Which Receivers Might Be Off Packers’ NFL Draft Board?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have glaring needs at receiver following the trade of Davante Adams and the free-agent departure of Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Only two players on the depth chart, Allen Lazard and veteran slot Randall Cobb, have played a significant number of snaps and have built a rapport with MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Fortunately for general manager Brian Gutekunst, a deep draft class beckons.
Who might the Packers want? That’s practically impossible to say. What is possible is to suggest who the Packers might not be interested in drafting. A well-established draft history can provide a guide.
Who’s (Perhaps) Too Short for the Packers?
This was the most cut-and-dried criteria imaginable. From 2005 through 2020, Ted Thompson and his successor, Gutekunst, conducted 16 drafts. The shortest receiver selected was Cobb. A second-round pick in 2011, he measured 5-foot-10 1/4. Thompson might have explained it as “just the way it worked out” but the trend was just too obvious to explain away as meaningless.
Gutekunst smashed that threshold by drafting Amari Rodgers in the third round last year. Rodgers measured just 5-foot-9 1/2. Rodgers was short but not small, and he filled a void on the roster.
“When you see him, when you get up on him, he’s not a small man. He’s just not tall,” Gutekunst said after making the selection. “So, I do think he’s a little different maybe than some of the other slot guys you see across the league because he’s just built a little bit more like a running back.”
Rodgers was the 13th receiver selected. At 212 pounds, he was the heaviest of the bunch even while being tied for the fourth-shortest. Of the 19 receivers taken in the first 140 selections, only Michigan’s Nico Collins (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) was heavier.
With Cobb and Rodgers, the Packers have two slot receivers, making it highly improbable that Gutekunst will pick another 5-foot-9 receiver.
The big name who might not be a consideration is Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore. A potential top-40 pick, he measured 5-foot-9 5/8 at the Combine.
Memphis’ Calvin Austin and Kentucky’s Wan’Dale Robinson are two other quality prospects who figure to be off the board because they are shorter than 5-foot-10.
Western Michigan WR Skyy Moore (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
Who’s (Perhaps) Too Slow for the Packers?
In the Gutekunst-Thompson era, J’Mon Moore, a fourth-round pick who bombed in 2018, was the slowest drafted receiver with a 40-yard time of 4.60 seconds. The Packers had him in the high 4.4s at his pro day. Still, using 4.60 as a cutoff, two potential Day 2 picks could be off the board. Purdue’s David Bell ran a 4.65 at the Combine and Clemson’s Justyn Ross ran a 4.64 in the friendly confines of pro day.
Alabama’s Slade Bolden (4.66), Nicholls State’s Dai’Jean Dixon (4.62) and Mississippi State’s Dontario Drummond (4.65) are three late-round options who ran poor 40s.
The Packers like players with fast 20-yard shuttle times. Craig Bragg ran the slowest with a mark of 4.40 seconds in 2005. Bell (4.57), Dixon (4.42), Oregon’s Johnny Johnson (4.54) and Virginia Tech’s Tre Turner (4.53) could be out of the running.
Who’s (Perhaps) Got Too Small of Hands for Packers?
Adams’ 9-inch hands are the smallest of the Thompson-Gutekunst era. That makes Georgia’s George Pickens an interesting case study. He’s got great size (6-3 1/4) and speed (4.47), and had some big-time production before a torn ACL sidelined him for most of the 2021 season. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him go in the first round but would the Packers ignore his 8 3/4-inch hands?
Tulsa’s Josh Johnson (8 5/8), UCLA’s Kyle Philips (8 5/8), Virginia Tech’s Turner (8 1/2) and the fastest man in the draft, Baylor’s Tyquan Thornton (8 1/4), fell short of 9 inches.
What About RAS?
Relative Athletic Score is a formula that combines a player’s height, speed and other measureables into one score. That number, which goes on a 0-to-10 scale with 5.0 being the position average, allows for comparisons to other players dating to 1987. The players are broken into three color-coded groups, with green being 8.0 and above, yellow being 5.0 to 7.99 and red being any player with a below-average score.
For the Thompson-Gutekunst era, 11 players are green (including Ty Montgomery, who was drafted as a receiver but moved to running back), seven are yellow (including Adams, Jordy Nelson and James Jones) and four are red (including Cobb). Gutekunst has drafted four receivers, with Equanimeous St. Brown, Valdes-Scantling and Moore being green and Rodgers being yellow.
