Brees and his long bomb receivers (1 Viewer)

[Cincy Saint]

Great new article about Drew with Henderson and Meachum going L-O-N-G.

Football Outsiders: Legends

 

[rsmith2783]

They played an important role for us and kept defenses honest. The last few years we were screaming for players that had that kind of impact. Outside of MT, our core was a joke to opposing defenses.

 

[BreesusSaves]

They played an important role for us and kept defenses honest. The last few years we were screaming for players that had that kind of impact. Outside of MT, our core was a joke to opposing defenses.

The most painful thing is the Saints finally got a real #2 in Sanders, and Thomas and Brees both go down to injury. Now Sanders is gone and our hopes are on a bunch of UDFAs and a 7th round draft pick to compliment Thomas. I know TQS is technically a 3rd round pick but I prefer to think of him as a UDFA. Makes his horrendous lack of production easier to stomach.

 

[rsmith2783]

The most painful thing is the Saints finally got a real #2 in Sanders, and Thomas and Brees both go down to injury. Now Sanders is gone and our hopes are on a bunch of UDFAs and a 7th round draft pick to compliment Thomas. I know TQS is technically a 3rd round pick but I prefer to think of him as a UDFA. Makes his horrendous lack of production easier to stomach.

I agree...there are a lot of unknowns going into this season. Hopefully they surprise us and turn out like they did in 2006.
Sanders was great though. I wish we had him earlier on during his career.

 

[Remy]

The most painful thing is the Saints finally got a real #2 in Sanders, and Thomas and Brees both go down to injury. Now Sanders is gone and our hopes are on a bunch of UDFAs and a 7th round draft pick to compliment Thomas. I know TQS is technically a 3rd round pick but I prefer to think of him as a UDFA. Makes his horrendous lack of production easier to stomach.

Tre'Quan and Robert Meachem aren't that far off through their first 3 years.

Games	tgts	rec	yds	y/r	td	ctch%
40​	119​	80​	1109​	13.9​	14​	67.2​
46​	150​	101​	1649​	16.3​	17​	67.3​

 

[Ti Rider]

Tre'Quan and Robert Meachem aren't that far off through their first 3 years.

Games	tgts	rec	yds	y/r	td	ctch%
40​	119​	80​	1109​	13.9​	14​	67.2​
46​	150​	101​	1649​	16.3​	17​	67.3​

The difference between the two -
Robert Meachem 4.39 40
Tre’Quan Smith 4.49 40

Meachem’s speed was elite and allowed him to get behind defenders. Smith’s time is average making him an average deep threat.

 

[BreesusSaves]

Tre'Quan and Robert Meachem aren't that far off through their first 3 years.

Games	tgts	rec	yds	y/r	td	ctch%
40​	119​	80​	1109​	13.9​	14​	67.2​
46​	150​	101​	1649​	16.3​	17​	67.3​

A huge difference is Meachem came to the Saints during prime Colston, Henderson, and Moore. Three legitimate receivers he had to compete with.

TQS was drafted after Payton had cleaned house of the entire WR corps except for Thomas. Cooks, Stills, and Snead had all been traded or let walk by the end of the 2017 season. TQS was drafted in 2018... the only player in front of him and the rest of the 2018 class was Mike Thomas.

 

[meily]

They played an important role for us and kept defenses honest. The last few years we were screaming for players that had that kind of impact. Outside of MT, our core was a joke to opposing defenses.

We couldn't get the ball to them if we wanted to, Saints had to go with the intermediate passing game and rely (hope) on YAC.

 

[Groovepro]

The difference between the two -
Robert Meachem 4.39 40
Tre’Quan Smith 4.49 40

Meachem’s speed was elite and allowed him to get behind defenders. Smith’s time is average making him an average deep threat.

Also, Meach played quicker than his straight line speed and had quicker feet. He caught a lot of balls on intermediate and deeper outs and drags, but he got there really fast. TQS is athletic, but plays a bit slower than his straight line speed. Meachem had better overall body control, too.

I'm looking forward to Callaway's progress. Great body control, fluid routes, no wasted motion and plays faster than his straight line speed, too.

 

[nolaswede]

We couldn't get the ball to them if we wanted to, Saints had to go with the intermediate passing game and rely (hope) on YAC.

Still weird that we had the best record in the NFL from 2017-2020.

 

[Hadders]

I thought Donte Stallworth was around but he left the season Drew arrived.

 

[SonOfNOLA]

The difference between the two -
Robert Meachem 4.39 40
Tre’Quan Smith 4.49 40

Meachem’s speed was elite and allowed him to get behind defenders. Smith’s time is average making him an average deep threat.

Agreed. Smith and Meachem’s stats are close, but a lot of Meachem’s rec yards are big plays and huge gains. Meachem had the skill to be a WR1, but injury proneness kept him in committee-situational use while still highly effective in that role.

To Smith’s defense, he came to the offense in Brees’ later years without the deep ball arm so he couldn’t really develop into a consistent WR with Brees to show off his true development. I think he’ll get a chance to be a consistent WR with Winston or Hill at QB, or a consistent deep threat/big play WR with either QB at the least.

 

[rob22278]

They played an important role for us and kept defenses honest. The last few years we were screaming for players that had that kind of impact. Outside of MT, our core was a joke to opposing defenses.

If it was a joke to opposing defenses, why did the Saints average over 29 points a game last year, good for 5th in the league?

 

[rsmith2783]

Still weird that we had the best record in the NFL from 2017-2020.

The defense was a huge reason for that success.

 

[rsmith2783]

We couldn't get the ball to them if we wanted to, Saints had to go with the intermediate passing game and rely (hope) on YAC.

I've heard that narrative as well, and there's possibly some truth to it. To me, it appears that we went in a different direction philosophy wise to extend Brees' playing days vs doing it because he couldn't get the ball there.