Green Bay Packers: No Funchess Puts More Pressure on Other WRs

Without Devin Funchess this season, there is added pressure to several members of the Green Bay Packers WR unit to produce.

As Tuesday morning transitioned into Tuesday afternoon, more and more NFL players were opting out of the 2020 season due to concerns about the coronavirus. And the first member of the Green Bay Packers to make such a move, was free-agent signee, Devin Funchess.

Outside of Davante Adams and the second-half of Allen Lazard’s 2019 campaign, the Packers wide receiver unit struggled to produce. While many fans and national pundits clamored for Green Bay to spend a first-round pick on the position, the only significant addition they made was signing Funchess to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.

Funchess is coming off a season with Indianapolis, where he missed just about all of it with a collarbone injury. Prior to that, he was in Carolina for four seasons where he combined for 1,389 yards and 12 touchdowns during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, including a career year in 2017 with 840 yards and eight touchdowns.

At 6’4″ – 225, Funchess is another big receiver, and while he isn’t going to blow anyone away with his speed, he knows how to create space using his body. In Green Bay, he would have been used both out wide and in the slot where his size and skill-set could have been a real advantage, not to mention that he and Aaron Rodgers in the red zone could have been quite the one-two punch.

However, without Funchess for the 2020 season, it adds more pressure to the rest of the Green Bay receiving corps.

After averaging nearly 20 yards per catch through the first seven weeks in 2019, Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s snap count began to dwindle from that point on. As the Packers’ primary deep threat, his resurgence will be key.

Then there is Equanimeous St. Brown, who missed all of last season, but he does have QB1 in his corner and he could provide Green Bay with that big slot presence. But as of now, that remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, once considered fringe roster players, both Jake Kumerow and Reggie Begelton may now end up on the final roster and seeing meaningful playing time this season, depending on how the summer plays out and on how many wide receivers Matt LaFleur wants to keep.

And while many of us expect Lazard to take a big step forward this season, now it’s almost necessary that he does.

With all of that said, if prior to Funchess stepping away, you thought the Green Bay Packers were Super Bowl contenders, this shouldn’t change your mind. The Packers should still be considered Super Bowl contenders. In LaFleur’s offense, in addition to the receivers mentioned above, there are plenty of other pass-catching options available with the tight ends and running backs that Green Bay has at their disposal.

Ultimately, this loss doesn’t change my expectations of what the Packers can accomplish this season, but as an NFL veteran who has been successful, Funchess would have added some stability to a group that has several unknowns. So without him, it puts more pressure on everyone else to step up and produce.