make life easier for everyone on offense. Close to 1,000 as well.
3. Pathon/Henderson/Gardner: Opposing defenses won\'t know if the Saints bring on the possession receiver or the speedster. Great opportunity to create mismatches.
6. Crowell - Views this as his last chance in the NFL and adds solid depth. May help to push the younger guys to work harder.

The Lewis boys should be out.
Great group of WRs, among the finest in the NFL and maybe the best the Saints have ever had. Don\'t be afraid of those high balls across the middle - I would be, but I\'m no NFL receiver.

Camp Battles: WR
 

You assumed that all because I said Henderson would have 8TDs? Or, because I said Stallworth would have a better season than Horn?

Nah..... I just think Stallworth will have a break-out year and surpass Horn and I think Henderson will get some TD\'s because of his speed and because it\'s gonna be hard for other teams to cover our 3rd receiver.

Looks like you ranked \'em about like I did?? ;)

[Edited on 19/5/2004 by GumboBC]

Camp Battles: WR
 

I sure hope everyone is right in that Stallworth will come out this year. I would really like to see it happen. We need someone who can add to what Horn can already do. If Henderson and Stallworth both come on then there would not be a team in this league that could cover all of that speed without giving up the entire field for Duece to run through. Any way you look at it if we are able to get three fast receivers on the field at the same time then we will score alot of points this year.
If the beerman is the odd man out, and I agree that is likely the case, then I would hope that a trade would come about. I\'d hate to loose him for no gain at all.