Reggie Wayne will line up in more places

ANDERSON, Ind. -- Never mind Where's Waldo?

Where's Reggie?

On Wednesday afternoon, Reggie Wayne, the Indianapolis Colts' veteran receiver, was here, there, a little bit of everywhere when quarterback Andrew Luck and the No. 1 offense were on the field.

No longer is he always stationed on the far left of the formation, on a so-called "island."

"Unfortunately it comes in year 12, but it's all good,'' Wayne said. "I'm excited about it. I have a little bit more freedom to do some things."

Consider some plays from practice. Wayne lined up: Wide right, went in motion to the left and caught a swing pass out of the backfield.

In the left slot, ran a slant to the right and caught a pass from Luck in stride.

Wide right, went in motion to the left, stopped and went back to the right.

In the slot to the left, motioned right and caught a short pass from Luck.

The idea is to maximize Wayne's versatility, and make it more difficult for defenses to locate and concentrate on him.

"Why leave him in one spot?'' asked offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. "We're not a right and left wide receiver offense. He's going to be our flanker and our slot.

"He's got great decision making and he's really strong in the slot. It's a waste of talent to just have him out (left) all the time and let him be double covered."

In the past, the Colts ran a less complicated offense, and that worked rather well for many years, with Peyton Manning throwing to Wayne and Marvin Harrison.

Wayne's been able to deal with whatever defenses have thrown at him since the Colts selected him with the 30th overall pick in 2001. He ranks No. 2 in club history in virtually every meaningful receiving category, trailing only Harrison. Among active receivers, only Atlanta tight end Tony Gonzalez has more catches and yards.

And while it can be overly optimistic to project statistics, Wayne could secure a place among the most prolific receivers in NFL history.

Wayne, 33, has averaged 89.8 receptions and 1,226 yards over the past eight years. In March he signed a three-year, $17.5 million contract. If he is able to maintain his recent pace over the life of the contract, he'll push his career totals to 1,131 catches and 15,386 yards.

Only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (1,549), Gonzalez (1,149), Harrison (1,102) and Cris Carter (1,101) have more than 1,100 receptions.

Only Rice (22,895), Terrell Owens (15,934) and Isaac Bruce (15,208) have eclipsed the 15,000-yard mark.

This season, Wayne and all of the receivers will be moving around a lot. Wayne and Austin Collie are the starters, with Donnie Avery the No. 3 option. While Avery is dealing with a hip injury, rookie T.Y. Hilton is taking his place.

At any time, anyone can be anywhere. That's a dramatic switch from Harrison always split wide right and Wayne to the left.

"It's being able to move (Wayne) around in all different packages and not just having this guy here, this guy there, but move 'em all over the place," Arians said. "Run every route in the book, find out the ones they run the best.

"I think Reggie's having a lot of fun (in the slot). He's so big and strong and he knows how to get open. I think it's been like a rookie year for him."

Wayne isn't learning the slot position as much as he's re-learning it. Early in his career, that was his spot.

"My second year, that's actually how I got started, really, playing a little slot,'' Wayne said. "So it kind of brings you back a little bit to that time."

Arians, he added, "is showing me some new things. (He) didn't sell me on it at first. I guess that's because I've been (lined up) a certain way for 11 years. It's starting to grow on me. I'm starting to like it."


(indystar.com)