Packers veterans taking notice of ‘serious speed’ offense has
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers offense, specifically the pass catchers, may be low on experience, but there is a lot of speed at receiver and tight end that has caught the attention of several veterans, the latest being Elgton Jenkins.
"“Man, I was looking at Luke Musgrave and Jayden Reed a lot. Our weapons, man, they got some serious speed, Jayden and Luke,” Elgton Jenkins said on Good Morning Football."
Luke Musgrave ran a 4.61 second 40-yard dash time, which included a 10-yard split of 1.54 seconds, the fastest time recorded at the position in what was a very deep and athletic tight end class this year. The addition of Musgrave to the offense gives the Packers explosiveness at the tight end position that the team just hasn’t had in recent years. Although Robert Tonyan was reliable, he averaged just 8.9 yards per catch in 2022, ranking 34th out of 43 tight ends, and his averaged depth of target was just six yards from the line of scrimmage, according to PFF.
Similarly to Musgrave, Jayden Reed, as a receiver, can add a more dynamic presence in the slot, a position that Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard often occupied. Following the draft, Packers VP of Player Personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan mentioned that the team clocked Reed during the pre-draft process at 4.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
"“Just being able to see them out there running and getting vertical up the field, running routes and stuff like that, it really put a smile on my face. I’m ready to see what’s in store for those guys. I feel like the future’s bright for those guys,” added Jenkins. “Luke Musgrave and Jayden Reed, I’ve got a lot of high expectations for those guys in Year 1, for sure.”"
With this added speed, there is, of course, the downfield presence that both Musgrave and Reed can bring, but they can also bring big play potential over the middle of the field. Targeting the middle of the field is an important part of the Matt LaFleur offense and something that I’m guessing we’ll see more of in 2023 with Jordan Love at quarterback. Although it’s a small sample size, through the open OTA and minicamp practices, the majority of Love’s passes were already going to that part of the field.
Attacking the middle of the field can provide big play potential for the offense through catch and run opportunities by getting the receivers or tight ends the ball on the move and in space. This can then result in simpler pitch and catch opportunities than trying to push the ball downfield but still yield an explosive play.
When discussing speed within the Packers’ offense, not to be forgotten about is Christian Watson, who ran a 4.36 second 40-time last year. In addition to winning vertically from the boundary, about one-third of Watson’s targets last season came from the slot, where he ranked 15th, according to PFF, in yards per route, an efficiency metric. Rookie tight end Tucker Kraft would also run a 4.69 second 40 and brings YAC abilities, averaging 5.8 yards after the catch in 2021 and 8.0 yards after the catch in 2022.
Along with making plays downfield or over the middle, Watson and Reed, specifically, could be utilized as gadget or motion-type players pre-snap. By getting the ball on jet sweeps or quick screens, it gives them the chance to get the ball in space, and in the case of jet sweeps, already on the move, while also creating some confusion and hesitation for the defense as they have to make last second changes or decipher what’s taking place on the fly.
Last season, one of the many reasons that the Packers’ offense struggled, especially early on, was that opposing defenses didn’t fear Green Bay vertically or over the middle, an area that Aaron Rodgers didn’t target heavily. This led to opponents playing closer to the line of scrimmage, thus shrinking the field, which made moving the ball both on the ground and through the air more challenging. Following Watson’s emergence in Week 10, defenses had to protect against the deep ball, leading to more room underneath.
As just described, having this speed element within the offense will not only create opportunities for each individual player because of the ability that they have to separate but there will be a positive trickle-down effect that benefits the rest of the offense with the attention that these players can draw and the additional spacing that they can create by the defense having to play more spread out. This, in turn, hopefully, takes some of the playmaking burden off of Love’s shoulders as well.