A troubling trend for the New Orleans Saints this season, has been the lack of production they are getting from the wide receiver position. None of them have graded positively in the passing game, leaving the team without an adequate complement to Jimmy Graham.
The biggest surprise has been the drop-off from Marques Colston, whose 2014 per-game marks of 3.3 receptions, 53.3 yards and 0.1 touchdowns, are all easily career lows. Last season, Colston was one of the most reliable receivers in the league, dropping only 3 passes for a 3.85 Drop Rate, fourth-best among qualifying receivers. This season Colston already has 5 drops for a 14.29 Drop Rate.
Through Week 10 last season, Colston was producing 1.62 Yards Per Route Run, which rose to 1.89 from the slot. This season those same numbers have decreased to 1.48 and 1.61, respectively. Drew Brees’ passer rating when targeting Colston has also seen a steep decline, going from 105.3 to 83.7 in the same period. All of this leads to Colston’s current grade of -9.3 in the passing game, 12.6 points lower than his +3.3 grade at this point last season.
While Colston has improved his run blocking this season, his contributions as a receiver are sorely missed. Whether or not he can improve in this area may be a deciding factor in the tight NFC South race.
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