Packers by position: After ignoring obvious need at receiver, Green Bay hopes Davante Adams, others can keep elevating their games
July 21, 2020
GREEN BAY — Brian Gutekunst was offended.
The movie quote had pinged into his iPhone over the weekend, on the eve of his 47th birthday. Did he know, the Green Bay Packers general manager was asked, which film it was from?
I would hope you would support who we are. Not, who we are not. These six individuals have made a choice to work, a choice to sacrifice, to put themselves on the line 23 nights in the next 4 months, to represent you … That kind of commitment and effort deserves and demands your respect.
This is your team.
“Are you kidding?” came the reply. “Coach Norman Dale. Come on.”
Yes, the cinematic soliloquy had indeed come from the fictional Hickory Huskers head man, from 1986’s “Hoosiers,” which came out when Gutekunst was 13 years old. It comes early in the film, as Dale’s high school team is introduced to the student body and is met with chants of “We want Jimmy!” for Jimmy Chitwood, the team’s star player who — at that point in the story, anyway — has decided not to play basketball.
If all this sounds a little bit like the Packers’ wide receiver situation, it should. Because for all the offseason hand-wringing about the offense’s need for additional pass-catching weapons, Gutekunst didn’t add a single wide receiver during the April draft — a draft that saw 37 receivers selected as part of a class many analysts felt was the deepest ever at the position. And he was criticized for it.
In fact, while three-time Pro Bowl wideout Davante Adams returns to once again lead the unit, the only personnel changes at receiver were letting veteran Geronimo Allison walk as a free agent and replacing him with former Carolina Panthers second-round pick Devin Funchess, who played in just one game last season with the Indianapolis Colts before a suffering a season-ending broken collarbone in the opener, and signing ex-Canadian Football League standout Reggie Begelton.
“(It) just didn’t work out, and we weren’t able to select some of the guys that we had rated really highly,” Gutekunst explained when asked about the receiver-less draft class. “And once we got to the middle and towards the end of the draft, I just didn’t think there was great opportunity to add a player that was going to make an impact on our roster this year.
“We really think we’ve got a lot of guys who are going to be pushing for playing time and production.”
In fairness to Gutekunst, once the receivers he had on his board with first-round grades had gone — leading, at least in part, to his selection of Utah State quarterback Jordan Love at No. 26 overall — he probably would have been hard-pressed to find a rookie receiver who could come in and contribute this season, given the way COVID-19 wiped out all on-field offseason activities.
But it also signals the degree of confidence the organization must have in its receivers not named Adams — from Allen Lazard, who emerged as the No. 2 receiver after not making the initial 53-man roster coming out of camp; to Equanimeous St. Brown, who spent all of last season on injured reserve; to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who started the season as the starter opposite Adams before disappearing during the second half of the year; to former UW-Whitewater star Jake Kumerow, who made several under-the-radar plays last year; to Funchess, whose best season came in 2017, when he caught 63 passes for 840 yards and eight touchdowns for the Carolina Panthers.
“For them to not pick a guy early on, to me, says they really like our guys,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said midway through the virtual offseason program. “It all starts with Davante and his abilities. He’s a dynamic player. When you have a dynamic guy like that, he opens up the field for the rest of the guys. That’s where you saw guys like Allen Lazard make big strides, you saw Jake make big plays, you saw MVS have games where he was a big factor for us.
“I’m excited about seeing ‘EQ’ back in the mix and then adding Devin, who’s a veteran guy who’s made plays in the league for a number of years and is hungry. I feel really good about that group and obviously the front office did as well.”
Added coach Matt LaFleur: “I think we have talent and we have depth at that position. … Davante Adams is a true No. 1 in this league. Allen Lazard made a bunch of big plays. Jake Kumerow, we need to find ways to get him more involved. MVS, he has to take that next step. That’s going to be a challenge for him, and we’re going to be all over him to do that. ‘EQ,’ we’re really excited about him being back in the fold, and you add a guy like Devin Funchess, who I can’t wait to start to work with, because here’s a big, physical receiver that is extremely talented. I feel really confident in our receiving corps.”
Here’s a closer look at the wide receiver position as the Packers prepare for training camp, which is scheduled to begin when the full squad reports on July 28:
Depth chart
17 Davante Adams: 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, age 27, seventh year from Fresno State.
11 Devin Funchess: 6-4, 225, 26, sixth year from Michigan.
13 Allen Lazard: 6-5, 227, 24, second year from Iowa State.
83 Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 6-4, 206, 25, third year from South Florida.
16 Jake Kumerow: 6-4, 209, 28, third year from UW-Whitewater.
84 Reggie Begelton: 6-0, 200, 26, first year from Lamar.
19 Equanimeous St. Brown: 6-5, 214, 23, third year from Notre Dame.
9 Darrius Shepherd: 5-11, 186, 24, second year from North Dakota State.
86 Malik Taylor: 6-1, 216, 24, first year from Ferris State.
80 Darrell Stewart: 6-0, 212, 24, rookie from Michigan State.
Burning question
Adams is a top-5 receiver. Then what?
The reason so many expected the Packers to invest a premium draft pick in a receiver — especially considering that the team hasn’t taken a wideout in the first round since 2002, when coach/GM Mike Sherman took Florida State’s Javon Walker — is the dearth of proven talent after Adams, who missed four games with a turf toe injury and still put up 83 receptions for 997 yards and five touchdowns. As pleasant a surprise as Lazard turned out to be, it’s hard not to look at this group and wonder what the Packers’ personnel and coaching staffs see that outsiders don’t.
Even if they’re right about the lesser-known pass catchers on the roster, the Packers still must hope and pray Adams stays healthy. That the team went 4-0 during the month he was out is hard to explain and is probably even harder to replicate.
“From a personality standpoint, he’s a great locker-room guy. He’s a great leader. He’s scary enough in the locker room, the guys listen to him because he’s passionate,” Rodgers said of Adams. “And when you talk about his ability at the line of scrimmage to beat people, he’s a different type of player.”
On the rise
Allen Lazard
When Lazard didn’t make the initial 53-man roster coming out of training camp — despite catching six passes for a team-high 114 yards and a touchdown in preseason play, and seemingly making at least one eye-catching play during each practice — a number of his teammates were stunned. Among them? Rodgers, who’d been Lazard’s biggest public cheerleader all summer long and seemed dumbfounded by the way the team risked losing Lazard on the waiver wire.
As it turned out, Lazard went unclaimed, made it to the practice squad and was promoted to the 53-man roster in time for the regular-season opener at Chicago. When he caught four passes for 65 yards and a 35-yard touchdown in a comeback win over Detroit on Oct. 14, Lazard proved Rodgers right.
“Allen did a great job. I’m really excited about him. He earned it. He earned it, every rep he got,” LaFleur said. “Just the effort, the intensity, he’s a very intelligent player. He earned it on special teams first. I think that’s kind of a good blueprint for young players coming in. You produce on special teams, you earn that trust from the coaching staff. He did that – not only from the coaching staff but from our players, as well, and specifically our quarterback.”
Player to watch
Equanimeous St. Brown
Considering he didn’t catch a single pass last season — or even suit up for a single game — St. Brown sure seems to be a crucial piece of the team’s plan at receiver in 2020. At least, that’s how GM Brian Gutekunst made it sound on multiple occasions during the offseason, when he spoke at length about St. Brown, who as a rookie sixth-round pick in 2018 caught 21 passes for 328 yards but spent last year on injured reserve after suffering a significant high-ankle sprain late in training camp.
Asked early in the offseason if he regretted putting St. Brown on injured reserve before the season began — making him ineligible to be designated for return later in the year — Gutekunst insisted that he did not.
“We value ‘EQ’ quite a bit,” Gutekunst replied. “We think he’s got a bright future with us. He had some pretty serious injuries that we felt needed time. No regrets about that at all.”Key competition
Slot receiver
Although LaFleur has downplayed conjecture that his Year 2 offense might be more run-oriented than last year’s hybrid operation, it’s hard not to look at the limited personnel moves at receiver and wonder if the position has been slightly devalued because he intends to keep the ball on the ground more.
That said, one staple of the offensive system he, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay run is the importance they put on having an effective slot receiver. And last year, after moving on from veteran Randall Cobb, the Packers lacked a legitimate inside option. Shepherd went from being a feel-good camp story to being a disappointment in that slot role, and Allison didn’t fit the bill, either.
Shepherd will have another chance this year, but Begelton, who was ultra-productive in the CFL, could be the answer.
“As far as Reggie Begelton goes, he had a tremendous amount of production in the CFL last year and we were able to bring him in. He just kind of fits a lot of the things we’re looking for,” Gutekunst said. “So we feel really good about the group, and we think there are some guys who have a chance to emerge.”
