With the Packers first preseason game tonight, it’s important to get an idea where we stand so we have an idea what to look for. Unfortunately, practice tells us very little so we really don’t know where we stand. Still, when I thought about the questions I had I realized there were quite a few. Enough actually that 1 article simply isn’t going to give me enough of a platform to get all my thoughts out. With that, I present to you my list of questions for each position.
To view all positions, click HERE
Wide Receivers
How many receivers are locks?
The first question probably should be, how many receivers will the Packers keep on the roster. The answer, however, is I don’t know. certainly not enough content there to start off an article. As a result I’ll skip ahead and ask the next logical question, which receivers can we pencil in as starters today.
Clearly we can call Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, and Davante Adams starters. For my money, I’m more than comfortable calling Geronimo Allison a starter. He came on incredibly strong as the season wore on and his pro football focus grade was nearly identical to Davante Adams.
From there the only other names worth mentioning are the other two carry overs from last year, Jeff Janis and Trevor Davis. Neither of them were very good last year as wide receivers and did very little with the little time they were given. Still, I’m going to go on a limb and say both of them will be on the team next year.
Trevor Davis didn’t show any promise in 2016 but so far this year it’s a new game. He added about 10 pounds of lean mass, has made a ton of plays, and is fighting real hard for the punt return job, going so far as to send the special teams coach videos of him practicing. As best as I can tell, Cobb is Davis’ only real competition and the Packers aren’t interested in using Cobb on returns if they don’t have to. They don’t.
Janis is similar in that his abilities on special teams are… well, special. You can’t pretend you haven’t noticed. The guy makes 95% of the tackles on kickoffs and punts. He’s an ace as a gunner. That’s not a useless thing to a football team. Add in the fact that he’s 6’3 and ran a 4.42 40 and it’s borderline criminal to let him walk.
What new additions will there be to the wide receiver room?
Unfortunately, if we use last year as a measuring stick, the Packers will only have 7 WR’s on the roster. We’ve already accounted for 6 of them, the 1 vacancy coming by way of Ty Montgomery.
That’s pretty bad new because there are plenty of guys to be excited about. Max McCaffrey, the better of the two McCaffrey brothers, has quietly been putting together a great camp, catching everything thrown at him. And there has been a lot thrown his way.
Colby Pearson is a guy that came on real strong at first and caught a lot of attention but was recently injured. Considering the lack of spots and competition, if Pearson isn’t a go tonight he’ll have a nearly impossible road to the roster.
Montay Crocket and Michael Clark are the freaks of the group. The kinds of guys that have 1 really good attribute and that’s enough for fans to say they want him. In Clark’s case, he’s 6’6. Big tall guy, lots of touchdowns, just throw it up… Need him! For Crockett, he’s the speedster of the group clocking in a 4.39 at his pro day 40. Allegedly that was a slow time for him. True or not, the guy is fast.
Lastly there are the guys I’ll label as draftable. Mostly because they were drafted. So there’s that. DeAngelo Yancey was the first one taken, and went in the 5th round. As a result he has to be the one we look to first. It’s the one the Packers felt had the most talent of the bunch and until I have reason to believe otherwise, Yancey is getting penciled in. The second went in the second round, Malachi Dupre. Dupre is an interesting case because he was thought to go as early as the third round. Why he fell is a mystery to me and obviously the experts didn’t want to talk about it because they didn’t want to sound stupid. All the sudden Dupre in the 7th makes sense… sure.
Ultimately, if you want to watch a fierce competition, this is it. Tons of talent all battling it out for 1 or 2 spots on an NFL roster. I’m expecting to see magic tonight!