Green Bay Packers Very Thin at WR v. Arizona
By Paul Bretl
On Monday, the Green Bay Packers placed Davante Adams on the reserve/COVID list. The position would then take another hit on Tuesday, with Allen Lazard ending up there as well.
As we all know, there is no replacing Adams and his 744 receiving yards this season. Just as Aaron Rodgers told reporters, there is no 50/50 ball when throwing Adams’ direction—he always has the advantage. Meanwhile, Lazard is coming off his most productive game of the season, tallying five receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown.
This, of course, leaves the Green Bay Packers very thin at the receiver position.
Current healthy options on the 53-man roster include Randall Cobb, Amari Rodgers, and Equanimeous St. Brown, along with Malik Taylor, who was just activated from the reserve/COVID list. Then on the practice squad, there is Juwann Winfree and Chris Blair.
This season, Cobb has been a reliable third down target for Rodgers and has 14 receptions for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Amari Rodgers has two receptions for 33 yards, while St. Brown has been targeted on a few occasions but has only one reception.
Taylor has just nine career targets with Winfree and Blair each having zero combined targets over their respective careers.
Now, there is “hope,” as Matt LaFleur put it, that Marquez Valdes-Scantling could return off IR this week—which, as I wrote recently, if there’s a time for that to happen, this would be as good as any. Not only does he bring that missing big-play ability to this offense but his presence alone helps create for others.
In previous games that Adams has missed during the LaFleur era, Aaron Jones has become the focal point of this offense both in the run game and the passing game. Over those six games, he has 337 receiving yards and is averaging nearly 70 more on the ground on over 14 attempts per game.
Given the current state of the receiver room, we should also expect to see more of Robert Tonyan, who, like Lazard, is coming off his best performance of the season with four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. Marcedes Lewis and Josiah Deguara may be more involved in the passing game as well.
The Green Bay Packers will be up against an Arizona defense that is allowing the fewest points per game this season. Through the air, they’ve given up the third-fewest explosive plays and are giving up just 201 passing yards per game—again, the third-fewest.
For Green Bay to be successful, they’ll need to establish and stick to the run game against a Cardinals’ defense that is giving up 5.0 yards per rush this season. Success on the ground will also allow them to control the clock, which is going to be a key aspect to this game.
Green Bay will get in trouble if this game turns into a shootout or if they become one-dimensional and pass-heavy.
Going into Arizona and getting the win isn’t an impossible task, but it’s a challenging one that is getting more and more difficult. Not only will Green Bay be traveling across country on a short week to face an undefeated team, they’ll also have to do so with a depleted wide receiver room.