Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Wide receivers class sings Adams’ praises
Indianapolis — As prospects move around downtown Indianapolis, through Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indiana Convention Center and hotels for the NFL combine, they do so with a backdrop declaring “Next is here.”
The next star, the next record breaker, the next MVP, the next game-changer. The possibilities are endless. For a team balancing on the cusp of greatness but unable to make the final jump in recent years, the Green Bay Packers are open to any and all of those possibilities. There’s no one piece they are desperate to fill as of now, but decisions soon could drastically change the look of a storied franchise.
Aside from the cacophony that is the Aaron Rodgers discourse, the Packers face another decision this offseason that is arguably just as important: What to do with wide receiver Davante Adams. In his eighth season with the Packers, the former second-rounder had 132 receptions for 1,643 yards (both career bests) and 11 touchdowns.
The pending free agent is a likely candidate for the franchise tag. If Green Bay elects to put the tag on Adams, it would still have eight days to work out a new deal before free agency begins at 3 p.m. March 16, when all teams must be under the cap.
Or, if the Packers felt confident in their ability to replace Adams, they could let the free agent walk. In a wide receiver-heavy draft, there is a tantalizing option to take the chance.
But in asking receivers at the combine to consider what they could bring to not only the league, but Green Bay, it becomes clear the Packers already have the guy they’re all working to become.
“I mean, you just sit there and watch all (Adams’) game and just the things that he does at a high level is just amazing,” said SMU receiver Reggie Roberson, with a bit of awe.
“His release work, top of the routes, how he separates and how he sets guys up, for me, it’s just like poetry.”
So perhaps it’s poetic the Packers are facing a ticking clock, trying to decide if
the touchstone (Adams) can be replicated with any of those he’s influenced. Or perhaps even just supplemented, so Adams isn’t triple-teamed again as he was by the Baltimore Ravens.
There are flashes of Adams in big names such as Georgia’s George Pickens, who watches Adams and Rams receiver Cooper Kupp regularly to mine for tips.
“I can most definitely watch (Adams’) separation,” Pickens said. “I can watch his separation because his releases are really the smoothest I’ve probably ever seen besides (Chad Johnson) Ochocinco.”
Tre Turner of Virginia Tech leaves the Hokies as one of the program’s top five receivers in history in receiving yards and receptions. During a week that leans on speed and agility drills, Turner is using Adams as motivation and a reminder: The game isn’t always played in measurables.
“You turn the film on, anytime you see him running, full speed, every single route he’s running. He’s getting separation
from defensive backs very easily, and he catches the ball very well, no matter where the ball is thrown,” Turner said.
“And just seeing him, knowing that he ran like a 4.5 or something at the combine and like I know there’s other guys that are way faster than him, but it doesn’t matter … he gets separation and he wins on routes.”
Adams in fact ran a 4.59 at the 2014 combine, in the 29th percentile for receivers in his class. It was his worst measurable. His best was a 39.5-inch vertical, in the 89th percentile among receivers that year.
But Adams was a student of the game, precise to the point of cutting in his routes and with the impressive vertical that helps him defy physics to this day. All of these attributes have created game tape the 2022 receivers have studied so much, it can be recalled in detail.
Now the question remains, is the “next” Davante Adams here in this class? And is it worth possibly losing the original just to find him?
Packers prioritize backs who can protect
March 3 was all about the prospects at the NFL combine. Offensive linemen began the day, a position the Green Bay Packers could feasibly target early in the draft. Yet it was the running backs who spoke the most about meetings with the Packers.
Rutgers running back Isaih Pacheco went into great detail about his 15-minute meeting with the Green Bay coaching staff. The gist of the meeting, he shared, was pass protection.
“It was pretty cool,” Pacheco said. “They were showing me their pass protection and everything so I kinda took advantage of it and sat down and understood it in less than 15 minutes so it’s kind of a good start.”
The Packers lean heavily on their backs for pass protection, allowing quarterback Aaron Rodgers to work toward the sideline more. Second-year man AJ Dillon became a crucial piece in the Packers’ pass game for that reason.
Pacheco, who finished his senior season with 647 yards (averaging 3.9 per carry) and five touchdowns, knows he doesn’t mimic Aaron Jones (except for in his love for fashion) but could see himself fitting into the scheme in many ways. If nothing else, he hopes he left the Packers with the impression he could do whatever was necessary.
“My running style is a little bit different than Aaron Jones’ and I’m pretty sure if they drafted me I could contribute to it,” Pacheco said.
Another back who met with the Packers was Florida product Dameon Pierce. The small-stature back (5-10, 215 pounds) is suited to play in cold weather, and as such has met with a handful of Northern teams. That’s OK for the Georgia native.
“I ain’t really picky about where I go. I’m just glad to land anywhere. Whoever wanna take me, I’m ready to go,” Pierce said. “Once that adrenaline getting rushing, you ain’t gonna feel that cold so like hey, I’m playing football at the end of the day.
“Once I get that first hit out of the way, I’m good.”