Joe Morgan’s lament

Where have you gone Joe DiMorgano? Saints Nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Boo hoo hoo.

Yes! That is me crying of the WR situation. Because I have no idea what the WR situation is about. I was 95% sure they would only keep 5 WRs after the pre-season. Why? With all the balls thrown to TEs and RBs a #6 WR will be behind 10 other guys in number times thrown to. They have kept 6 WRs in the past. The reason was that that #6 WR was Courtney Roby, a Special Teams ace who only got an offensive snap once in a blue moon.

This year there is a Special Teams “ace” that could have made them justify keeping 6. I think he might be the only guy on the roster that has ever returned a kickoff or punt for a TD as a Saint. And yes that is Joe Morgan (in the 2011 preseason game against SF). Cooks is no returner. We can thank our blogs inside knowledge on him in the form of Brian Pavek for that. Byrd? He was just the hands option before he went to IR. Cadet is “returning” kickoffs. And with that I mean he is better off never returning anything since a touchback gives better yardage on average. So Byrd is out and the first thing the Saints do is list only 4 WRs active for the game which does not include Joe Morgan to maybe replace Byrd as hands option. He has become a complete afterthought in the Saints Special Teams game. Below is the video that made me a Joe Morgan fan.

So how have the WRs performed so far over 5 games?

• Colston, 5 games active, 4 starts, 15 receptions for 248 yards, 1 TD and 1 FUM.
  He has shown horrible hands at times and has regressed from his usual self. Funny enough he gets found relatively often by Brees going deep. Though ageing and never having possessed top speed, his catching radius makes Brees go to him a lot around the 30 yards distance.
• Cooks, 5 games active, 4 starts, 32 receptions for 255 yards, 1TD. Also rushed for 64 yards on 5 attempts.
  He is the new Sproles. At least that is what Sean Payton wants him to be. He is a perfect fit for that. WRONG! Let the guy do what he does best, get open down field and stop throwing short so often! About the same yardage as Colston with double the receptions.
• Stills, 4 games active, 2 starts, 10 receptions for 141 yards.
  This guy had the highest average yards per catch last season in the league at 20.0.  Right now he is down to 14.1. That is a huge drop-off. Brees had an awful o-line last year and only threw it to 3 guys (Graham, Colston and Sproles). So what is wrong here? Why is Kenny not getting the deep ball?
• Meachem, 5 games active, 1 start, 4 receptions for 60 yards.
  That is not contributing much. He has no potential left. The ceiling has been reached and it is collapsing.
• Morgan, 2 games active, 1 start, 0 receptions. Barely has a target.
  So here is this speedy guy with huge potential that can help your return game. You credit him one start but in reality he has never been part of the gameplan. WHY!? Put him in. Bench Meachem and feed him the ball.
• Toon, 1 game active, 0 starts. Has he ever been lined up on an offensive snap?
  The revelation of the pre-season. The Andy Tanner of 2012 and 2013. Brees seemed to have much chemistry with him. Andy Tanner is still on the roster on IR because the want him around for pre-season. Why the hell is Toon active? He does not play, he is just taking up a valuable roster spot. A roster spot that could have been there for… oh who knows, Champ Bailey* maybe?

So looking at this list I say it is time to give Morgan an opportunity and at least try him out as a returner. I believe he has had some fumbling issues, but that is ball-handling and that can be trained. I remember Sproles coughing up the ball a few times and we always considered him our #1 returner.

So what are your thoughts? Why is Payton wasting these roster spots? Why is he not seeing he has an option on special teams? Why keep 6 WRs to begin with if you do not plan on using them. Heck they could have cut Meachem and in case of injury picked him up again.

* Disclaimer: I am not saying Bailey would have been an improvement over our current defense, but a veteran who has been around this long can be a great mentor and motivator. It wouldn’t have hurt the Saints to keep him. They were still below the cap. No need to cut him because of a mere million.