Losing Marquez Valdes-Scantling in free agency made one thing clear for Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers: the wide receiver position needs an influx of speed.
The Packers coach acknowledged this obvious fact on Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting in Florida.
“We need a legit guy that can take the top off the coverage,” LaFleur said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.
Valdes-Scantling, who stands 6-4 and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds, has been the offense’s primary deep threat since LaFleur arrived in 2019. He left Green Bay as a free agent to sign a three-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs last week. Losing Valdes-Scantling and Davante Adams in one offseason has the Packers looking at a major rebuild at the position.
There’s no obvious replacement for Valdes-Scantling on the roster. Allen Lazard doesn’t have threatening deep speed. Randall Cobb and Amari Rodgers are slot receivers. The rest of the depth chart includes Juwann Winfree and Malik Taylor, who probably aren’t starting-caliber receivers entering 2022.
General manager Brian Gutekunst has options for finding legit speed. Will Fuller is still available in free agency. Christian Watson, Chris Olave and Alec Pierce could be draft targets. There are potential trade scenarios to consider. One way or another, the Packers will add receivers between now and the start of the regular season in September.
Speed remains important in LaFleur’s offensive scheme for a few reasons. One, speed helps create explosive plays down the field. Valdes-Scantling created nine plays of 40 or more yards between 2020 and 2021. Explosive plays are great drivers of points. Two, the threat of vertical speed changes the way defenses cover the passing game and opens up opportunities in space for others underneath. Speed helps occupy safeties deep and create one-on-one chances for receivers. Valdes-Scantling deserves an assist for many of the easy throws and catches in the intermediate areas of the field from the last few seasons.
The draft looks like a great resource. This class has plenty of speed and vertical threats. Brennen Rupp of Packers Wire identified 10 possible draft prospects capable of replacing Valdes-Scantling as the primary deep threat.
Adding a veteran like Fuller and drafting one of the speedy prospects in the class could be enough for the Packers to maintain a dangerous vertical presence in the passing game in 2022.
