Is this the season that Reggie Wayne starts to see a drop in numbers?
Your eyes tell you that Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne didn't look quite as quick last year as he did in previous seasons. He didn't seem to catch so many passes in wide-open spaces as he did before. When he did catch the ball, there always seemed to be a defender right there to keep him from gaining any extra yardage.
But then you look at the numbers, and you see that Wayne caught 111 passes, the most he ever has. He amassed 1,355 yards, his second-highest total ever. He only had six touchdown receptions -- which was a disappointment to his fantasy owners -- but his scoring totals have always fluctuated in his career.
So has Wayne lost a step, or is he still at the top of his game? Well, if we really knew the answer to that one, we'd have gotten out of the housing market four years ago, sold those Citibank shares back in 2000 -- and never even considered drafting Randy Moss last year. We never saw Moss' 28-catch, 393-yard season coming on the heels of his 83-catch, 1,264-yard season in 2009. But Reggie Wayne is not a candidate to suffer a Moss-like drop in numbers.
It's true that Wayne is 32 at the start of the 2011 season. But former Colts teammate Marvin Harrison had three 1,000-yard seasons and caught more than 10 touchdown passes three times after turning 32 -- and they came while sharing targets with Wayne.
There is no other wideout on the Colts to take Peyton Manning's attention away from Wayne. Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie have shown potential, but have been inconsistent or in and out of the lineup. Tight end Dallas Clark's return may hurt Wayne's total number of looks. At the same time, a healthy Clark should help open up the field more for Wayne once again.
Bottom Line: Nothing lasts forever, but we're not ready to throw dirt on Reggie Wayne's fantasy value just yet. He's still a No. 1 fantasy receiver.
