TERRIFIC TRIO
The Packers have cooked up a group of tight ends that are big, tall and fast
Third in a nine-part Packers by Position series.
GREEN BAY - If the Green Bay Packers’ decision to splurge for free-agent tight end Martellus Bennett could be boiled down to a single play, a single moment that tipped their collective hand, it might have taken place in the fourth quarter of a playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys.
On Jan. 15, in the NFC divisional round, the Packers and Cowboys were tied in the waning moments of a thrilling game. Facing third-and-20 on his half of the field, quarterback Aaron Rodgers rolled to his left and created an angle for a piercing throw low and toward the left sideline. There, tight end Jared Cook half-knelt and half-slid to make an improbable 35yard reception that set up a game-winning field goal by Mason Crosby.
The underlying significance of Cook’s catch was the powerful reinforcement of his skill set — big, tall, fast — and an accurate representation of how such traits can transform the tight end position, and in turn coach Mike McCarthy’s offensive system.
Cook, who joined the Packers as a street free agent in 2016, finished the postseason with 18 catches for 229 yards, both of which set new franchise records for tight ends. His regular-season average of 12.6 yards per reception was the highest by a starting Packers tight end since Jermichael Finley averaged 13.9 in 2011. That year, Finley finished with 59 catches for 804 yards in 17 games counting playoffs. Cook had 48 catches for 606 yards in 13 games last season.
“Just a different element kind of in the
middle of the field and different places and creating more matchups,” Cook said prior to the NFC championship game. “Create mismatches when needed, get open when needed, being there when (Rodgers) needs me or clearing it out for somebody else to get open, creating different triangles on different parts of the field just to kind of help (Rodgers) out.”
That type of weapon was one that Rodgers enjoyed, evidenced by numerous in-season comments and the unabashed off-season lobbying for Cook to receive a new contract from general manager Ted Thompson. But when negotiations with Cook’s camp went south, Thompson pivoted accordingly by signing Bennett, the top tight end on the market, and Lance Kendricks, a solid contributor for the Los Angeles Rams last season.
After the signings, Rodgers signaled his approval with the revival of a longstanding joke on Twitter: #relax.
“It’s going to take time to get them up to speed with the verbiage and the offense,” Rodgers said during organized team activities. “But I think what it does is it gives us some more flexibility to run two tight end sets. I think you have to have confidence now in all three of those guys — Richard (Rodgers) having been here for a number of years now, being a veteran player and playing at a high level for us, and now adding two guys who have done it at other places and add some winning championship mode to this team in Martellus and then Lance with his athleticism and his versatility.”
Taken together, the trio of Bennett, Kendricks and Richard Rodgers is almost certainly the deepest collection of tight ends in McCarthy’s tenure as coach. Those three players combined for 135 catches for 1,471 yards and 11 touchdowns last season for the Patriots, Rams and Packers, respectively.
Cook’s performance reiterated the importance of dynamic athletes at the tight end position. And even though he’s gone, this year’s group should be even better.