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Green Bay Packers Need Rookie Wide Receivers To Deliver

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Maybe Jason Witten knows more than the rest of the football world.

The former Dallas Cowboys tight end predicted last week that ex-Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant would eventually sign with Green Bay.

There have been no indications from Packerland that Witten’s belief holds any water. Instead, all signs are the Packers will put their faith in a trio of rookie receivers and hope for the best.

Green Bay is extremely thin at wideout after starters Davante Adams and Randall Cobb. That’s why Packers’ first-year general manager Brian Gutekunst selected Missouri’s J’Mon Moore in the fourth round (pick 133), South Florida’s Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the fifth (No. 174) and Notre Dame’s Equanimeous St. Brown in the sixth (No. 207).

If the Packers don’t go outside the organization for help, they’ll need at least one of the rookie wideouts to make an immediate impact.

“I thought about that as soon as I got drafted,” Moore said of making a contribution in his rookie season. “I plan on coming in here and working, getting in where I fit in and making the best of every opportunity that I get.”

Valdes-Scantling feels the same way.

“I think that’s definitely something we’re going to bring to this team — just the competitive edge,” he said. “We all have different abilities, but we’re all great players. I think having that variety of things is going to help this team out a lot.”

The common theme with Green Bay’s newest receivers is size.

Moore stands 6-foot-2 1/2 and weighs 206 pounds. Valdes-Scantling is 6-4, 202, and St. Brown is 6-4 ½, 218.

Michael Clark (6-6, 217) is the only player on the roster to have appeared in an NFL game that’s bigger than the three newcomers.

“Well I think your always looking for bigger targets,” Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said. “It makes sense doesn’t it? I mean, bigger catching radius, completion percentage.

“I think any quarterback would prefer to throw to a bigger target, no disrespect to the smaller targets. But I’ve always preferred bigger receivers.”

Moore had 1,000-yard seasons at Missouri in both 2016 and ‘17, despite the Tigers having issues at quarterback. But Moore also struggled with drops and was benched for a stretch during the 2016 campaign.

Valdes-Scantling is a remarkable size-speed prospect who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds and set a South Florida record with 879 receiving yards in 2017. But Valdes-Scantling is also raw and must improve his ball skills.

And St. Brown had a huge year in 2016 with 58 receptions, 961 yards and nine touchdowns. That’s when he was catching passes from current Packers’ reserve quarterback DeShone Kizer. But St. Brown slipped badly in 2017 when the Fighting Irish couldn’t get their quarterbacking play figured out.

“I mean we’re all trying to be the best so I think that we don’t even have to push each other,” Valdes-Scantling said. “We’re all self-motivated. That’s something that you don’t need to have someone else to push you because in the national football league your job is always on the line because someone else is coming in the next year. So it doesn’t matter if you’ve got three guys (drafted) in the same round or on the same day, because it’s the national football league, everybody is good.”

During McCarthy’s first 12 years in Green Bay, rookie receivers have made an immediate impact.

In 2006, second round rookie Greg Jennings caught 45 passes for 632 yards and three touchdowns. In 2007, third round pick James Jones went 47-676-2.

Jordy Nelson, a second round pick in 2008, went 33-366-2 in his rookie year. Cobb, a second rounder in 2011, went 25-375-1 as a rookie. And Adams, a second round pick in 2014, went 38-446-3 in his first season.

After Adams and Cobb, the group of receivers on today’s roster has little to no production. Geronimo Allison (35-455-2), Trevor Davis (8-94-1) and Clark (4-41-0) have played sparingly, while no one else has a reception.

The door is wide open for the rookies. Can any of them take advantage?

“You get all those guys in there with our revamped offensive staff and the whole thing, it’s a positive,” Packers scout Matt Malaspina said. “You hope the guys embrace it and are pros about it and try to get better and the whole group gets better as each guy gets better.”