If the New Orleans Saints don’t have the smallest group of wide receivers in the NFL, they have to be close. Both of their leading receivers, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, are listed at about 6-foot-flat and 190 pounds, a far cry from the likes of Michael Thomas (who played at 6-foot-3, 212 pounds) and Marques Colston (6-foot-4, 225 pounds). Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who left in free agency, towered over them at 6-foot-4 and 206 pounds.
By design or not, all of the receivers the Saints have brought in this offseason share the same athletic profile. Brandin Cooks may not run a 4.3 anymore but he still weighs in at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds. Undrafted rookies Moochie Dixon and Chris Tyree both clocked impressive times in the 40-yard dash, but neither of them added much to the receiving corps in terms of diversity of body types. Just look at the list from the official team website, ordered from lightest to heaviest:
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Rashid Shaheed (6-foot-0, 180 pounds)
Mason Tipton (5-foot-11, 187 pounds)
Chris Olave (6-foot-0, 187 pounds)
Moochie Dixon (6-foot-0, 187 pounds)
Brandin Cooks (5-foot-10, 190 pounds)
Chris Tyree (5-foot-10, 192 pounds)
Dante Pettis (6-foot-1, 195 pounds)
Cedrick Wilson Jr. (6-foot-2, 197 pounds)
Kevin Austin (6-foot-2, 200 pounds)
Bub Means (6-foot-2, 215 pounds)
That could be a problem. It’s become a cliche but many coaches describe the ideal receiving corps as a basketball team — having a mix of different athletes, some taller, some lighter, some faster and others, well, not so much fast as quick. Missing those archetypes is going to ask guys to take on responsibilities they aren’t built for. Chris Olave is tied for 26th in first down conversions by a wide receiver (with Brandon Aiyuk) since he entered the league, but it’s not an accident that he’s suffered so many concussions while absorbing so many big hits on physical plays at the first down marker.
We’ll see if more moves are coming. The Saints can sign veteran free agents now without impacting the compensatory draft picks formula for 2026; for example, if they targeted Keenan Allen (the 6-foot-2, 211-pounder who had a career year with Kellen Moore calling pllays in 2023), signing him wouldn’t wipe out the fourth-round draft pick they’re projected to get next year after losing Paulson Adebo in free agency. That wasn’t the case before the draft. Or maybe he envisions a big role for 2024 fifth-round pick Bub Means, the tallest and heaviest receiver on the roster right now. At the same time, getting smaller and faster at wideout might have been Moore’s plan all along. We’ll find out soon enough.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints have one of the NFL’s smallest WR corps; is help on the way?