The Saints surprised me when they signed Ted Ginn Jr. He’s 32, a one-dimensional player, and he drops a lot of balls. But Sean Payton says he thinks Ginn will fit perfectly into their offense.
Despite the advancing years, Ginn has speed. And Payton says h’s confident Ginn will be effective. The signed him to a three-year deal worth $11 million – a modest price in today’s game.
Ginn isn’t a replacement for Brandin Cooks; he doesn’t have that kind of overall game. But Payton says he has a role in mind for the former Panther, Cardinal and Dolphin.
I am confident they’ll use him like they used to use Devery Henderson, another slender speedster who also wore No. 19. In Henderson’s heyday, he would line up outside and run almost exclusively deep routes. Every once in a while he’ll catch a long touchdown; otherwise he shouldn’t be much of a factor.
Henderson had a long run with Payton. Then they plugged Kenny Stills into the role – another player with the jets to run the vertical routes down the sidelines (and also not asked to do much more).
During the 9-year run with Henderson and Stills many that outside receiving spot, they produced an average of 35 catches, 623 yards and 3 TDs. That, I think, is probably about what we’ll see from Ginn this year.
| SPEED RECEIVERS IN NEW ORLEANS (2006-2014) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yards | Avg | Long | TD |
| 2006 | Henderson | 32 | 745 | 23.3 | 76t | 5 |
| 2007 | Henderson | 20 | 409 | 20.5 | 54 | 3 |
| 2008 | Henderson | 32 | 793 | 24.8 | 84t | 3 |
| 2009 | Henderson | 51 | 804 | 15.8 | 75t | 2 |
| 2010 | Henderson | 34 | 464 | 13.6 | 57 | 1 |
| 2011 | Henderson | 32 | 503 | 15.7 | 79t | 2 |
| 2012 | Henderson | 22 | 316 | 14.4 | 41 | 1 |
| 2013 | Stills | 32 | 641 | 20.0 | 76t | 5 |
| 2014 | Stills | 63 | 931 | 14.8 | 69t | 3 |
Drops will need to be cleaned up. Ginn has dropped 15 of 113 catchable balls over the last two years, the worst rate in the league among players with at least 100 chances.
I envision Ginn in most fantasy leagues either going undrafted or spending a good chunk of the season on the waiver wire. He’ll be best used as a plug-in starter when the Saints are in a favorable situation – perhaps playing at home against a lesser pass defense (increasing the odds of perhaps hitting on one of those long touchdowns).
—Ian Allan