Ever since Jeff Janis ran a 4.42 forty at the Combine with 20 reps on the bench, a 37.5-inch vertical, and a 6.64 three-cone time, the hype has followed him. No backup wide receiver has been tweeted about more than the Green Bay Packers situational deep threat, and the organization is doing its best to reframe the expectations surrounding him.
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It’s quite easy to find diehard fans of Jeff Janis on Twitter, and it is remarkable to see how much attention a player with four career regular season receptions after two seasons garners.
Janis’s noted struggles running routes, subpar hands, and lack of NFL production don’t tell the whole story, though. His support started from those ridiculous workout numbers, but fans of Janis were given some vindication when he torched the Arizona Cardinals for seven catches on 11 targets for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
It was a performance of almost mythical proportions, and he would have been a true postseason hero if the Green Bay Packers were able to pull off the win. Even so, Janis showed that he can turn his physical tools into statistical brilliance against a legitimate opponent, and the Cardinals simply had no answers for the 6’3″, 219-pound deep threat.
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This offseason, the Packers added Cal rookie receiver Trevor Davis to a mix that already includes 2015 disappointment Davante Adams, promising second-year pro Ty Montgomery, and route-running specialist Jared Abbrederis.
Janis should have an inside track to a roster spot due to his work as a deep threat, but nothing is guaranteed. The comments from the Packers this offseason reflect the idea that while Janis is a promising talent who did, in fact, produce tangible results in one game, he is also a flawed receiver with a limited track record of success.
Recently, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Michael Cohen, “Jeff Janis is doing a lot of good things. He just needs to continue to progress through the fundamentals of the position. Special teams he had an excellent year last year, graded out as one of our top players. I’d like to see him take that same step as a wide receiver.”
Even though there is a competition at the wide receiver position, I have no real concerns of Janis getting the axe. Beyond the fact that he his playing style is unique and inherently more valuable than Abbrederis’s or Adams’s, he’s also cemented his status as a key contributor on special teams.
But notice how quickly McCarthy dismisses Janis’s impact as a wide receiver. Any praise associated with the Saginaw Valley product is both vague and obvious; the type of praise any raw, third-year wide receiver with less than 30 career catches would receive from a head coach.
Above, McCarthy merely said that Janis “is doing a lot of good things”. Completely vague and equally devoid of meaning.
He also called Janis, as per ESPN NFL Nation’s Rob Demovsky, “a big target who can go deep”.
Janis is 6’3″, runs a 4.42 forty, and averages over 20 yards per reception for his career. Anybody with a basic understanding of the NFL can see that he is exactly that, which means that this statement from McCarthy also falls under the “Captain Obvious” category.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who effusively praised Adams last offseason, has been more diplomatic about praising his receivers.
Here’s a quote from Rodgers via ESPN.com’s Jason Wilde:
"“I know you guys love Jeff Janis. All you people out there love Jeff. I love Jeff, too,” Rodgers said. “Jeff made some great plays there at the end of that game, and he’s coming along. Again, these are important years for young guys like that — Years 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 are when you can really take jumps. You’ve seen a lot of them over my course of 12 seasons, where you see guys really take jumps and start to figure it out. I think he has an opportunity.”"
Notice how Rodgers never praises Janis specifically and shifts the focus from how he feels about his wide receiver on a personal level to general words that could be used to describe any young, unproven player.
The Packers are intent on preventing us from placing false expectations on Janis, and that’s best for both player and team. Janis is a small-school prospect who should already be viewed as an NFL success when compared to his status as the 236th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He is a special teams star who had a heroic postseason game, and nobody needs to expect him to be the next star receiver in Green Bay.
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Honestly, all we should hope for Janis is that he can be a capable No. 4 wide receiver and deep threat who has the potential to take over a game due to his game-changing tools. Basically, performances like the one he had against the Cardinals are an occasional bonus, because Janis profiles as a four-targets-per-game receiver who can make things happen in a specialized role. He can be more than that, yes, but based on what we have seen from him, it is wholly unfair to go into the 2016 season with that expectation.