For years now, the Packers have been shopping for bargain-basement receivers. When will it stop? In my previous post I listed draftees including: Charles Johnson and Kevin Dorsey (Round 7, 2013), and tight ends like D.J. Williams and Ryan Taylor (Round 7, 2011), and Andrew Quarless (Round 5, 2010).
Outside of the draft room, the team has also has tried to bring in a host of marginal players for Rodgers to throw at. How about, roughly in order from now going back to 2012, Max McCaffrey, Emanuel Byrd, Michael Clark, Justin Perillo, Brandon Bostick, Jarrett Boykin, Ryan Taylor, Chris Harper, Jeremy Ross, Jake Stoneburner, Myles White, and Tom Crabtree.
I left out Geronimo Allison, though I’ve never felt he’s got solid athleticism. Also, Jake Kumerow, Robert Tonyan, and Lance Kendricks, who still have some chance of providing real value to the offense.
Speaking of receivers, the Packers made a whopper of a blunder in 2016, and they are still paying for it. They went out and got Jared Cook, a large and very athletic tight end who in my eyes had proven himself over seven years in Tennessee and St. Louis. Though hampered by injuries, his talent showed again in his year in Green Bay.
The Packers should have signed Cook up for three years, but they apparently didn’t want to take such a risk. Cook left for Oakland after his one-year deal expired. In 2017, he had 54 catches for 688 yards, 12.7 yards per catch. In 2018, he had 61 catches for 825 yards, 13.5 YPC, and six TDs. And this was with a terrible team, and quarterbacked by Derek Carr.
Meanwhile the Packers blew it in 2017 by quickly trying to fill the void with Marcellus Bennett, and didn’t do much better with Jimmy Graham in 2018. Both players were also highly overpaid.
Of course I’ve already proposed one way to bring in a quality receiver this season: Jordy! (see here)