Former Green Bay Packers tight end Mark Chmura said Martellus Bennett isn’t an upgrade over Jared Cook as a pass catcher, and he’s flat-out wrong
There were some interesting comments made by former Green Bay Packers tight end Mark Chmura on ESPN Milwaukee’s Wilde & Tausch when discussing their 2017 offseason signing, tight end Martellus Bennett.
The team signed Marty B as a replacement for Jared Cook, who spent one season with the team. Chmura was commenting on the transition from Cook to Bennett, and said that he believes that Cook is the better receiver of the two.
After the show tweeted out what Chmura (a.k.a. Chewy) said, Bennett responded as only he would — with laughter, or at least the emoji form:
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/883017685625438213
It makes sense why he laughed, because the comment was ludicrous. Cook was a third-round pick in 2009 for the Tennessee Titans and is the epitome of untapped potential. He’s been touted as a great talent, but never really has seen that consistently translate to success on the field.
Over the past two seasons, Cook has 69 receptions and one touchdown. He only brought in 30 passes for the Packers, and struggled with his health. He did catch the pass that set up the game-winning field goal against the Dallas Cowboys, which may lead to a belief he was a bigger help throughout the year than what he really was.
As for Bennett, he has 108 receptions in that same two-year span with 10 touchdowns. Even in their primes, it wasn’t close. Cook’s career high for receptions (52), yards (759) and touchdowns (5) are all less than Bennett’s career highs of 90 receptions, 916 yards and seven touchdowns.
The former second-round pick out of Texas A&M spent his first four seasons with the Cowboys before stints with the Giants and Bears. He spent 2016 with the New England Patriots, and won a Super Bowl with the team.
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The highly-eccentric Bennett is a different personality than the norm in Green Bay, but could be a huge weapon that opens up the entire offense. Sure, Cook may have had one big catch in the postseason, but he’s nowhere close to the talent as Bennett, not only as a blocker, but a receiver as well.