Packers 2022 Draft Thread

According to ML he wants this in his WR>>

Losing Marquez Valdes-Scantling in free agency made one thing clear for Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers: the wide receiver position needs an influx of speed.

The Packers coach acknowledged this obvious fact on Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting in Florida.

“We need a legit guy that can take the top off the coverage,” LaFleur said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.

Valdes-Scantling, who stands 6-4 and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds, has been the offense’s primary deep threat since LaFleur arrived in 2019. He left Green Bay as a free agent to sign a three-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs last week. Losing Valdes-Scantling and Davante Adams in one offseason has the Packers looking at a major rebuild at the position.

There’s no obvious replacement for Valdes-Scantling on the roster. Allen Lazard doesn’t have threatening deep speed. Randall Cobb and Amari Rodgers are slot receivers. The rest of the depth chart includes Juwann Winfree and Malik Taylor, who probably aren’t starting-caliber receivers entering 2022.

General manager Brian Gutekunst has options for finding legit speed. Will Fuller is still available in free agency. Christian Watson, Chris Olave and Alec Pierce could be draft targets. There are potential trade scenarios to consider. One way or another, the Packers will add receivers between now and the start of the regular season in September.

Speed remains important in LaFleur’s offensive scheme for a few reasons. One, speed helps create explosive plays down the field. Valdes-Scantling created nine plays of 40 or more yards between 2020 and 2021. Explosive plays are great drivers of points. Two, the threat of vertical speed changes the way defenses cover the passing game and opens up opportunities in space for others underneath. Speed helps occupy safeties deep and create one-on-one chances for receivers. Valdes-Scantling deserves an assist for many of the easy throws and catches in the intermediate areas of the field from the last few seasons.
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dannobanano said:
Maybe it’s just me, but I get the feeling we will see a passing game that much more resembles what we saw in 2020, when Rodgers played significantly more within ML’s system as opposed to the hero ball we saw in 2021.
And with that in mind, they don’t need super-star WR’s because ML will call plays that “scheme” people open rather than depend on a WR winning his route against the DB.
JMHO
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It might be dictated more by personnel than scheme. At this point there is no dynamic WR, average TE but RB is deep and effective.
 
Fritz said:
According to ML he wants this in his WR>>
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Thing is I don't think you can just go find that guy. Rookies usually will have a learning curve and rare to find a Chase or Jefferson that click right away. I don't think Packers could afford to trade for a guy that would require a big contract to get him into GB. I think the WR group will be a work in progress as the season goes on and might be a WRBC playing whomever has the hot hand.
 
FlaPack said:
It might be dictated more by personnel than scheme. At this point there is no dynamic WR, average TE but RB is deep and effective.
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I suggested the idea because the only WR that Rodgers could depend to get open on iso-routes was Adams.
I keep remembering those 6 games over the last 2 seasons where Adams was “out” and Rodgers was more or less “forced” to play within ML’s scheme, and he really spread the ball around, including as you said, getting the RB’s more involved in the passing game, and the Packers went 6-0 in those games.
I just get the feeling that’s much more what we will see this year.
 
dannobanano said:
I suggested the idea because the only WR that Rodgers could depend to get open on iso-routes was Adams.
I keep remembering those 6 games over the last 2 seasons where Adams was “out” and Rodgers was more or less “forced” to play within ML’s scheme, and he really spread the ball around, including as you said, getting the RB’s more involved in the passing game, and the Packers went 6-0 in those games.
I just get the feeling that’s much more what we will see this year.
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I get where your going on this and don’t disagree. That said I hate to look at 6 games as a trend. I’m not sure that works over 17 games with teams adjusting. At some point WR will have to make plays especially in play action
 
Best thing is not having a dominate WR makes Rodgers go through all his routes not just force it to his #1 guy because he trusts him the most. We have seen it when Adams was out
 
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