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Tennessee WR Cordarrelle Patterson

There may not be a Julio Jones or A.J. Green at the top of this year’s wide receiver crop, but the position is among the deepest in the 2013 NFL Draft.

This year’s classes is led by former JUCO transfer Cordarrelle Patterson, who played at Tennessee in 2012. Patterson, although raw, is a freakish athlete with seemingly limitless potential. He’s the No. 1 receiver on my board, and his college teammate, Justin Hunter, isn’t too far behind.

Along with Patterson, West Virginia speedster Tavon Austin also appears to be a surefire first-round pick. Austin is more of a Percy Harvin-type matchup nightmare than a true perimeter wide receiver, but he may be the most explosive offensive prospect in the entire draft.

Many have Calfornia’s Keenan Allen as a first-round pick as well, but I’m not 100 percent sold. To me, Patterson and Austin are clearly the top two guys at the position, and after them, Allen is one of a handful of guys that could sneak into the end of round one or fall to the middle of round two.

Louisiana Tech’s Quinton Patton, Clemson’s DeAndre Hopkins and Southern Cal’s Robert Woods fall into the same boat as Allen.

The Packers certainly have a need at wide receiver. On top of Greg Jennings leaving Green Bay for Minnesota, the team faces uncertainty with Jordy Nelson, whose contract is set to expire after 2014, and James Jones, who is scheduled to be a free agent after this season.  Read more... (1732 words + 1 image, estimated 6:56 mins reading time)

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Packers WR Randall Cobb will return as a top playmaker in 2013.

The injury bug bit the position hard, but players continually stepped up and the offense didn’t miss a beat. James Jones has had his fair share of struggles with dropped passes, but he had the best season of his career in 2013, leading the league with 14 touchdown catches. Randall Cobb also had a breakout season, due in part to the absence of Greg Jennings for much of the season. With Jennings likely headed elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent, more pressure will rely on the shoulders of Jones, Cobb and Jordy Nelson.

Where are we now:

Here are the current suspects;

Jordy Nelson (2nd Round, 2008)
James Jones (3rd Round, 2007)
Randall Cobb (2nd Round, 2011)
Jarrett Boykin (UDFA, 2012)
Jeremy Ross (UDFA, Signed as FA in 2012)

For expanded coverage of this topic, listen in using the player below or download the podcast from the Packers Talk Radio Network on Itunes.

Nelson: Coming off a breakout 2011 season, expectations for Jordy Nelson were high coming into 2012. Nelson will likely assume the subjective role of the Packers’ No. 1 receiver without Jennings in the fold. Although he missed four games due to injury, Nelson performed well when he was in the lineup. In a two-game stretch against the Houston Texans and St. Louis Rams, Nelson racked up 17 catches for 243 yards and four touchdowns.  Read more... (1104 words + 1 image, estimated 4:25 mins reading time)

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Packers Wide Receivers

With Donald Driver retiring and Greg Jennings putting his house up for sale, the Packers will be kicking the tires on Wide Receivers. The 2013 NFL draft has a talented group of prospects, so if you need one, it’s a good year to go shopping.

The Packers still have one the best WR groups in the NFL, with or without Jennings and Driver. Jennings leaving will make a hole in the group, but not as large are some think. Jennings has missed half of the regular season games with injuries the last two years. Driver was used very little this last year, where his smile and leadership will be missed, his production will not be.

Jones had his best year, lead the NFL in TD’s and reduced his dropped passes significantly. Nelson is still on the rise as a WR. Cobb when he was drafted, I called a steal, and he has shown that to be very true. His play and continued development is a huge plus for the Packers.

After those three, it’s unproven developmental players. Boykin could become a very nice procession type receiver or even more, he has good size at 6-2 and 217#. His testing numbers are almost identical to James Jones coming into the draft, not fast 4.57 40 time, Jones 4.58. Both have good quickness showed in there ten yard times and good agility. Boykin does have great hands and a excellent coach so I give him a 4th round type grade going into this next season.  Read more... (969 words + 1 image, estimated 3:53 mins reading time)

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Aaron Rodgers has the Packers 6-3 this season.

With nine games under their belt, the Packers are technically beyond the midseason, but that’s just a technicality.

There’s no Packers game to review this week, so now is as good a time as any to grade what’s happened so far.  The offense is up first. The defense and special teams will be up later this week.

Quarterbacks: A-
Aaron Rodgers does things no other quarterback in the NFL can do. All the injuries the Packers have suffered are frustrating, but as long as Rodgers is on the field, the Packers have a chance. I enjoyed reading the comments made by several of the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive players after the Packers beat them last week. They were being asked about Randall Cobb, James Jones, the Tom Crabtree catch, and a bunch of other stuff, but they kept coming back to Rodgers and how great he is. Meanwhile, in another room down the hall, Rodgers was talking about how poorly he played.

I suppose I could be as harsh on Rodgers as he is on himself and knock his grade down to a ‘B’ if I really wanted to. I could point to the reduction in explosive plays, holding the ball too long, and the fact that the Packers are averaging about three yards fewer per completion than last season.  Read more... (1179 words + 1 image, estimated 4:43 mins reading time)

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The Jordy Nelson stiff-arm.

This post is putting the cart waaaaay ahead of the horse, but I think the topic merits discussion.

Jordy Nelson had an amazing season in 2011. I mean, really amazing.

So far, he’s showing no signs of slowing down in training camp. Most observers say he’s only getting better.

Before Nelson truly exploded last season, he signed a 4-year, $14 million contract extension with the Packers. He might have already outplayed that contract.

Here are three random WRs making more than Nelson: Stevie Johnson ($5 years, $36.25 million); Earl Bennett (5 years, $18.55 million) and Marques Colston (5 years, $40 million).

I would take Nelson over all of those guys, and it’s not even close. Nelson was the 27th highest paid receiver in the NFL after signing his new deal, and he’s surely dropped in the rankings since.

I like to make snarky comments on Twitter about Nelson’s agent soon being unemployed after Nelson realizes the bargain-basement extension he signed. But in all seriousness, it’s ultimately Nelson who made the call when he chose to re-sign with the Packers and for how much.

When Nelson re-signed, he wasn’t quite where he’s at now. I’m sure he took a look at the contract, thought that $14 million was plenty of cash, and decided to sign so he could move on with his life and keep working at becoming a better player.

Well, he’s become a better player. And he might be getting even better.  Read more... (594 words + 1 image, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)

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Packers WR Randall Cobb

From the moment Randall Cobb first arrived in Green Bay, it was apparent that the former Kentucky star would add yet another wrinkle in the Packers already potent offense.

As a rookie, Cobb quickly emerged as a homerun threat in the return game—something the Packers haven’t had since the mid 1990s with Desmond Howard. And while Cobb hasn’t collected as much hardware as the former Heisman trophy winner and Super Bowl XXXI MVP, the second-year wide receiver possesses a diverse skillset unparalleled by any Packer in recent memory.

And throughout the early goings of training camp, it’s clear that Cobb is on the verge of an expanded role within the Packers’ offense.

Starting wide receivers Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson form quite possibly the best duo in all of football, leaving veterans Donald Driver and James Jones as Cobb’s primary competition for playing time. Jones and Driver have shown flashes in training camp, but neither player is the “X-Factor” that Cobb is.

With Cobb, head coach Mike McCarthy feels like a kid in a candy store—if the candy store were located in the middle of Disney World and handing out free Hot Wheels cars.

In just over a week of training camp, Cobb has taken snaps as the team’s placeholder on field goals, lined up in the slot, the perimeter and the backfield, while being featured on bubble screens, reverses and at least one reverse pass.  Read more... (378 words + 1 image, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

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Chastin West

According to his Twitter Feed,  wide receiver Chastin West has been signed off of the Packers Practice Squad by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Stats: Attended Fresno State, (6’1”, 216lbs) WR.  Combine Stats: 4.59 40yd time, 2.64 20yd.,  1.61 10yd time, 4.42 20yd shuttle, 7.12 3-cone,  33.5” vertical, 15 reps@225lbs, and a 9’1” broad jump. Ranked 64 out of 276  Wide receivers by NFLDraftScout.com.

West had five catches for 134 yards in the preseason game against the Cardinals, but only managed three catches for 18 yards in the other three preseason games. West flashed some potential at times during camp, but never stood out. West was then signed to the Packers practice squad for the second straight year.

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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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