The Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver room will look different this year without Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Equanimeous St. Brown. While the team tries to find the best way to replace (or alleviate) the losses, it’s hard to know before training camp how many receivers the Packers will carry going into the regular season.
Since Matt LaFleur became the head coach in 2019, the Packers haven’t entered the season with more than six receivers. But that could happen this year because the personnel and coaching staff are still learning which players could contribute during the season. There will be more roles to fill, as Adams used to provide the Packers a variety of attributes they don’t have anymore.
In 2019 and 2021, the Packers started the season with six wide receivers. In 2020, the number was even smaller, with five. The only year the team finished the season with more than six WRs was 2021, when Green Bay had seven active receivers by Week 18.
2019
- Initial: 6 (Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Geronimo Allison, Jake Kumerow, Trevor Davis, Darrius Shepherd)
- Final: 6 (Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Geronimo Allison, Jake Kumerow, Ryan Grant)
2020
- Initial: 5 (Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, Malik Taylor)
- Final: 6 (Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, Malik Taylor, Tavon Austin)
2021
- Initial: 6 (Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Randall Cobb, Amari Rodgers, Malik Taylor)
- Final: 7 (Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Randall Cobb, Equanimeous St. Brown, Amari Rodgers, Juwann Winfree)
The Packers currently have 10 wide receivers on the preseason roster. They will probably enter the regular season with six or seven, plus one or two on the practice squad.
Locks
The Packers have six players that, barring injuries, will definitely make the initial 53-man roster. Allen Lazard is one of them, and he should start the year as the WR1 because of his recent production and, more importantly, his connection to Aaron Rodgers. Among the veterans, Randall Cobb is also a lock after agreeing to a pay cut to stay.
Sammy Watkins received a contract that indicates he isn’t a lock because it’s inexpensive and low on guarantees. But the way LaFleur and Rodgers have talked about him, Watkins has too much talent to be an afterthought in this group. Amari Rodgers will also be a part of the team. The Packers won’t cut a third-round pick that Brian Gutekunst liked so much after one year — especially because Amari had so few offensive snaps.
Among the rookies, second-round pick Christian Watson and fourth-round pick Romeo Doubs will be there, too, considering the investment in draft capital made in them — and their ceilings for the future of the team.
Fighting for a spot
The Packers might cut the rest of the room and start the season with six receivers. But there are a couple of guys who could find a way to be part of the 53-man roster.
The biggest one is Samori Toure. The rookie is a seventh-round pick and is exactly what teams look for when opening a seventh roster spot for the receiving room. First, he is a talented pass-catcher with significant upside. But he is also a good special teams player and has extensive experience as a gunner. Therefore, there’s a real chance for him to make the team.
The other alternative is Juwann Winfree. He finished last season on the active roster and surpassed Malik Taylor (and even Amari Rodgers) on the depth chart. In the game against the Arizona Cardinals, when three of the top receivers were out, Winfree played significant snaps. He isn’t so effective as a special teamer, though, and he has a higher chance of passing unclaimed through waivers. Therefore, the Packers may try and stash him on the practice squad.
Long shots
Malik Taylor started the last two seasons on the 53-man roster, but he’s lost space since last season. In 2020, he was a core special teamer and even had a decent number of offensive snaps, with five receptions and one touchdown. Last year, he tallied just two receptions all year for 14 yards, and his contribution to the special teams wasn’t enough to justify a roster spot.
The other long shot is undrafted rookie Danny Davis. He is talented but would need great training camp and preseason performances to have a real shot. Even if he does, it’s more plausible that the Packers will try to put him on the practice squad.
The training camp, which starts on July 27, will be decisive in defining the roles of the Packers’ receivers. But, right now, it looks like the best idea is to keep seven receivers and give Toure a chance to prove he can be a contributor — mainly because there’s a good chance of another team claiming him on waivers if the Packers cut him. It’s a different time for the Packers, and tests will be essential to determine the future of the position in Green Bay.
