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New Orleans Saints' Robert Meachem making most of his touches
By John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune
October 22, 2009, 6:00AM
No need lying and saying we haven't expected more from New Orleans Saints receiver Robert Meachem. The third-year receiver expected more from himself, and wouldn't be much of a competitor if he hadn't.

You don't enter the NFL as a first-round pick (No. 27 overall in 2007), proceed to catch no passes in your rookie season, and 12 in the second, and feign satisfaction.
Give Meachem this, though: On an offense littered with big-play potential and chunks-of-yards gainers, he makes the most of his touches.
The 12 catches he made last season were good for 289 yards and three touchdowns, an average of 24.1 yards per catch. The six he has this season have gone for 151 yards and two touchdowns, an average of 25.2 per catch.
So far, that's a touchdown reception for every 3.6 catches, an average of 24.4 yards per catch.
That's a pace he couldn't possibly sustain if he caught more passes, of course. But certainly, it shows some of what Meachem can do, what the Saints believed he might do when they drafted him.
"One thing you saw with him on his tape from Tennessee was he was very good after the catch, " Coach Sean Payton said. "So you saw a player that was very explosive when he caught a hitch or caught a screen. He was able to turn a 5-yard throw into a big play.
"To his credit, he's gotten better. Each year he's been able to incorporate new things into his skill set. He can run, and he's become a lot better receiver, rather than just a target. And that has helped him a lot."
It's helped the Saints, too.
An offense can't have too many playmakers, and Meachem only was rumored to be one in his first season, when he was inactive every game. But throw him in the mix with Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey, Lance Moore, Reggie Bush and Devery Henderson -- and include Drew Brees as quarterback -- and add in a little self-improvement, and what the Saints have is a receiver who seems to get behind the secondary every game he plays, and makes tough catches on the deep balls when he has to.
"My faith is there and my confidence is back, " said Meachem, who also has run four times for 50 yards and a touchdown in his 19 games. "That takes a player a long way, because when you have your faith and your confidence, everything else is easy to you. I was always taught as a young kid to try to make practice like a game, and that's what I've been trying to go out there and do every day.
"All my life, I've been a big-play guy. That's what this team asks of me, to be a big-play guy. So, 25 yards a catch, I love it."
Who wouldn't love it? What player on the roster these days doesn't love having a sliver of anything to do with the rampaging Saints, who've rolled over five consecutive opponents?
Meachem has no complaints whatsoever.
"Being a competitor, you always want to touch the ball on every play, " he said. "But we have so many weapons, and we're 5-0. So why be frustrated when you're not getting any touches?
"When it is your chance to get a touch, it's something big. It's something that helps the offense. It's something that helps the team. So you've got to love it and enjoy it, because there are a lot of other receivers out there in the league that don't have a quarterback like Drew Brees. They may not get the ball at all."
That's not going to be a problem with the Saints.
Guys get open, they get the ball. Sometimes they get it when they're not open, too.
"The one thing the player does is, he's able to make plays above his shoulders, " Payton said. "So on those balls that are thrown up -- we saw this against Detroit, we saw it last weekend against New York -- those proverbial jump balls, he's able to high point and does a good job of coming down with those."
Said Meachem: "It comes natural when you're a two-sport guy. I played basketball, so it's almost like going up and getting a rebound. Drew is going to put the ball in an area where only you can get it. If that (defensive back) has a chance to get it, you'd better knock it down or get a pass interference."
Not much of the latter seems to be happening to Meachem. When the chance comes, he's taking advantage of it, 25 yards at a time.

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