What’s up with the Packers WRs?
It’s early, but I’m worried that the Packers might have a problem at wide receiver.
Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb are fine (more on them in a minute). The rest of the receiving corp?
Uffda.
Yes, Jarrett Boykin was the sacrificial lamb lined up against Richard Sherman against the Seahawks, but Aaron Rodgers never even bothered looking in his direction. Boykin played well with a rotating stable of quarterbacks in 2013. He deserves a look from Rodgers every now and then.
At the very least, Boykin deserved a shot to line up somewhere else so Nelson or Cobb, the Packers big two receiving threats, could take a crack at Sherman. Perhaps that could have opened up a few more options on offense instead of completely eliminating whatever area of the field Sherman was on against Boykin.
I’m not even sure if Davante Adams was in the stadium on Thursday night. Wait, I take that back. Adams came open on that play where Rodgers hurled it across his body to Nelson downfield (a la Brett Favre), but Rodgers never bothered to look Adams’ way.
A couple weeks Rodgers ago, Rodgers sounded like he didn’t trust his young receivers. They better learn to trust each other soon because locking in on Nelson and Cobb over and over again won’t cut it for an entire season.
Don’t expect the Packers tight ends to pick up the slack. Going from pseudo WR Jermichael Finley to Richard Rodgers/Andrew Quarless is a downgrade in the receiving category.
I’m sure the receivers will improve as the season goes on, but it makes you wonder if Ted Thompson should have considered bringing back James Jones. He didn’t cost that much, Rodgers trusted him and he made plenty of plays in between the occasional case of dropsies.
Nelson and Cobb are without a doubt an upper-tier receiver tandem, but if the Packers are ever going to take the next step and beat teams with bruising defenses like the 49ers or Seahawks, they’re going to have to gain more yards after the catch.
I know Seattle’s defense is good, especially at tackling, but Nelson and Cobb need to make more plays with the ball if the Packers are ever going to beat them.
Cobb’s 5.5 yards-after-catch average against San Francisco in the playoffs last season was the only time either Cobb or Nelson managed to average 5 yards-after-catch in the Packers last four games against the Seakhawks and 49ers.
That’s not going to cut it. The Packers defense is not going to carry this team to victories against the NFL’s elite. It has to be players like Nelson and Cobb who carry the load when Rodgers gets them the ball.
After Thursday’s thumping, there’s room for improvement in almost every area of this Packers team. You might not hear many people talk about it, but one of those areas is at wide receiver.
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