No team waited longer to draft a wide receiver than the New Orleans Saints. After selecting Tre’Quan Smith with the 91st pick in 2018, the Saints didn’t draft another wide receiver until Kawaan Baker at the 255th pick in 2021. Neither player dressed out for Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers, when New Orleans’ subpar receiving corps struggled to separate before the offensive life fell to pieces behind them snap after snap after snap. It’s a bad situation.
And it’s a group that has to work with training wheels, relying on Sean Payton’s play designs to scheme them open because they aren’t talented enough to consistently beat opponents one-on-one. After two weeks of NFL games, the Saints wide receivers corps has accounted for 11 receptions for 164 yards.
The individual totals include 81 yards for Deonte Harris, 27 yards for Lil’Jordan Humphrey, 22 yards for Marquez Callaway, 26 yards for Chris Hogan, and 8 yards for Ty Montgomery. Remember, 55 of Harris’ yards came on one play.
Obviously expectations are different without Michael Thomas on top of the depth chart, but it’s still wildly disappointing given how often the Saints expressed confidence in the position this summer to justify their complacency. When all the weight to carry them to success is put on Payton’s shoulders, all it takes is one shrug, one bad game plan, to bring it all down. His margin for error is razor-thin because these players as a group aren’t good enough to make up for it.
For context, Dallas Cowboys star Amari Cooper has picked up 163 yards on his own through two games. 15 individual wide receivers across the league have outgained the Saints’ entire receiving corps (and that number could grow after Monday night’s game between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers). The full list so far:
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