Have you seen enough of Richard Rodgers yet? We sure as hell have.
The Green Bay Packers have been relying almost exclusively on the second-year pro at the tight end position, this season. To say he hasn’t delivered would be an understatement.
Rodgers is second on the Packers with 23 receptions, but he’s gained only 205 yards, which is a pathetic 8.9 yards per catch. Rodgers couldn’t break a tackle or make a play if you or I were covering him in the back yard. And if that weren’t enough to make our blood boil, he’s a liability as a blocker and consistently makes costly mental errors.
But the Packers keep running him out there anyway. Rodgers has played in 91 percent of the Packers’ offensive plays, this season.
It’s clear the coaches don’t think they have a better option at tight end. There’s no other explanation as to why they’d keep relying on a guy who consistently underperforms.
That may, finally, be about to change.
“[Rodgers has] been pretty much carrying the load, but we have two other young guys that have been given a little more opportunities,” Packers offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett said. “That’s something that we’ll address. As the weeks go on, those guys will have more opportunities and they have to make the most of them.”
Those guys are backups Justin Perillo and Kennard Backman.
Perillo has played in two games since being brought up off the practice squad and has caught two passes for 27 yards. Backman has been active for just two games and hasn’t caught a pass.
We know why Backman isn’t playing. You may think it impossible, but he’s an even worse blocker than Rodgers. Of course, he’s a rookie and that’s to be expected.
Perillo is probably the strongest blocker of the three and he couldn’t really offer anything less in the passing game, could he?
If the Packers are going to make a move — and they should — Perillo would be the guy.
We’re not suggesting that Rodgers will get benched. That seems highly unlikely. The Packers at least have to go through this season pretending he’s a viable starter, since they wasted a draft pick on him and then decided to go through the offseason telling us he could get the job done.
They can easily give more snaps to Perillo, though.
There’s no reason a guy who no one would even rate as average should be dominating the snaps at his position to the tune of 90-plus percent.
It’s about time someone noticed that folly and corrected it.