Instant Analysis: Colston breaks his Collarbone

Marques Colston had a bad night on Thursday. First, he had an awful fumble for the Saints on their first drive, then went silent for most of the game until getting some late catches, but today’s news is much, much worse – Jay Glazer is reporting that Colston has broken his collarbone and will be out at least a month,

Ouch.

About a month ago, I wrote an article urging all dynasty league owners to consider how much value they place on Colston. As a player prone to injuries, he was already a gamble to be relying on. While this injury couldn’t have been predicted like a future knee issue likely could, it still illustrates how risky he was to have on a roster.

This injury is significant for the Saints. While they have numerous weapons at their disposal, many dynasty values have been changed this afternoon.  Let’s take a look in the latest edition of “Instant Analysis.”

Marques Colston, WR NO
You have to feel for Colston who has worked extremely hard to return from a second microfracture surgery on his knees. This injury further casts a shadow on his future value and should solidify the idea that he simply cannot be penciled in as your WR2, no less your WR1.

If you own Colston, this is no time to trade him. While this injury is significant, it’s not like a torn ACL or ruptured patella tendon. He’ll be back on the field this season and he should contribute as soon as he gets back.

When he comes back later this year, we’d advise you to take a long, hard look at where you stand in your dynasty league. If you’re out of the running and can move Colston to a contender, we’d advise you to do just that. Fair or not, injuries seem to follow him – if you’re not in position to win a title this season or next, you need to sell when you can. Just don’t do it now because your fellow coaches smell blood in the water.

Devery Henderson, WR NO
Henderson will be a hot pickup this week for sure. However, he’s proven time and time again to be incredibly inconsistent. He’ll catch a long touchdown pass one week and disappear the next. Do you really want to rely on that every week? He’ll get more targets for sure, but we’re not so sure his value will spike.

Robert Meachem, WR NO
Meachem is another player who has been dogged by inconsistency. This could be the chance he needs to make good on his potential, though. It’s hard to see another receiver on the roster who will get more targets than Meachem with Colston out for a while. He could move up to WR2 status while Colston gets healthy.

Lance Moore, WR NO
Moore would be another player whose fantasy value would benefit from Colston’s injury, but he can’t get healthy, either. It looks like he’s at least another week away from playing. Proceed with caution here.

Adrian Arrington, WR NO
Arrington has long been one of our favorite sleepers at DLF and you can bet he’ll be on our list of waiver additions next week. He had a slow camp, but he’s been productive every time he’s hit the field, including a nice performance in week seventeen last year. Don’t be surprised to see him get some chances – he was active for the game last night even with a healthy Colston in the lineup.

Jimmy Graham, TE NO
Like Meachem, Graham figures to see a nice bump in targets. He showed last night that he has the ability to make good on his potential and this does nothing but make him even more important to the Saints offense.

Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas, RBs NO
While many may say the loss of Colston will invite teams to stack the box against the run, we just don’t see that happening. After all, do you really want to dare Drew Brees to beat you?

Drew Brees, QB NO
If you have an owner in your dynasty league who thinks this is going to make Drew Brees any less effective, go ahead and trade for him. Elite quarterbacks persevere through the midst of adversity and Brees is one of the best.