Green Bay Packers should target KR Specialist – Darius Jennings

The recently released wide receiver and kick return specialist Darius Jennings is a player that could help bolster this Green Bay Packers’ roster.

Just yesterday, the Tennessee Titans made the move to cut Darius Jennings in favor of an offensive lineman that had previously spent some time with the Titans and would provide them with some depth at the position. The roster move is a head-scratcher for some Titans’ fans but what has ended in Tennessee’s loss, could be the Green Bay Packers’ gain.

Although the NFL trade deadline has come and gone, the Packers still have the opportunity to improve this team as they hope to make an eventual Super Bowl push. And perhaps the best way to bolster the roster at this point is by pursuing Jennings.

Jennings is in his fourth NFL season out of Virginia and there are two areas in particular that he could help this Packers team. The first being added depth at the receiver position. Jennings likely won’t be the game-changer at receiver that many Packer fans had hoped the team would acquire, but with Darrius Shepherd now on the practice squad, Green Bay only has six receivers on the 53-man roster, one of which is an injured Davante Adams.

While appearing in all 16 games in 2018, Jennings caught 11 of the 15 passes thrown his way for 101 yards. Unfortunately this season, he hasn’t seen his targets increase and has just five pass attempts. However, Jennings does have the ability to line up all across the formation, including in the backfield, which is key to being an effective receiver in the Matt LaFleur offense. And speaking of LaFleur, he was Jennings’ offensive coordinator in Tennessee, so joining the Packers should be a relatively easy transition for him.

Even though his contributions at receiver may be small, it is as a kick returner where Jennings can be a real difference-maker. It is no secret that for a number of years now that the Green Bay special teams unit has been quite underwhelming to put it nicely.

At this point as Packers fans, I’m not sure that any of us remember what a good kick return even looks like since it has been so long since we’ve seen one. In fact, through eight weeks this season, Football Outsiders has Green Bay ranked as the worst kick return unit in the NFL and overall they are ranked as the 24th best special teams unit by DVOA.

So far this season the Green Bay Packers have given Shepherd the opportunity to return kickoffs, they’ve signed Tremon Smith – twice, and just last week, cornerback Chandon Sullivan was the return man. But hopefully, it would be Jennings who would turn this weakness into a strength.

In 2018, Jennings led the NFL in kick return average at 31.7 yards per return, over two full yards ahead of second place. He also had a 94-yard touchdown return as well. It’s certainly been a while since the Green Bay Packers have had that kind of playmaking ability returning kicks and it would be a welcomed sight.

The season is halfway over and the Green Bay Packers find themselves at 7-1 overall and 3-0 within the NFC North. However, as we’ve seen from both New England and San Francisco prior to the trade deadline, there are always things a team can do to improve and adding a proven weapon to the return game could do wonders for the 2019 Packers.