Improve From Within: Receivers’ Concentration
By Aaron Nagler on Jul 30, 2010 with 11 Comments
The Packers boast one of the deepest, most talented receiving corps in the NFL, capable of piling up monster yards and many, many touchdowns.
They are also prone to lapses in concentration, especially early in games.
It started early in the season as well in 2009, with Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, James Jones and Jordy Nelson each taking turns dropping passes in the opener against the Bears. (Nelson dropped more passes in that game than he did all of 2008) Alarm bells were sounded, Jimmy Robinson mobilized to address the situation and we were assured that the Bears game was an aberration. The next week, there would be no balls hitting the ground.
Then came the first play of Week Two:
Simply put - this is completely unacceptable.
The guys need to concentrate on catching it before they run with it (yes, I'm looking at you Mr. Jennings) and they should be just fine. As indicated above, a lot of this happened early in the year and seemed to straighten itself out as the season progressed. But for this group to take the proverbial next step, there can't be nearly as many drops as we saw in 2009.
Filed Under: Featured • Jimmy Robinson • Packer Offense
I like how deep our Wideout availability is. This is something that should never change,especially with the approach being used in the NFL these days. One can never have too many Receivers.
THE PROBLEM, however, is the focus used by this group. Maybe, it’s their youth at the position… Maybe, it’s a”coaching” issue on fundamentals… I’m not there during practice(s). Are they simulating real game-like instances for these personnel? If not…. WHY NOT ??
We used to hear, all the time, how FAVRE would throw missles at the Wideouts (and Freeman would scream how much his hands hurt). Still, you would think that Donald Driver had been warning everyone about Rockin’ Rodgers and his ability to “throw missles” just like the ol’ Gunslinger. Which he can, btw….
The bottom line is this – NO Wideouts should be dropping any of these that get to within 5 feet of where they are. It’s one thing to over-throw a Receiver. Favre’s done it often enough… and no one bitches. Now, I keep hearing how Rodgers needs more practice to get it right.
The Wideouts just need to quit worrying about the photo-op on the catch and just move the chains and make the score – let the final results be the photo-op.
Let’s just see if this Group can correct their own mistakes this season. It will definitely have an impact on getting to the SuperBowl.
JMHO….
There have been reports from the receiving corps over the last three years that Rodgers actually can throw the ball harder than Brett was able to his last few seasons in GB.
Also, Donald Driver doesn’t need to talk about drops to the rest of the WR’s… He was the leading culprit in dropped balls last season amongst our WR’s
I think that is one problem. Rodgers throws the ball way too hard in close range. He tends to throw it a little high also…
Still, if you can touch it, you can catch it. 99% of Rodgers’ balls are catchable.
Maybe he should throw lollipops when their close.A rec knows or should know whats coming from HIS QB.How does it go”expect the unexpected” and your never surprised. What do they learn in camp about each other?
I still remember the ball hitting DD’s foot and getting intercepted…
This started well before the Bears opener. Drops were reported daily out of training camp. Concentration lapses, the worse kind. The momentum carried into the regular season and the Packers finished 2nd only to the Chiefs on the season in drops.
Here’s to hoping there is no ‘drops’ epidemic in training camp and it carries into the regular season.
Nice. To the point and effective. Lot of articles to read today. Really means we’re getting close.
I remember the receivers last year talking up how they were going to get back the #1 slot for YAC. Maybe they started the year concentrating too much on YAC which would have led them to lose focus on catching the call first.
That is a really good point.
Hope that’s not the case, or at least it’s not repeated, because JS-Online basically just ran a duplicate article about the WR’s & Robinson feeling as though they need to recapture their rightful claim to the YAC throne..At the same time, the focus on drops is there as well. Hope it all turns out.
Of course, I imagine every receiving corps in the league is saying the same thing at this time. Still, good point, and I hope they maintain their focus this season.
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