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Cameron Meredith gives update on knee recovery

By JAMES PARKS 4 hours ago

Cameron Meredith came to the New Orleans Saints this offseason from the Chicago Bears in a move that the reigning NFC South champions believe gives them perhaps the most efficient slot receiver working in the game today.

They made the acquisition even though Meredith missed all of last season after tearing the ACL in his knee during an exhibition game last summer, and this year, he has predictably been involved in a limited capacity during the Saints’ offseason preparation.

“I feel good,” he said. “I’m starting to come out and feel like myself. Going out there, taking every rep that I can mentally and physically, it’s all important.”

The ACL is the first injury that Meredith has dealt with as a professional.

“Dealing with this for the first time in my career, it’s not something where I knew what was going to go on mentally in the future,” he said. “Right now, I think it’s a day to day thing, waking up every day, just doing what I can in that day to be the best player I can be. Every day is a different type of day. You might be frustrated some days but I continue to push through it and I look forward to the future.”

Similarities between Meredith and starting wide receiver Michael Thomas abound. Both are 25 years old, both are 6 foot 3 inches, and both now when put together have the capacity to essentially double the Saints’ talent at the position coming off a year in which Drew Brees set an NFL record for passing efficiency and the team ranked No. 2 in total offensive production.

An undrafted free agent from Illinois State three years ago, Meredith had 66 catches against 96 targets for 888 yards and four touchdowns for the Bears in 2016, the best marks for the whole team, outpacing Alshon Jeffery’s 52 receptions for 821 yards and two touchdowns.

During his breakout 2016 effort with Chicago, catching passes from the likes of Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley, Meredith finished with four 100 yard receiving games, against the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Washington Redskins, and Green Bay Packers.

In his 25 game NFL career, Meredith has 77 catches for 1,008 yards and four scores.

On the whole, Meredith should be inserted as the Saints’ leading option at the slot receiver position, where he has proved remarkably efficient when targeted, especially when playing against zone coverage. According to NFL Media’s calculation, Meredith had a 78 percent success rate in the zone in Weeks 5 through 10, a mark that shot up to an astonishing 91 percent in Weeks 12 to 16. Compare those numbers to a league average of 73 percent success for slot receivers in zone coverage.

In his 2016 season with Chicago, Meredith played in the slot on 50 percent of his snaps.

His presence on the inside should be a major boost for the Saints, who last season failed to surpass 1,000 yards from the slot for the first time since Sean Payton has been head coach. What’s more, 43 percent of their slot production came from Michael Thomas, their primary outside receiver. With Meredith in the rotation, Brees will have an important target on the inside, one that forces defenders to commit more to playing nearer the line, and affording Thomas more wide open lanes to make plays downfield. But first, he has to get healthy.

And that appears to be happening right on schedule.