Saints smart for discovering Colston? Not exactly

Colston's an impressive guy. Clearly intelligent. Soft-spoken. Humble. Hungry. That's how he came off to me, someone he didn't have to impress after catching 10 balls against the Steelers. Imagine how he came off in pre-draft interviews, when he's trying to impress someone.

The NFL swung at Colston, and the NFL whiffed. In all, 30 receivers were drafted in April. Colston was 29th. In other words, the NFL did what every major college program did five years earlier. Colston ended up at Division I-AA Hofstra because nobody in Division I-A wanted him. And even Hofstra didn't know what it had. It took him eight games to make his first start, which he parlayed into two long touchdown catches and conference freshman of the week honors.

The Saints had no idea what they had in April, but by late August they knew. They traded away starting receiver Donte' Stallworth because they knew Colston was ready to handle the job. Good call. Colston is better than Stallworth.

Colston's damn near better than everyone in this league. He leads the NFL with 869 receiving yards. He's tied for the lead with seven receiving touchdowns. He is tied -- with Marvin Harrison -- for fourth with 54 catches.

The way he's played, Marques Colston would have been the best pick from the 2006 NFL Draft had he gone in the first round. Considering he went in the seventh round, he's among the best picks in NFL history.

The Saints deserve credit. But don't forget, they took Mike Hass first.