The 2013 season seemed like a year of a few surprises for the New Orleans Saints. Coming off of an uncharacteristic 2012 campaign in which they were only able to manage seven wins, FantasyFootballCalculator.com, Colston was being drafted in the middle of the fourth round last August. This would slot him as a WR1 or WR2 on most rosters, and it seems that this preseason perception was off of the mark. Colston finished 2013 as the 27th-best fantasy receiver in standard formats.
That being said, our NEP data likes Colston a little more than traditional rankings. He had the 18th-best Reception NEP among all wide receivers as well as the 11th-best Reception NEP/Target metric among receivers with more than 50 receptions. So Colston might not have played as bad as what translated to your fantasy roster, but I’m sure that doesn’t make any of his owners feel any better.
What was missing from this receiver’s 2013 campaign was touchdowns. The statistic can inherently be very unpredictable (outside of a few legendary fantasy receivers, of course), and when you are teammates with Jimmy Graham, it’s hard to carve out a consistent red zone role.
As I mentioned earlier, the Saints’ pass defense was pretty solid. However, their run defense was considerably worse. This unit finished the year with the 12th worst Defensive Rushing NEP (adjusted for strength of schedule), and will likely be a focus for the Saints during the offseason.
What should they do next?
As I see it, there are a couple of areas that the Saints should focus on throughout this offseason.
They could benefit from adding some depth at wide receiver. With Colston well past the age that most receivers begin to decline, there isn’t necessarily another receiver to step up into that WR1 role.
The Saints could end up resigning Robert Meachem which would technically give them another receiver, but he’s not an elite talent and surely not a long term solution. While there are some big name receivers on the free agent market, I doubt the Saints make much pursuit while they are in contract negotiations with Jimmy Graham.
The other thing that the Saints should focus on is their defensive line. A couple of early mock drafts have New Orleans using their first-round pick on a defensive end or a defensive tackle. If some solid defensive players fall to the Saints on draft day, it would surely help them patch up some of the more glaring issues that they face, moving toward the 2014 season.
I have to believe that New Orleans is beginning to make plans for the future. Drew Brees is nearing retirement and if they don’t shore up their current weaknesses, they’ll be left high and dry when their prize quarterback inevitably calls it quits.