With Marques Colston still recovering from offseason knee surgery, and Robert Meachem dealing with a lingering toe issue, there’s been an opportunity for the other players on the depth chart at wide receiver to get lots of reps. Lance Moore, Rod Harper (pictured) and Courtney Roby in particular have been turning heads with spectular play after spectular play. With Moore, the main reason is that he’s healthy. We’ve seen what this guy can do when healthy, and it’s no secret to Saints fans that he’s a premiere route runner with glue on his hands. Even for him, though, the first three days of training camp have been an impressive showing. He’s been getting out of his cuts and running his routes so well that he’s embarassing every cornerback that covers him. Devery Henderson rounds out the top four crew for the receiving corp that all the Saints fans know well by now, so it’s also nice to see role players like Rod Harper and Courtney Roby stepping up to the challenge. Roby is mostly knowed as a gunner and kickoff return man, while Harper is trying to build off a very flashy preseason campaign a year ago that saw him end up on injured reserve a couple weeks into last season. We know Colston and Meachem will be ready to play once the season starts, so it’s really promising that the players behind them are stepping up when called on. There might be a point in the season where a guy like Courtney Roby be called on to make an offensive play, so he’ll benefit from the experience he’s getting now in practice. Those guys are all getting an opportunity they don’t normally get, and it’s great to see them making the most of it. The necessity for this is even more pronounced for Rod Harper, because he doesn’t have the luxury of being guaranteed a spot for his abilities as a return man and gunner, like Roby. Harper will need to continue to prove he’s a good enough receiver to belong on the 53 man final roster. Right now he’s doing that. Below you’ll see the current depth chart at receiver listing all the players on the Saints’ roster as it stands. I anticipate the Saints keeping six receivers, including Roby, Meachem, Henderson, Moore and Colston. The last spot is up for grabs between the remaining names you see below. It remains to be seen if Rod Harper can keep it up. For what it’s worth, I’m hearing good things about Andy Tanner, as well. He’s a long shot to make the team, but he’s been drawing a ton of praise too.
Current Depth Chart at Receiver:
WR1: Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Adrian Arrington, Matt Simon, Montez Billings, Larry Beavers
WR2: Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, Courtney Roby, Rod Harper, Andy Tanner
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