Undrafted Saints rookie Joe Morgan, who returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown Friday night against the 49ers, is from Canton, Ohio. In other words, he’s been much closer to the Hall of Fame than Reggie Bush will ever get.
Cue the rim shot.
Bush jokes aside, Morgan may turn into another come-from-nowhere success story in New Orleans under coach Sean Payton.
A product of tiny NAIA school Walsh University (after transferring from Illinois), he never returned a punt in college. His last one came in 2005, when he was at Canton McKinley High School. After watching him break three tackles and weave his way through traffic on his pretty touchdown in the first quarter, one observation springs to mind immediately: Walsh coach Jim Dennison has some explaining to do.
Actually, Morgan explained it succinctly after the Saints’ 24-3 victory.
“In college I was a punt-rush guy,” he said. “I was on the edge trying to block punts. I was the best guy on the team at that, plus we had another (returner) that was pretty good.”
That would be someone named Brian Williams, who averaged 13.4 yards and had a 61-yard touchdown. Morgan did return a blocked punt 15 yards for a score in 2009.
Still, New Orleans coach Sean Payton liked his speed and footwork enough to sign him. In the tradition of last year’s darling, Chris Ivory, a product of Tiffin College, Morgan might stick around. He would join a list that includes starting running Pierre Thomas (undrafted, Illinois) and, heck, who knows, might even expand to running back Joique Bell (undrafted, Wayne State) a late-season pickup in 2010 who led the Saints with 52 yards on nine carries against the 49ers and almost broke a 96-yard punt return in the fourth quarter.
Almost. There’s a big difference between what Bell did, getting caught from behind for a 28-yard gain just as he got into the clear, and Morgan’s smooth return, when no one came close to catching him.
“I really didn’t think I was going to score at first,” he said. “Everyone on the sidelines was telling me I was going to break one. After I got out to the edge, the first thing I saw was the kicker, and they tell you if the kicker tackles you, don’t even go back (to the sideline) The 10 guys in front of me did a great job blocking.”
Morgan did little on his other returns (five for 29 yards), but he had no glaring mistakes to ruin his magic moment. Even when he made a risky decision to field one punt, sliding into the catch, he held on to the ball.
“They showed us yesterday or two days ago what the rotation was going to be, and I was really shocked,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting it at all. I was scared, nervous.”
Morgan caught 41 passes for 653 yards as a senior at Walsh, fighting through an ankle injury. The previous season, he had 38 receptions for 664 yards (17.5 average).
But his long-shot bid to make the Saints’ roster hinges on his returning ability. Without Bush, the Saints have an opening, and don’t be too quick to dismiss the significance of a long return in a preseason opener. Veterans Lance Moore and Darren Sproles, the two leading candidates for the job, could not have done it any better than Morgan on Friday night.
Consider: Bush had only one return of more than 78 yards in his five-year Saints career, scoring from 83 yards out against Arizona in the 2009 NFC Divisional playoffs.
“Every year a team has someone who returns a punt or a kick for a touchdown and opens eyes,” Payton said. “He (Morgan) did that tonight. He has exceptional speed and balance.”
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