With training camp a little more than a week away, Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser will spend the final days of the off-season examining 21 questions about the Indianapolis Colts entering 2010 . . .
No. 14: Can Pierre Garcon be a No. 1 receiver?
We move today to the 14th part of this series examining 21 questions around the 2010 Indianapolis Colts, this one addressing what could be an increasingly pertinent question in coming months and seasons: Can Pierre Garcon be a No. 1 receiver?
It's too early to know for sure, but the signs are better than perhaps previously expected.
Garcon, a third-year wide receiver, was selected in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft from Mount Union (Pa.). Since a rookie season spent mostly adjusting to his first experience of big-time football at any level, he has steadily improved.
Garcon played sparingly as a rookie in 2008 – playing mostly on special teams and only late in the season offensively – then starting WR Anthony Gonzalez sustained what became a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 of 2009.
Garcon moved into the starting lineup and stayed there the rest of the season, starting the final 13 games he played and emerging as one of the Colts' top big-play threats. Garcon, after catching four pases for 23 yards as a rookie, caught 47 passes for 765 yards and four touchdowns in 2009.
“It takes a while to get comfortable and relaxed,” Garcon said during the Colts' recent OTA sessions. “Once you get that feel, you get to be loose and play at full speed.”
Garcon appeared to do so at at an increasing rate last season, with his production improving significantly in the post-season. In three post-season games, he caught 21 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns, with his 11-reception, 151-yard, one-touchdown performance critical in the Colts' AFC Championship Game victory over the New York Jets.
Garcon also caught a 19-yard touchdown in the first half of the Super Bowl, and said in the off-season his focus is improving on what many believed at times was an inconsistent rookie season.
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