With training camp a little less than two weeks away, Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser will spend the final weeks of the off-season examining 21 questions about the Indianapolis Colts entering 2010 . . .
No. 13: Will WRs be best of QB Peyton Manning's career?
We move today to the 13th part of this series examining 21 questions around the 2010 Indianapolis Colts, this one addressing what has been a question throughout the off-season and one with a very positive answer for the Colts: Will the Colts' wide receivers be the best of QB Peyton Manning's career?
The answer is they absolutely could be.
And they almost certainly will be as deep as they ever have been in Manning's era.
“We're very deep,” WR Pierre Garcon said recently during the Colts' organized team activities. “Everybody on our receiving corps can make a play any time. It's wherever coach puts us at, we have to make a play happen.”
The Colts had three primary receivers last season, and the group began with a player who has made the last four Pro Bowls. That's wide receiver Reggie Wayne.
Wayne, a first-round selection in the 2001 NFL Draft, caught 100 passes this past season for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2010, making his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance. He had more than 1,000 yards receiving for a sixth consecutive season, and had three game-winning, fourth-quarter touchdown receptions – against San Francisco, New England and Jacksonville.
Two players aside from Wayne played extensively at receiver for the Colts last season.
Garcon, a sixth-round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft from Mount Union, moved into a starting role opposite Wayne following an injury to wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, starting the final 13 games he played and catching 47 passes for 765 yards and four touchdowns.
Austin Collie, a fourth-round selection in the 2009 NFL Draft from Brigham Young, emerged as one of the NFL's top rookie receivers, playing a key role as a slot receiver and catching 60 passes for 676 yards and seven touchdowns.
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