Green Bay Packers: 5 Early signs they’re Super Bowl contenders
By Joe Kipp
3. Young receivers are stepping up
Entering the 2020 season, many experts believed the Packers lacked a legitimate receiver opposite of Davante Adams. During the 2019 season, Adams was the only player on Green Bay’s entire roster to record at least 500 receiving yards. To pile on, the Packers elected not to select a receiver at all during this past NFL draft. Clearly, the Packers’ front office felt good about where the receiving core was entering this season. So far, it appears they were right.
In just two games, Adams, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have combined for 31 catches, 460 yards and four touchdowns. Lazard and Valdes-Scantling, both in their third season, have accounted for 268 yards. Each has hauled in seven catches. For all the talk regarding the receiver position this past offseason, Lazard and MVS have silenced the critics.
But how long can the Packers’ receivers sustain such success? After all, Green Bay has faced a woeful Vikings secondary (average age of 23) and an injury-riddled Lions’ cornerback group this past Sunday. Still, you can’t take anything away from what the Packers’ passing attack has been able to accomplish thus far.
Perhaps the most important part of all of this is the fact that Aaron Rodgers appears to trust his young receivers. Even after two drops in the Vikings’ game, Rodgers kept going back to Valdes-Scantling.