bud fox wrote: ↑10 Nov 2022 13:08
This speaks to the worst receiving group of all time. Argument should be over.
They either don't run the right route or lose on every route.
Adaptable, patient, easy-going, nurturing, resilient. Adjectives few would ever use to describe Aaron Charles Rodgers.
Thus, in what should be a surprise to nobody, Rodgers has looked most productive this season when throwing to the veteran holdovers he is most comfortable with in Lazard, Cobb, and Tonyan.
Unfortunately, both Lazard and Cobb have missed time due to injury and Tonyan has not yet fully recovered from his ACL. Even when all three are good to go they put no fear in NFL defensive coordinators due to their athletic limitations.
To the extent the plan going into the season was to rely upon Rodgers throwing to 2nd, 4th, and 7th round rookies out of North Dakota St, Nevada, and Nebraska, respectively, that plan has failed spectacularly outside of Doubs inconsistent contributions.
And that failure should also surprise no one, as the soon to be 39 year-old/I don't do non-mandatory mini-camps Rodgers is particularly ill-suited to pair with rookies who have steep learning curves and no experience catching balls against high -level competition.
This does not mean that Watson, Doubs, or Toure may not be good Packers down the road, just that counting on them to contribute right away in 2022 was, at best, foolhardy.
To the extent that either Sammy Watkins or Amari Rodgers were supposed to be key contributors to the passing attack in 2022, whomever is responsible for making those decisions failed the franchise.
The poor production out of the Packers' 2022 receivers is primarily due to poor decision-making at the tight end and especially the wide receiver position but that poor decision making did not begin in 2022. Instead, it goes back to at least 2018 when Gutekunst became the GM.
Looking forward, Cobb, Lazard, and Tonyan (and Lewis and Watkins) are likely all gone after the season.
So, if Rodgers returns to collect his more than 50 million in salary from Green Bay in 2023, he will be without at least some of the targets he trusts the most and the expectation will be that he will assist the young receivers as they "grow" into professional football players.
Anyone confident in that plan?
The situation at wide receiver is currently a mess and it is hard to see it getting much better, with or without Rodgers at QB, in 2023.