Toure States Case With Two-Minute Touchdown
GREEN BAY, Wis. – In the Green Bay Packers’ quest to reinvent their passing game following the trade of Davante Adams, Samori Toure has always played fourth fiddle.
He’s not the former fourth overall pick of the draft, like veteran Sammy Watkins.
He’s not the receiver with the freakish physical toolbox, like second-round pick Christian Watson.
He’s not the receiver who made a bunch of big plays to start training camp, like fourth-round pick Romeo Doubs.
Rather, Toure was a seventh-round pick. Not only was he the last of the Packers’ 11 draft picks but he was the last of 28 receivers selected overall.
From Day 1, though, Toure has shown up, made plays and caught just about everything in sight. He scored a touchdown on Family Night, caught three passes for 42 yards against the 49ers in the preseason opener on Friday night and closed Day 2 of joint practices against the Saints with a bang on Wednesday.
“I’m just really trying to get into my rhythm and get a feel for how the NFL works,” Toure said after Wednesday’s practice. “I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job but I still have a lot of stuff I need to improve on.”
Toure opened his career at Montana. After redshirting in 2016, he caught 155 passes for 2,488 yards and 20 touchdowns the next three seasons. When COVID wiped out the 2020 FCS season, Toure decided to take his game up a level by transferring to Nebraska. Playing a lot in the slot and running more deep routes than most receivers, Toure caught 46 passes for 898 yards (19.5 average) and five touchdowns.
Toure wasn’t invited to the Scouting Combine, ran a 4.48 in the 40 at pro day and took a predraft visit to Green Bay, which made him the fifth-to-last pick in the draft.
At Nebraska, Toure ranked third in the nation with four caches of 60-plus yards. That long-ball prowess has shown up periodically at training camp, including a two-minute drill to conclude Wednesday’s practice against the Saints. On first-and-10 at midfield, Toure lined up in the right slow and ran a post. He got past the secondary and caught Jordan Love’s bomb for a touchdown.
“That’s something I prided myself on, being a deep threat, stretch the field,” Toure said. “I’m glad I was able to do that today.”
The celebration was short-lived. The offense stayed on the field for a two-point conversion and the “win.”
“That’s a game situation. We want to win the game,” Toure said. “That touchdown doesn’t matter if we don’t get the two-point conversion. Got to stay locked in, got to stay focused.
At the snap, Love sprinted out to the right and fired a ball to Toure against tight coverage for the conversion. It was a big-time play and, while maybe not as flashy, much more difficult.
“I really just ran an out route,” Toure said. “I think the dude kind of grabbed my hand and tipped the ball but I ended up catching it off the tip.”
After a strong finish to Wednesday’s practice, Toure is going to need a strong finish to training camp. The veteran trio of Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Watkins, 2021 third-round pick Amari Rodgers and the rookie duo of Watson and Doubs figure to command six spots on the roster. That could be it on the final 53. Or, they could keep seven. In that case, it would Toure vs. Juwann Winfree for that last spot.
Toure’s big day came one day after Aaron Rodgers challenged the team’s young receivers and hours after Rodgers and the receivers met to discuss the need for them to master the finer points of the offense. Rodgers’ public challenge on Tuesday and meeting-room reminder on Wednesday about “all the legends” that have played receiver for the Packers didn’t add any pressure, Toure said.
“I feel pressure just because this is the highest level of football,” he said. “At the same time, I don’t let the pressure get to my head and neither do the other receivers. We just kind of look at it as a challenge.”
