Most people, us included, believe that Jared Abbrederis or Jeff Janis are most likely to be the Green Bay Packers’ No. 7 receiver this season. And as the Packers’ No. 7 receiver, that means not making the team and continuing their career elsewhere.
We know Jordy Nelson is No. 1. We know Randall Cobb is No. 2.
Unless he’s really bad, we’re giving Trevor Davis a roster spot because he was a 2016 fifth-round draft pick.
That leaves — most likely, anyway — three roster spots for Janis, Abbrederis, 2015 third-round pick Ty Montgomery and 2014 second-round pick Davante Adams.
Conventional wisdom says Adams ends up being the No. 3 guy, despite how bad he was in 2015. He couldn’t possibly be that bad again, could he? Montgomery, if he’s healthy, has to get worked in there somewhere too, right?
Well, not in Vinnie Iyer’s world. Iyer is an NFL writer for The Sporting News and after attending practice this week, he’s suggesting either Janis or Abbrederis will be No. 3.
Does he know something no one else does?
The Packers are sitting well with Janis and Abbrederis, in some combination, as next two men up after Nelson and Cobb. They needed both a boost in deep-ball potential and third-down reliability. The third-year players are at good times in their careers to emerge, building on positive playoff cameos.
It likely leaves a battle between Adams and Montgomery for the No. 5 and final veteran wideout. Adams has a slight edge because of health, and his starting experience would give Green Bay the depth it hasn’t had for a while.
That could happen.
We certainly wouldn’t mind it happening, but we haven’t really considered it happening.
Thing is, we’ve heard next to nothing about Abbrederis this offseason. It’s almost as if he’s an afterthought.
Janis… well, we’ve heard too much about him, but it’s still unclear if he can actually run a route that isn’t a fly pattern.
It’s probably better that Abbrederis is flying under the radar and the Packers are tempering expectations for Janis. The guys the Packers end up touting during the offseason usually end up being non-factors when the season starts.
We won’t really have an idea of how the Packers view this competition until the pads go on and the depth chart gets released. Besides that, these jobs will have to be won through on-field performance.
Nothing is going to be decided in June.
For now, this is just an intriguing thought.