The Green Bay Packers still face many questions this offseason. One of the big ones is who the hell will be back at wide receiver next year? Given what has already transpired at the NFL Combine and what the Packers’ salary cap crunch, there’s no reason for them not to take a receiver early this year.
It’s been imperative for a while now for the Packers to take a receiver early, so much so that it’s become an ongoing joke. However, they always go in a different direction. They do it every single time.
Taking a receiver as early as the third round feels like a miracle. The Packers did it last year when they selected Amari Rodgers from Clemson. His results were nonexistent in his rookie campaign, but there could be ample opportunity coming in 2022 for the slot wideout. He’s one of the few receivers under contract.
The futures of Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Allen Lazard are still uncertain. Randall Cobb can’t be brought back at his current cap number. The Packers will likely show him the door if they can’t restructure. For the first time in a long time, the Packers have legitimate concerns at wide receiver and vacancies everywhere.
Enter the NFL Combine.
Scouts, analysts, everyone was in awe of some of the 40-yard dash times posted at the combine on Thursday.
- Skyy Moore (Western Michigan) clocked a 4.41 while Chris Olave (Ohio State) upped that by showcasing a 4.39.
- Olave’s fellow Buckeye Garrett Wilson outmatched him with a 4.38 40. None of those three finished in the top five for wide receivers.
- Tyquan Thornton (Baylor) ripped off a 4.28, and Velus Jones (Tennessee) was right behind him at 4.31. The list goes on and on. You get the point.
The 40-yard dash is not the be-all-end-all by any stretch of the imagination, but every coach drools over the chance to add speed at wide receiver. Valdes-Scantling proved his worth in Green Bay over the last few years strictly because of his speed, even when he had a case of the drops early in his career. His speed made up for the yips, and his hands have gotten far better over time.
Even if Olave and Wilson go before they select at No. 28, there are plenty of deserving names that could still be available for Green Bay. It’s a never-ending list.
Jameson Williams (Alabama) was a shoo-in to go in the top half of the first round before tearing his ACL in the National Championship. He’s still expected by many to go in the first round. Other names like Jahan Dotson (Penn State), Treylon Burks (Arkansas), and Drake London (USC) should be in the mix as well.
There are plenty of stocks on the rise. Look at how many receivers have performed at the combine already. It’s time for Green Bay to pounce.
It’s hard to envision a scenario where all of Adams, Cobb, MVS, and Lazard are back in the fold next year. Amari Rodgers didn’t show squat in his first season. While it’s too early to give up on him being a dynamic slot receiver, it would also be reckless to bank on him becoming that in Year 2 and filling up that basket with eggs.
At the moment, Green Bay won’t have much wiggle room to operate with. In all likelihood, they probably won’t in free agency, either. The top priority should be getting Davante Adams back by any means possible. But even if they do that, it’s not enough.
The Packers haven’t been able to find a true WR2 to star alongside Adams for years now. MVS and Lazard have both been outstanding in their own right, but it’s a stretch to consider either a true No. 2 when looking around the league.
It may make Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball uncomfortable, considering the last time the Packers selected a receiver in the first round was Javon Walker in 2002. However, they may not have a choice this time around.
Conventional wisdom holds that you take the best available prospect on your board. While this is true in many cases, it’s not bulletproof. Green Bay is set in many areas next year, or at least close to it. Their most glaring deficiency is wide receiver. Getting a London, Burks, Moore, or David Bell could change that perception rather quickly. It wouldn’t hurt to do so for once to put a bigger smile across Aaron Rodgers‘ face if he is to come back.
In the past, it’s been fun to wonder if it will be the year that the Packers finally take a wide receiver in the first round. But it hasn’t happened in 20 years. If Green Bay had all of last year’s wideouts under contract for 2022 and beyond, it would be perfectly fine to extend that streak. That isn’t the case, though, and the Packers will not get all their immediate answers at wideout solved in free agency. It’s time to dip into the honeypot and take one of many receivers who could —and likely should — be selected in the first round.
