Colston best Wr in the league right now? (1 Viewer)

[Sackhappysaint]

Colston is playing lights out football right now and although it might be hard to argue that he is the "best wr in the league right now", he certainly is playing like it.

I find it amazing that Colston is not only having this kind of year as a rookie, but as a 7th round pick out of Hofstra? Wr is a position that guys usually need a few years to develop before they blossom-- even 1st rounders. Yet this 7th round pick wr out of Hofstra is terrorising the league right out of the gates!?

I cannot remember any wr as a rookie putting up these kind of numbers...Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison...none of them. Moss is the only one that comes to mind that had this much impact as a rookie.

Colston reminds me of a 6'4 230 pound Steve Largent. He has crisp route running with super glue hands, and it's unreal he's already this polished as a rookie.

 

[Bill]

Often, what makes you the 'best' is the value that you are to your team.

In the case of Colston, I don't think we would be where we are right now without having him on our squad.

I can easily see 2 to 3 less victories so far without him.

That alone makes him the Rookie MVP in my book!

 

[kooldak]

...I cannot remember any wr as a rookie putting up these kind of numbers...Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison...none of them. Moss is the only one that comes to mind that had this much impact as a rookie...

That is an interesting point.

Some rookie WR numbers of some guys that just came to mind plus your list (per pro-football-reference.com):

Harrison - 64 catches/836 yards/13.1 ypc
Rice - 49 catches/927 yds/18.9 ypc
Brown - 43 catches/725 yds/16.9 ypc
Moss - 69 catches/1313 yds/19 ypc
Abramowicz - 50 catches/721 yds/14.4 ypc
Clayton - 80 catches/1193 yds/14.9 ypc
R. Williams - 54 catches/817 yds/15.1 ypc
Fitzgerald - 58 catches/780 yds/13.4 ypc
Boldin - 101 catches/1377 yds/13.6 ypc

Colston's projected 2006 numbers (assuming same level of performance in second half of season)
88 catches/1400 yds/15.9 ypc

He is certainly off to an unbelievable start. He already has more catches and almost as many yards as Brown did in his entire first year. He will have to improve some to catch Anquan Boldin & should be right there with Michael Clayton. That is heady company. I hope he can keep it up.

 

[CajunSaint]

If Colston is not in the pro bowl, it will be a crime. His production certainly warrants a slot in the pro bowl.

While I agree whole-heartedly, it is still going to be tough. Unfortunately with fan voting included it is going to be tough. Lots of big name WRs in NFC, ie:

Terrell Owens
Darrell Jackson
Steve Smith
Anquan Boldin
Torry Holt
Plaxico Burress
Roy Williams

Again, I think he is more deserving than most on that list, but it will be tough to beat those guys out on name alone.

 

[Atom Palmer]

The 7th round pick is doing pretty well, but I wont give him full credit untill he gets the double coverage he deserves.

Steve Smith T.O. and Moss make plays when they are NOT wide open. That is a mark of a great reciever.

 

[CajunSaint]

The 7th round pick is doing pretty well, but I wont give him full credit untill he gets the double coverage he deserves.

Steve Smith T.O. and Moss make plays when they are NOT wide open. That is a mark of a great reciever.

You know, not every catch that Colston makes he is "wide-open" in fact he had a pheonominal catch at some points yesterday where he reached over the Bucs defender and kept his feet in bounds. Let's give credit where credit is due.

 

[CT Saints Fan]

Colston is a beast.

But I'd still take Marvin Harrison over him.

 

[Shawn]

You know, not every catch that Colston makes he is "wide-open" in fact he had a pheonominal catch at some points yesterday where he reached over the Bucs defender and kept his feet in bounds. Let's give credit where credit is due.

I agree. Though I don't think he's yet in the super-elite class of recievers--and he hasn't faced intense double coverage...he's already proven that he can make highlight reel catches in tight coverage. Remember the one handed grab of an underthrown ball in the endzone early this season, while the defender was holding on to his other arm? The catch last week against the Ravens where he literally stole the ball from two defenders who were mauling him? The inside slant TD with a defender draped on his back? The only "gimme" catch you might put on him was the 86 yarder against a soft Panthers defense late in the game--but even on that play he pounded through some defenders to break free.

The kid just seems to have ice in his veins.

 

[NPs6724]

i say he is, not saying best in the NFL all together but based on this year and 9weeks in he's playing like the best WR in the NFL and hes just gonna keep getting better anyone agree?

Let's re-read that, shall we? "BASED ON THIS YEAR AND 9 WEEKS", meaning for 2006, is he the best? Not career-wise, not of all-time, but for these 9 weeks. And, I'd have to say he has either been the best or second-best. Here are the top twenty WRs for the year (anyone below 20th can't be considered as one of the best for the year):

RNK NAME REC YDS AVG YPG TD
1 Andre Johnson WR, HOU 65 752 11.6 94.0 4
2 Reggie Wayne WR, IND 44 732 16.6 91.5 5
3 Roy Williams WR, DET 44 719 16.3 89.9 4
4 M. Colston WR, NOR 44 700 15.9 87.5 7
5 M. Harrison WR, IND 52 698 13.4 87.3 5
6 Javon Walker WR, DEN 39 669 17.2 83.6 5
7 Steve Smith WR, CAR 45 631 14.0 105.2 2
8 Torry Holt WR, STL 45 624 13.9 78.0 7
9 Anquan Boldin WR, ARI 48 608 12.7 76.0 3
10 L. Coles WR, NYJ 46 606 13.2 75.8 3
*11 D. Jackson WR, SEA 36 587 16.3 83.9 6*
12 Hines Ward WR, PIT 41 586 14.3 73.3 5
13 Donald Driver WR, GNB 50 580 11.6 72.5 3
14 Terrell Owens WR, DAL 44 558 12.7 69.8 6
15 Isaac Bruce WR, STL 35 554 15.8 69.3 1
16 P. Burress WR, NYG 31 510 16.5 72.9 5
17 Joe Horn WR, NOR 30 507 16.9 72.4 3
18 Tony Gonzalez TE, KAN 38 504 13.3 63.0 3
19 Mike Furrey WR, DET 41 503 12.3 62.9 3
20 Reggie Brown WR, PHI 26 502 19.3 62.8 5

* = hasn't played yet this week

Only Torry Holt has as many TDs, so both have 6 points on the next closest WR. And points are THE most important stat, as we all know.

The 3 WRs with more yards (Johnson, Wayne, Williams) and the 4 WRs with more yards/game (previous 3, plus Steve Smith) than Colston have 2 or more fewer TDs. Holt is averaging 9 yards less per game and 2 yards less per catch.

Only 7 WRs in the top 20 have a better YPC than Colston and 5 of them have fewer than 40 catches. So those with a higher YPC are playing Devery's role from yesterday as a burner, but not a consistent go-to WR.

Only 3 WRs with more catches than Colston have more yards, and only 2 of those have a better YPC. 6 WRs with more catches than Colston have fewer yards and all have AT LEAST 2 YPC less.

Let's not forget (as someone already pointed out), very few rookie WRs perform well at all, especially not at this performance plateau. Colston's half-year is equal to many rookie WRs' FULL years.

So basically, if you have at least 40 catches, chances are Colston is performing better than you. He has been a perfect combination of possession receiver, and big-play threat, and most importantly, a TD machine. He has 32 first downs to his credit, which is 72.7% of his total catches. Colston is also 21% of the Saints total first downs.

Some WRs have more yards or more catches or more YPC or more YPG, but none of them combine ALL 4 of those categories PLUS TDs as well as he has this year. Either they have been a possession guy, a scoring machine, or a big-play threat.

 

[Shawn]

Let's re-read that, shall we? "BASED ON THIS YEAR AND 9 WEEKS", meaning for 2006, is he the best? Not career-wise, not of all-time, but for these 9 weeks. And, I'd have to say he has either been the best or second-best. Here are the top twenty WRs for the year (anyone below 20th can't be considered as one of the best for the year):

Are you asking for a subjective analysis, or a statistical one? Because either way the answer is no. It's just homerism.