The Saints signed Marquez Callaway, wide receiver out of the University of Tennessee. He was an undrafted free agent in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Biography
Marquez Callaway is 6’1” and 205 pounds. He played four years at Tennessee and will be 22 years old at the beginning of the 2020 NFL season. Callaway is the son of two army parents and is known as a high character player on and off the field. He was named the Volunteer of the Year by the Special Olympics for the state of Georgia. Callaway excelled on both sides of the ball in high school and was a consensus top 15 recruit out of Georgia back in 2015. Callaway endured shaky quarterback play at times and competed for targets with Jauan Jennings and Josh Malone while at Tennessee.
College Production
Marquez Callaway broke out at the age of 19 (age during their first season with a 20% receiving dominator rating) in his second season for the Volunteers. Callaway’s best season was his senior season at 21 years old. Callaway had 30 receptions, for 635 receiving yards, and six scrimmage touchdowns for a receiving dominator rating (average percentage of their team’s receiving yards and receiving touchdowns) of 26.8%. Callaway had moderate age-adjusted production. He averaged 412.5 scrimmage yards (21st percentile) and 3.3 scrimmage touchdowns (25th percentile) per season for an average scrimmage dominator rating (average percentage of their team’s scrimmage yards and scrimmage touchdowns) per season of 27.3% (44th percentile). Callaway was extremely efficient on a per touch basis and averaged 16.8 yards per reception (82nd percentile). He wasn’t as efficient within his team’s offense and averaged 0.55 scrimmage yards per team play (29th percentile). Callaway was a special teams ace during his time in Knoxville. He had 48 returns, for 629 return yards, and three return touchdowns.
Athleticism
Marquez Callaway has an above-average height-adjusted speed score of 95.7 (56th percentile) after running a 4.55-second 40-time at the NFL Combine. He has an impressive burst score of 127.6 (84th percentile). Callaway is a well built, big-play receiver that can make plays on the football field in many different ways. He has the speed and burst to get vertical but also has the quickness to turn short passes into big gains.
NFL Landing Spot
New Orleans Saints- 2019 third ranked offense was highlighted by Michael Thomas’ record setting year. Drew Brees finished with the second highest passer rating, targeting most areas of the field with great success. The amount of plays that the Saints ran was in the bottom third, and they passed on 59.9% of those plays. For years, this team has needed a capable WR2. In 2019, nine players finished with 10 receptions or more. Only three of them were wide receivers. Non-WR players accounted for 48% of team targets, Michael Thomas’ 185 targets made up 32% of the remaining targets. They chose not to bring back Ted Ginn and his 10% target share. Rather relying on what they had, the Saints wisely brought in Emmanuel Sanders to work behind Michael Thomas and absorb, at the very least, the 81 targets that Ginn and Tre’Quan Smith combined for. The Saints very well could bring a third receiver to push or replace Smith. But with the way the Saints spread the ball around between positions, another new receiver might have a tough time fighting for targets. But worth noting is that Jared Cook and Alvin Kamara are both free agents after this season, and Sanders is after 2021. The team will also be moving onto a new QB at that point, which warrants consideration, but there is some long term viability for a player in this WR room.
Analysis
Marquez Callaway is an athletic wide receiver that can play in the slot or out wide. He can win with his speed, burst, and ability to make players miss in the open field or in traffic. He didn’t stand out from a production standpoint but his special team dynamism might earn him a spot in the NFL. The Saints invested zero draft capital into Callaway. He has an interesting degree of opportunity and will compete with Thomas, Sanders and Cook for targets from Brees.
Marquez Callaway is in Shawn’s sixth wide receiver tier, and outside of the top 25 rookie receivers. Shawn would target Callaway in the late fourth round in superflex rookie drafts (late fourth round in single QB). As far as late-round rookie darts to throw, you can do a lot worse than Callaway. His athleticism and special teams acumen should earn him some playing time, but don’t expect anything in the early years. Callaway is a receiver that could be a potential for the fabled “third-year breakout”. With Thomas, Sanders, Cook, and Kamara commanding all the targets next season, there will be little to be carved out. But Cook and Kamara are free agents at the end of this season, Sanders will be gone after 2021, and 2018 third-round pick Tre’quan Smith has yet to fully splash, despite two straight seasons with five touchdowns. On a future Saints squad lacking Sanders, Cook and possibly Kamara; there is ample opportunity for Callaway to compete for the non-Michael Thomas fantasy-relevant targets with Smith and future TE Adam Trautman.
This article was written in collaboration with Dave Wright (@ff_spaceman). Stay tuned for more rookie wide receiver UDFA articles from me in the coming days, to help you try and find the next Adam Thielen. Interact with me on Twitter at @ff_walrus. You can listen to our rivalry on our podcast @ATaleofTwoRivals with @ff_banterman.
Information found in this article was gathered from @ff_spaceman’s College Prospect Database, PlayerProfiler.com, Sports-Reference.com, AirYards.com, and a prospect’s college team website.
