Packers remain confident in upside of young receiving corps

Cheesehead

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Mar 19, 2019
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As much attention as the receiver position received from draftniks, a deeper dive into the numbers and depth chart might explain why the Packers went the direction they did.


For starters, Green Bay no longer is the same spread-'em-out shotgun offense it was when the receiving corps played a combined 3,327 snaps in 2015. In fact, the 2,734 snaps played by Packers receivers in 2019 were their fewest in a season since the NFL began charting snap totals on game books in 2012.


Yet, the opportunities were there for receivers to grasp onto Head Coach Matt LaFleur's scheme. In 2019, former undrafted free agent Allen Lazardemerged as the Packers' No. 2 receiver with 35 receptions for 477 yards and three touchdowns over the final 11 regular-season games.


With only two veterans (Adams and Jake Kumerow) older than 26 years old, the Packers tout a young and experienced receiving corps hungry to prove itself in 2020.


"For them to not pick a guy early on to me says they really like our guys and have faith in them," said quarterback Aaron Rodgers in May. "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 ( Marquez Valdes-Scantling) have games where he was a big factor for us. … I feel really good about that group and obviously the front office did, as well."


Equanimeous St. Brown and Funchess appear to be on track to return to the field after injury-shortened 2019 campaigns. Funchess, a sixth-year pro with 164 career receptions, was slated to start last year in Indianapolis before suffering a season-ending collarbone injury in the Colts' opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.


Green Bay had high hopes last year for St. Brown before the former sixth-round pick sustained an ankle injury in the team's third preseason game against Oakland that landed him on season-ending injured reserve.
 
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