Lazard knows who he is
Lazard offsets lack of speed with smarts
Green Bay Packers receiver Allen Lazard offsets lack of speed with size and smarts.
GREEN BAY - Allen Lazard knows who he is. More to the point, he also knows who he is not.
Lazard isn’t Julio Jones.
He isn’t Odell Beckham Jr.
He isn’t Davante Adams.
The Green Bay Packers’ thirdyear receiver is listed at 6-foot-5, basketball height on a football field. He might run more like a small forward, clocking a reported 4.55-second 40 at his Iowa State pro day in 2018. Entering that pro day, some NFL scouts were concerned Lazard would run in the 4.7s.
“I’m not the fastest guy,” Lazard said. “I’m not the quick-twitch guy, necessarily.”
No, but Lazard had 477 receiving yards and two of the signature touchdown catches of the Packers’ 2019 season, both against Detroit. He had three big-play receptions at the New York Giants in December, including a 37-yard touchdown in the snow that looked so easy, you may have forgotten. And he did it with a two-time MVP quarterback who is particularly demanding of
young receivers.
So even if he isn't bending secondaries to his will like Julio, or isn't blowing up the stopwatch like OBJ, or isn't dusting cornerbacks with pristine releases off the line of scrimmage like Adams, Lazard entered this offseason knowing he could make plays in the NFL.
“He's shown that he's a really talented player on the field,” Adams said, “and he's coming into his own confidencewise. And I think once you start to have that true confidence, it's not just something you're saying. If somebody asks you who's the best receiver in the league and you just say it's yourself, that's what you're supposed to say, because that's the right thing to say receiver-mentality wise. But once you start to truly believe you're a really, really good player, and you know your role on the team and all that, that's when you start to have an Allen Lazard.”
Lazard is not the best receiver in the league.
But he may be the second-best receiver on his team. For someone who was undrafted, a receiver the Packers cut at the beginning of last season, risking another team claiming him before he was stashed on the practice squad, it's a role Lazard would gladly accept.
The Packers, you might've heard, did not draft a receiver this year. Their lone veteran acquisition was Devin Funchess, who opted out of the 2020 season because of COVID-19. So a team that had only one receiver exceed 500 yards — the first time the Packers have ever failed to produce multiple 500-yard receivers in a 16-game season — is returning the same group.
That means Lazard is awfully important.
“He attacks it the right way,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “He's got a great mindset. We showed a lot of clips to the team just of the effort that he gives, not only on the offensive side of the ball, but on special teams as well. I just think that his mindset, his mentality, is so contagious. It rubs off on other guys. He brings great work ethic on a daily basis, and I think it translated to his play, and he made some really critical plays for us. Both Detroit games, he had big touchdowns and just his willingness to do whatever it takes, whether it's in the pass game going to catch a route or being a decoy or in the run game, he dominated his opponents.
“I think the opposition sees that, and they know that they better put in their mouth guard and buckle up their chin strap every time he's out on the field.”
In a different offseason, Lazard might not get so large an opportunity. Receiver was the one position universally expected to get an overhaul this offseason. “We were all expecting to have a receiver drafted,” Adams said. When none was, the omission automatically elevated Lazard, even before Funchess' opt out.
Lazard said he feels no more comfortable with the Packers choosing not to draft a receiver to take his job. Behind him, Marquez Valdes-Scantling still very much factors into the Packers' plans.
“We need him (Valdes-Scantling) to be a consistent performer for us,” LaFleur said, “because he does have incredible speed and he scares the defense when he's out on the field.”
Equanimeous St. Brown could also find a role after losing his entire second season to injured reserve because of an ankle injury.
One slip, and Lazard could find himself buried on the depth chart.
“Personally,” he said, “I'm going to approach it the same way. Just kind of looking through my journey through this NFL and everything, that's just kind of where I was able to make my biggest strides, was when I was kind of backed up against the wall and didn't really know where my position was, or if I was going to have a job. So I just want to keep that same mentality, same mindset, going into Year 3 now, coming back here for Year 2.
“Just to make sure I don't get too caught up with everything just from the success I had last year, and be able to keep on making strides.”
Lazard isn't worried about what he lacks. He's focused on showcasing his strengths.
His size gives him leverage against smaller cornerbacks, like his 35-yard touchdown down the left sideline in his first game with the Packers, when Aaron Rodgers dropped a pass over tight coverage from Lions cornerback Justin Coleman. Or when he leaped high over Lions corner Darius Slay in the season finale, grabbing a game-tying, 28-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
What Lazard lacks in tenths of the second, he hopes to compensate with the tape measure and smarts.
“I think from a mental and physical standpoint,” Lazard said, “that's kind of where I have my edge. So, you know, still honing in on my weaknesses and whatnot, but also be able to take my strengths and elevate them to another level as well.”