When the Green Bay Packers open training camp in a couple of months, Aaron Rodgers and the other quarterbacks will have a dozen or so wide receivers lining up with them.
After drafting speedy Trevor Davis in the fifth round of the NFL draft, the Packers added to a roster the includes Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery, Jeff Janis, Jared Abbrederis, Ed Williams and Jamel Johnson. After the draft, general manager Ted Thompson added three more receivers.
"Feel really good about the wide receiver group," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Saturday night.
How good should the Packers feel about their wideout corps?
The return of Nelson (ACL) and Montgomery (ankle surgery) to full health might make a huge difference, but it's not a sure thing they'll regain their Pro Bowl form (Nelson) and potential (Montgomery). And we can't forget that Cobb and Adams were locked down in man-to-man coverage for most of last season or that the coaches didn't feel comfortable enough to put Abbrederis and Janis on the field full time.
Teams played the Packers as if their receivers couldn't beat them deep.
Going into a new season, McCarthy said he's "not concerned about overall speed at all."
"You can just make that clear right now," he said. "It's been great that we've been able to add 4.3 (Davis) to the mix. But we've got guys who can run, that can run fast, that can go over the middle. I think getting the health of that unit back will be the biggest improvement."
Davis could make the mix interesting, but it's not as if the Packers didn't have that kind of speed on the roster already. Janis ran the 40-yard dash in 4.42 seconds and was just about equal with Davis in the 40-yard split times, three-cone drill and the 20-yard shuttle. Janis is two inches taller, 30 pounds heavier and benched 225 pounds 20 times to Davis' 11, too. But it took him two full years of training and injuries at the position to get on the field.
What impressed West Coast scout Sam Seale about Davis – besides the speed – is that he has large hands and, according to director of football operations Eliot Wolf, only had two drops last season. He also played in a high-powered Division 1 offense – unlike Janis – led by the No. 1 pick in the draft, Jared Goff.
"I'm an old Raider and I'm going to try to talk like my old boss used to, 'Speed kills,'" Seale said. "Once you have speed, that's all you need. Very big hands. He can catch the football. I think he brings an extra dimension to this team whereas last year sitting at home watching TV where everybody was daring us to go deep, I hope they do that with this kid. I'm hoping they do.
"I figure if they do that, after the first four, five games you won't see that anymore."
If Davis does pan out – and everyone knows Thompson is loathe to cut a draft choice – how do all those other receivers fit onto a 53-man roster?
Nelson and Cobb are sure things, but Adams, Abbrederis, Montgomery, Janis, Davis and developmental players Williams and Johnson are going to be battling for their lives. The Packers might keep six receivers, but if they keep seven it means going light at another position.
And Adams, Montgomery and Davis would have to join Janis as regulars on special teams.
In 2007 when the Packers went 13-3, piled up nearly 6,000 yards and made it to the NFC Championship Game, McCarthy employed a good deal of five-receiver sets, preferring a fifth wide receiver to tight ends Donald Lee and Bubba Franks. It meant he was able to go lighter at the tight end position.
Because both Cobb and Montgomery are capable of lining up in the backfield and carrying the ball, McCarthy may be able to steal a spot from the running back position, carrying just two instead of three. And instead of going with two fullbacks, he could go with just one.
How he chooses to use them all should he keep six or seven will be interesting to see.
Nelson is his big-play receiver. Cobb is good at playing off the attention Nelson receives in the secondary. Montgomery supposedly can replicate much of what Cobb can do. Adams was supposed to be a big red-zone target. Abbrederis is a slot receiver who gained Rodgers' trust late in the year. And Janis and Davis are the speed demons who would be expected to stretch the field.
Even though the Packers signed free agent tight end Jared Cook and are expecting more from tight end Richard Rodgers, this 2016 offense might wind up revolving around the receivers. It's a group from which McCarthy is going to expect a lot and it all starts with the competition in training camp.
McCarthy has said repeatedly it's a quarterback-driven game and yet last year Rodgers showed he needed better wide receiver play, better offensive line play, better tight end play and better running back play in order to perform at an elite level. He was not able to drive the show all by himself
"Having a great quarterback's a great thing to have," Thompson said. "I'm not trying to be funny. There are teams that struggle at that position. We're extraordinarily grateful and lucky to be where we are.
"Do you put any more emphasis (on helping him)? I don't know. Obviously, if you're sitting in my chair, then you probably are going to want to get another offensive lineman or two when you have a chance to during the job, which we did. You're probably going to want to get another speed receiver if you can, which we did. And you want other things, too, and you wish you could do those other things, too, but you can't do everything in a single drive."
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/competition-will-be-fierce-at-packers-wr-position-b99718246z1-377978341.html
Except Oden manged to play over 100 games in the NBA, I don't think Embiid will play more.