Packers: Marquez Valdes-Scantling is Putting Up Impressive Numbers

Don’t let the dropped passes cloud your judgment; Marquez Valdes-Scantling is putting up impressive numbers for the Green Bay Packers this season.

Inconsistent. I think that’s a fair word to describe Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s career with the Green Bay Packers up to this point.

As a rookie, there was a four-game stretch where Valdes-Scantling hauled in two touchdown receptions and 317 yards at over 21 yards per catch. This also included two 100-yard games. However, he followed that up by catching just over 50 percent of his targets at a measly 10.6 yards per catch with no touchdowns during the final eight games of that season.

In 2019, Valdes-Scantling got off to a blazing start with 21 catches in the first seven games, averaging just under 20 yards per catch with two touchdown receptions. During this span, he had 99 and 133-yard performances against Denver and Oakland, respectively.

But his snap count would dwindle over the remainder of that season as he battled an ankle injury, as well as what Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur would call a lack of confidence. As a result, MVS caught just four of his 17 targets for 32 yards during the Green Bay Packers’ second half of the season.

This season we’ve seen dropped passes, an overtime fumble in Indianapolis, and another quiet stretch from Weeks 3 through 7 where Valdes-Scantling had 101 total yards, no touchdowns, and caught only 41 percent of his 22 targets. Yet just like the past two seasons, we’ve seen a lot of great plays as well.

Against Minnesota and Detroit in the first two games of the season, Valdes-Scantling had 160 total yards at almost 23 yards per catch with a touchdown. There was the two-touchdown performance against San Francisco that included a 53-yard touchdown grab. He posted 149 yards on only four receptions against Jacksonville with another touchdown. And just this past Sunday, he may have had the best game of his career, where he was a real threat on the intermediate routes and had a beautiful back-should touchdown grab.

Coming into the season, the big question on everyone’s mind was, who was going to step up at wide receiver alongside Davante Adams? And I think what has been lost in the ups and downs that have transpired for Valdes-Scantling this season is just how impressive his numbers are.

Through 13 games, he’s caught 31 receptions for 603 yards at a ridiculous 19.5 yards per catch with five touchdowns. Over the course of a full 16 game season, that extrapolates out to 742 receiving yards and six touchdowns. I know this is now a pass-happy league, but 700-yard seasons just don’t happen by accident in the NFL.

In fact, you have to go back to 2016 to find another Green Bay Packers receiver not named Davante Adams, who had more than 700 receiving yards in a single season. And that player was Jordy Nelson.

Valdes-Scantling’s game isn’t well-rounded like Adams is or even Allen Lazard; instead, he’s a bit of a one-trick pony with his ability as a deep threat. But to his credit, it’s a heck of a trick. Out of all receivers, MVS is ninth in deep passing yards — which are passes that travel at least 20 yards downfield –, and his three “deep” touchdowns are tied for the third-highest total in the NFL this season.

That’s why his performance against Detroit in Week 14 was so encouraging. He caught all six of his passes, and he did it in parts of the field where he normally isn’t targeted. If he can continue to develop this part of his game and cut down on the dropped passes, watch out.

With that said, that may also never happen either. With Valdes-Scantling, you ride the roller-coaster and from week to week, never really knowing what you’re going to get. However, there are plenty more highs than lows, and that is proven by the overall numbers that he is posting this season, which I believe has been overshadowed by some of the mistakes that he’s made.

Valdes-Scantling likely won’t ever be a No. 2 receiver; I mean, it’s not a coincidence that his production dipped when Lazard was out injured. But if he’s your third option, hauling in deep balls and posting 600 or 700-yard seasons, well, that’s an offense and a passing game that is going to be in pretty good shape.