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No. 10: WR Marques Colston (-4 from 2012, 3-time list member)

Receiver Marques Colston has been in the NFL for seven seasons, has recorded 1,000 yards in six of those years, is tied for most catches in Saints’ history with 532 and owns the franchise record for career touchdowns with 58.

And he hasn’t been to a Pro Bowl.

But hey, the WWLTV.com 10 Indispensable List is something, right?

Colston may be getting older, but his game remains steady. As a co-worker recently said about Colston, he’s like Linus’ blanket for quarterback Drew Brees. He doesn’t always search out Colston, but when he does, it’s usually a big play because he knows the receiver will be there willing to take a big hit and still make the catch.

His most recent campaign was one of his best yet.

In 2012, Colston led the team with 1,254 receiving yards – good for 13th in the NFL – and 10 touchdowns. A quarter of his 84 catches were on third down and 65 of his catches went for first downs, tied for 17th in the league for total first downs.

Because someone usually steps up, you can make a case that the way the Saints’ offense runs, it does so fine as long as Brees is around. But that's necessarily true. Without Colston, it doesn’t generally run as smoothly.

Pro Football Focus rated Colston as the NFL’s ninth-best receiver in 2012 with a 101.8 rating for those with a 50 percent thrown at rate. And though his eight drops were near the bottom of the league, his drop rate (8.79) was among the top 15 in the league among receivers.

The best part about Colston is his veteran leadership in the locker room. He’s quiet but productive. He’s low-key but high character. And he’s signed through 2016.

Read more: WWLTV.com's 10 Indispensable Saints 2013 | wwltv.com New Orleans

hagan714

yep sums it up pretty good

foreverfan

They forgot Pierre Thomas

Danno

Dumb list. Especially without PT.

TheOak

I will preface this with I love me some PT...

He is not indispensable however. And neither are Bushrod, Lofton, Greer, Jordan.

No such thing as an indispensable punter.

Indispensable - Absolutely necessary or essential.

For our Team to function as it does, Brees, Colston, Graham are a must and we feel the pain when they are not on the field.

LOL I hardly see any member of the 2012 worst defense in history as Absolutely necessary or essential.

Mardigras9

Indispensable is a little strong for at least half that list.

foreverfan

Would we have won the Superbowl without him?
What happened in San Fran when he was knocked out the game?
Could we run a screen pass without him?
None of the other running backs are as complete.

Hum? When he's on the field, we are the #1 offense in the league.

TheOak

Your not going to get me to hate on PT...
However 3.3 YPC and 0 TD in the SuperBowl is hardly indispensable.

Yes we can run a Screen with out him, the question is not how valuable he is to us it is is he irreplaceable... indispensable... and the answer is yes.

Mardigras9

No rushing, but PT did have a nice 16-yard touchdown reception in the SB.

Danno

I guess it all depends on the definition of indispensible.

Every player can be replaced so no one is really indispensible. Some are more replacable than others.

I view it as a list of players (and coaches) that would hurt us the most if we lost them.

Here's my top 10

1. Drew Brees
2. Jahri Evans
3. Ben Grubbs
4. Marques Colston
5. Lance Moore
6. Jimmy Graham
7. Curtis Lofton
8. Sean Payton (probably should be 1st)
9. Rob Ryan (probably should be 3rd)
10. Tie- Brian de la Puente, Cam Jordan, Akiem Hicks, Brodrick Bunkley, Pierre Thomas