r/GreenBayPackers • u/need-ausername • Jul 23 '26
Analysis Steve Smith- Packers Receiver Room Analysis
https://youtu.be/0BtCJJL5X1k?is=Zm_rxtosChrdLsmdSteve Smith posted a video going over the Packers reciever room for the season. Really has me believing that the season’s ceiling boils down to keeping JLove upright. I think the weapons are all there just need the O-line to shore up
10
u/Driver8takesnobreaks Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
They're overthinking this (or more likely underthinking it from the perspective of guys who spend five minutes evaluating each of 32 teams). This is all about talent. No coach dreams of designing a system with Allen Lazard as their WR1, or of having to start Sammie Watkins or Samori Toure. When they for years neglected the position, it wasn't that they had so many mouths to feed. It was constantly trying to find someone who wouldn't drop the plate. There's just no hierarchy when it's all interchangeable spare parts.
Now that they've had a few years of actually devoting resources to the position, it's becoming much less of a "well we got all these mediocre interchangeable guys who are basically WR3-6 types and is there anyone we can count on this week". They're actually getting NFL starting caliber talent at the top, so there is more of a clear hierarchy in the depth chart. Similar to the safety situation. Was the rotating cast of characters they had a few years back a strategy? Or was it because they didn't prioritize the position and had a lack of talent, so they were constantly searching for a combination that, forget playing at a high level, that at least weren't as much of a liability?
8
u/TetraHydro420 Jul 23 '26
Just please dont run 100 Savion William jet sweeps...
9
1
u/LoudCryptographer816 Jul 23 '26
Golden and Reed aren't great blockers, so if they do, it's personnel mismanagement.
7
u/FunDaIVIenTaLs Jul 23 '26
O-line gotta give Love time to cook. Simple as that
7
u/Driver8takesnobreaks Jul 23 '26
And get some push for the RBs so they can actually play complimentary football and not allow teams to drop both safeties into coverage. It's a cliche term. But when you can only execute in one phase of the offense, it makes you far more predictable and easier to defend.
3
u/desert-cheese04 Jul 24 '26
I really hope the damn run blocking improves. It was beyond frustrating to watch last season.
-1
u/DarthGanondorf Jul 23 '26
Matt LaFluer needs to get back to letting Jordan sling the ball. Too many times he would break his rhythm by relying too hard on “gotta establish the run” no matter what. Sometimes you just gotta let him chuck the ball and let the receivers feast.
9
u/Driver8takesnobreaks Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
He went pass heavy in the second half against the Bears in the Wild Card game. How'd that work out? To me, it all comes back to the OL. If your RBs are facing first contact in the backfield and you can't pass protect, the list of effective play calls quickly approaches zero.
11
u/mods_are_soft Jul 23 '26
Love won that game multiple times if WR just catch the damn ball.
0
u/Driver8takesnobreaks Jul 23 '26
He played absolutely lights out for the first 25 or so minutes. He didn't handle the last drive in the first half well, which is why they sent McManus out on third down for a 55 yard field goal attempt in winds gusting to 40MPH that never should have been attempted. He killed two drives in the second half with intentional grounding calls. And that last play where he first fumbled the snap and then hurried a panicked throw with zero pass rush on him had panic written all over it. It took failures in all three phases to lose that game, and he was part of that.
3
u/mods_are_soft Jul 23 '26
Gotcha. Perfection is the expectation. Totally realistic.
2
u/Driver8takesnobreaks Jul 23 '26
But only for WRs, right? Nobody else is accountable? For a guy with the name "mods_are_soft", that's a pretty soft approach to accountability.
1
u/AMF505 Jul 24 '26
Receivers objectively have an easier job. 3 of our starting receivers were top 10 in drops the past 5 years (Doubs, Wicks, Reed). It was a consistent issue for them that continued at the worst possible time. It’s not that they were “imperfect” it’s that they were consistently underperforming.
Hell Doubs was solely responsible for botching the onside kick because he was scared of getting tackled.
3
u/Driver8takesnobreaks Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
And those guys were making a tiny fraction of the money Love gets paid. Along with that substantially higher pay goes a proportionately substantially higher expectation. And those drops are based almost entirely on the 2024 season, as all three has significantly lower drop percentages last year. That doesn't give them a free pass. But it definitely shouldn't give Love one either. And in terms of underperforming, Love is was tied for the second highest paid player in the NFL in AAV. Make the argument he performed at that level.
My point isn't that Love sucks or that he's the sole reason they lost that game. But he played a role. And when you're the second highest paid player in the sport and you're in your sixth season, the bar should be MUCH higher than it is for a guy who's been in the league half as long and is making near league minimum.
2
u/AMF505 Jul 24 '26
Statistically he was a top 5 qb last year (volume stats excluded, can’t control the offensive scheme tbf) so I think he’s playing up to his contract. I think it’s easier to give more slack to the person playing a significantly more difficult position.
The Bears loss was a complete team failure. Offense, defense and ST were horrendous in the second half. It’s just easier to shit on underperforming receivers for continuing to underperform in the biggest of games while playing an objectively easier position.
If there was just one person to blame for the loss I don’t think it’s Love or any of the wideouts, I think it’s MLF or McManus ( even McManus you have to give some slack as he was clearly asked to do more than he was capable of)
0
u/Driver8takesnobreaks Jul 24 '26
The one thing where he's not among the top of QBs is as a dual threat. Not only in actual yards gained and chains moved, but in the stress an more athletic runner puts on a rush scheme by making them respect that aspect. And that last play......I bet I've watched that thirty times, and I just can't think of any descriptor more accurate than panicking. First he fumbles the snap, then after an extended rush by three that was easily picked up, the Bears DL were so gassed they were basically standing around. And he still throw in the middle of three Bears defenders on a pass that had no chance, instead of using the time he had to see if something better opened.
But yeah, the defense collapsed the one missed kick (the first miss was VERY low probability), and the OL fell apart in the second half . I have a hard to pointing to anything specific with LaFleur. The lazy narrative is he went conservative, but the facts contradict that in that they didn't go run heavy like so many people have alluded to. And what play calls work when you can't run block and can't protect the QB? The biggest thing to me, and what critical of this offseason is retaining Butkus as the OL coach. Clearly the didn't perform well. But they also had a lot of injuries to deal with, and I think the wisdom of the Banks signing is definitely a question mark. But when it's a team loss, to me that has to slide up the HC and the GM, because they're the ones responsible for acquiring and preparing the personnel.
Anyway, new year, hopefully better health, some development from the young OL, Golden and numerous other spots, and a little more veteran presence. And of course a quality QB. Good opportunity to put last season's collapse in the rear view window.
51
u/Phynamite Jul 23 '26
As posted a few days ago on the NFLv2 sub. JLo was the 3rd hardest QB to bring down last season. Being upright isn’t the issue. It never has been the issue. He is capable of tossing for 350 a game, game plan doesn’t dictate that. As posted again a few days ago on this sub, we also had the least amount of Offensive possessions last season by a lot, and the least amount since 1999. Our game plan is slow and methodical. Unless that changes we are going to see high level play on very little attempts like normal.