A big question surrounding this Green Bay Packers team this offseason was, who was going to step up and be the second receiver behind Davante Adams?
While second-year receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling has drawn a lot of attention, and deservedly so, I have my sights locked on Geronimo Allison and expect him to emerge as WR2 while putting together a career year.
For whatever reason, there is a portion of the fan base that doesn’t believe in Allison and there have been many that wanted the Packers to move on from him this offseason. Oh how quickly we forget.
Allison was poised for a breakout season in 2018 prior to his injury. Through the first four games, he had 289 receiving yards which led the team. And of course, a spectacular touchdown catch against the Chicago Bears in week one.
Now as we look ahead to this upcoming season, it appears that Allison is going to be the main slot receiver in this Packers’ offense which plays a key role in the Matt LaFleur system.
LaFleur, Sean McVay, and Kyle Shanahan all come from the same coaching tree, so we can expect similar tactics from all three. When Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Atlanta, we saw Mohamed Sanu emerge as a top target out of the slot. In Los Angeles under McVay, Cooper Kupp has played an integral part of the offense.
Then just last season in Tennessee with LaFleur calling the plays, Corey Davis took 240 snaps in the slot and totaled 65 receptions for 891 yards on the season. I am expecting similar success for Allison this upcoming season.
Allison certainly isn’t the most flashy receiver on the field but he is reliable and will rarely be found out of place. Perhaps most importantly, he has the trust of Aaron Rodgers which as we have seen in the past is key to having any sort of success.
As the slot receiver in this offense, we should anticipate plenty of opportunities for Allison which should produce some big numbers and a big season for this Packers team.
Earlier this summer it was Davante Adams who summed it up best when asked about Allison: “it is going to be dangerous.”