Packers Need Funchess and Funchess Needs Packers

After three drop-plagued seasons with Carolina and last season ruined by a broken collarbone, Devin Funchess will get a fresh start with the Packers and Aaron Rodgers.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Mar 24, 2020 9:41 PM EDT

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ need to improve at receiver was succinctly described by a longtime NFL scout last week.

“There’s nothing wrong with Aaron Rodgers that a couple of receivers can’t fix.”

Can Devin Funchess help fix the Packers’ offense? And can Rodgers help fix Funchess’ career?

A source confirmed that the Packers are signing the towering 25-year-old, sixth-year receiver, who missed most of last year with a broken collarbone. At 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, Funchess at least partially matches what general manager Brian Gutekunst prefers at the position.

Gutekunst’s preferences are obvious. In 2018, he drafted J’Mon Moore (6-foot-3), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (6-foot-4) and Equnimeous St. Brown (6-foot-5) and added Allen Lazard (6-foot-5). In 2019, he re-signed Geronimo Allison (6-foot-3).

“You’d like them both,” Gutekunst said before the Scouting Combine of favoring size over speed. “You’d love to have a 6-4, 225-pound guy that can do it all. I do like tall, long athletes and we certainly have some of those guys, and I’m excited what they can do moving forward. I think you’ve seen across the league what a group of guys who can really run – with how the game is called today and the rules of the game and stuff – I think that’s something we’ll certainly put an emphasis on this year.”

What Funchess can’t do is run fast. At the 2015 Scouting Combine, he showed up at 232 pounds and ran his 40 in 4.70 seconds. When he was healthy with Carolina in 2018, he caught 2-of-10 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. In 2017, when he set career highs with 63 receptions, 840 yards and eight touchdowns, he caught just 4-of-22 deep passes.

What Funchess can’t do well is catch. In 2018, he had six drops and a drop rate of 12.0 percent, according to Pro Football Focus. Of 100 receivers to be targeted at least 40 times, that drop rate ranked 87th. In 2016, he had six drops and ranked 95th of 97 receivers with a drop rate of 20.7 percent. As a rookie in 2015, he had eight drops and ranked 94th of 97 receivers with a drop rate of 20.5 percent. The outlier was his impressive 2017, when he had three drops and finished 17th out of 95 receivers with a drop rate of 4.5 percent.

What Funchess hasn’t done is make his quarterback look better. From 2015 through 2019, 149 receivers have been targeted at least 100 times. According to Pro Football Reference, Funchess’ career catch rate of 51.9 percent ranks 130th during that span.

To be sure, it didn’t help to have Cam Newton as his quarterback. Newton did a lot of things well during his tenure with the Panthers. Throwing the ball with accuracy was not high on that list. Still, at 6-foot-4, Funchess’ catch radius gave him an automatic advantage that, by the numbers, he didn’t take advantage of often enough. In contested-catch situations, he has a career catch rate of less than 40 percent.

However, maybe this is the opportunity that Funchess has been waiting for. After four seasons with Newton and his erratic accuracy, Funchess signed a one-year, $10 million deal with Indianapolis last offseason with the expectation of playing with Andrew Luck. Luck, however, retired and Funchess missed most of the season with a broken collarbone. Now, he’s got a chance to resurrect his career alongside Rodgers. Funchess needs Rodgers to get his career on track, just like Rodgers needs Funchess to help win a Super Bowl.

His signing doesn’t change the fact the Packers figure to take full advantage of an incredibly deep receiver draft class. But as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to wipe out some, if not all, of the offseason workouts, the challenge for a rookie receiver to be NFL-ready will only get more difficult. Funchess provides some insurance, though he’ll have to learn a new offense, as well.

The Panthers (with Robby Anderson), Saints (with Emmanuel Sanders) and Texans (with Randall Cobb) paid big money to land the best three receivers on the market. Funchess has a chance to provide a lot more bang for the buck, but it will be up to him to make it happen.