Cory's Corner: Wide receiver depth is key for the Packers

We all know expectations are high.

When you replace Brett Favre with Aaron Rodgers, expectations are going be pretty lofty.

We know that this team returns 95 percent of its offensive snaps from a year ago. That’s pretty impressive considering all the work Ted Thompson did in the offseason to secure guys like Randall Cobb and Bryan Bulaga.

We know that Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback on the face of the earth. He’s so good, it seems like he’s playing with a microchip.

We also know that the other teams in the NFC North are just OK. The Bears have lived and died with Jekyll and Hyde at quarterback as he enters his seventh season in Chicago. The Lions are going to be hard-pressed to stop running water let alone opposing offenses with the free agency departure of Ndamukong Suh and the Vikings are praying that Adrian Peterson doesn’t have any rust on his legs as he tries to reach his pipe dream goal of 2,500 rushing yards this season.

What we don’t know is, who will step up behind Davante Adams to fill out the wide receiver depth? Will Jeff Janis put his NCAA Division II speed to use and wow everyone with a year under his belt? Will Jared Abbrederis keep the injury bug away long enough to get on the field?

The wide receivers were especially interesting last year. Remember how Rodgers took a long time to trust anyone other than Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb? And for awhile there, he was looking exclusively Nelson’s way. That could be a combination of Rodgers only accepting perfection out of the receivers’ routes or the receivers not being able to shed defenders and/or breaking off a route early.

Receivers have always said that Rodgers is two plays ahead. He is constantly thinking how defenses will respond if the ball goes to a certain place. I doubt there’s anyone else on the Packers that thinks like that — which is probably good because by the time a defensive player thinks about a play, usually it’s too late.

But even Adams had his struggles with Rodgers. Adams, whose 24 touchdown grabs in 2013 at Fresno State are only surpassed in the NCAA by Troy Edwards (27), Randy Moss (25) and Stedman Bailey (25), didn’t catch a touchdown until Oct. 2 last year. The athletic rookie didn’t get double-digit targets until Nov. 30 when Bill Belichick took away Nelson and Cobb. That’s when he lit up the Patriots’ secondary for 121 yards on 11 catches.

The Packers receivers have always been an appealing bunch. They never had to be out-of-this-galaxy good because they always had a Packers quarterback that took them over the top. Case in point: The most physically gifted receiver the Packers had in the last 25 years was Sterling Sharpe and his career was truncated because of injury.  Now I’d say that Nelson and Cobb are two of the best in the league right now and that was proven when Rodgers went down with a collarbone injury in 2013.

Since Sharpe, there have been eight receivers that have led the Packers in receiving for a season. And that includes Bill Schroeder who caught lightning in 1999 and 2000.

Developing depth at the wideout position is paramount to making this offensive engine churn. And that could be anyone. Newcomer Ty Montgomery, Janis or Abbrederis.

If there’s a downside to having so much talent at the first two wideout positions, that would be it. Just a tremendous drop-off.

But that hasn’t stopped guys like Robert Brooks, Schroeder and Javon Walker from leading this group in the past. 

 

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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn

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Comments (9)

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Ibleedgreenmore's picture

August 01, 2015 at 06:51 am

I like Janis but we have not seen enough of Montgomery yet to really know and there has to be a sleeper in there, seems each year there is.

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4thand1's picture

August 01, 2015 at 08:18 am

Monty will be the steal of the draft.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

August 01, 2015 at 12:28 pm

Monty showed great burst on an end around and made a highlight reel catch at the end of practice. Monty did have a bad drop in one of the un-padded practices.

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4thand1's picture

August 01, 2015 at 08:19 am

Monty will be the steal of the draft.

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NickPerry's picture

August 01, 2015 at 09:18 am

I agree. He was a All American in 2013 and 2nd team All American in 2014. Granted a lot of it was his return skills but he was balling in 2013 at WR. It's already been said he's picking up the offense really well, the kid is smart!

Think Montgomery will be used in a Hybrid role at times. Personally I think he could be more effective than Cobb in the backfield with time because of his size. At his pro day he dropped from 221 (At Combine) to 211 and ran a 4.38. Cobb weighs 192 so even if he's somewhere in the middle, say 215 that's almost 25 lbs. Big difference when running between the tackles. Something tells me we'll see Cobb and Montgomery together in the backfield at some point this season. Deadly!!!

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Since'61's picture

August 01, 2015 at 09:54 am

With a young roster on a draft and develop team in a salary cap league the issue of experienced depth will exist from season to season. I think that the Packers coaching staff does an excellent job of preparing their younger and inexperienced players for stepping into their roles in real game situations. With the exception of Rodgers injury in 2013 the Packers have had multiple double digit winning seasons despite double digit number of players on IR. For 2015 we have a big drop off in terms of experience after Cobb, Nelson and Adams. However, I believe that Montgomery can develop into a legitimate weapon for Rodgers arsenal. At TE we have virtually no experience beyond Quarless and R. Rodgers. At QB the drop off behind Aaron Rodgers is a deep chasm in terms of both ability and experience. On defense, at ILB, there is virtually no experience behind Barrington. Basically we need another healthy season from our starters while our young backups have a chance to develop. Go Pack! Thanks, Since '61

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ray nichkee's picture

August 01, 2015 at 12:43 pm

Montgomery being able to handle stanford education requirements and his athletic ability only says that he will produce in time but he is still a #4 WR by default. To everybody but him that is good problem to have.

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tm_inter's picture

August 01, 2015 at 02:47 pm

I consider Richard Rodgers a wide-receiver, probably the surest hand of the lot. With his 6-4 height, he should be a good target for Aaron to throw to, especially in red-zone situations.

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Cwoodson21's picture

August 01, 2015 at 08:05 pm

I agree that Richard Rodgers has great hands but in no way would I consider him a wide receiver. He just really needs to work on his blocking so that he can be considered a legitimate tight end.

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