While the loss at home to the Philadelphia Eagles this past Thursday was damaging for a few reasons, the toe injury that kept Davante Adams on the sideline for the final drive proved to be a costly development that has season-long ramifications tied to it.
For Adams, his injury came on the heels of his breakout game of 2019, albeit without scoring his first touchdown of the season. Reeling in 10 catches for 180 yards, the former Fresno State Bulldog was restricted to the blue medical tent and the sideline for a good chunk of the fourth quarter, watching Green Bay march down the field but ultimately fail to put it in the end zone.
2019 was supposed to be a season of development at the wide receiver position, as Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Geronimo Allison were both expected to become bigger parts of the offense – now, even if Adams does not miss any time, their contributions will be counted on even more.
Down the stretch and with Adams watching from the sideline, Aaron Rodgers had to deal with four-receiver sets that included MVS, Allison, Allen Lazard, and Darrius Shepherd, which is less than ideal against any defensive scheme. With former Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz fully aware of GB’s lack of receiving options, his well-timed blitzes did just enough to throw the team off down the stretch.
While the porous officiating definitely did not help, Rodgers was being forced into a corner where he was being asked to do more with less, which sounds like a perfect bumper sticker for his time in Green Bay. Thankfully, the front office seems to be a bit more competent and willing to make moves, so the thought of bringing in outside talent is more than just a pipe dream.
Behind Adams, there is no defined no. 2 receiver, which is something that this team has been desperately missing for a while. With the amount of underachieving teams out there potentially looking for draft capital to shed some player weight, there are a few names that general manager Brian Gutekunst would be smart to go after this week.
Corey Davis
For the Tennessee Titans, Corey Davis has never lived up to his lofty draft status when he was selected in the first round out of Western Michigan. A small school, big-time collegiate player who had scouts drooling over his potential, Davis has a ton of familiarity with LaFleur, as the GB head coach called plays while with the Titans.
It may not take too much to get the Titans to move on from Davis, but with Davis still being on his rookie deal until the end of next season, plus with a fifth-year option to be picked up, a third-round selection would be a good starting point, potentially moving up to a second if they want to extract as much value as possible.
With the Titans undergoing another season that sees their quarterback play as the big reason why they are bad, Tennessee may take on the draft-pick approach and try to ship out as many pieces as possible, which should include Davis.
A taller receiver that apparently has good physical traits, even though it seems that no one in the NFL has seen them yet, Davis would slot into that 2a, 2b and 2c grouping with MVS and Allison, all capable of making up for any time that Adams would miss.
DeVante Parker
Plain and simple – the Miami Dolphins are a dumpster fire. Already having shipped out Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Pittsburgh Steelers, they are fully willing to engage in trading with probably the entire league.
With leadership down in Miami not fully sure how much they want to tank, Gute should absolutely reach out about Parker and offer a fourth-rounder and see if they like it. Parker has the tools to fit into the GB offense, and even though he has only caught six balls in 2019, that is more of a testament to describe the MIA offense than anything.
2016 was Parker’s best season, which was a while ago, but he can become a solid 50-catch receiver during the season if counted upon that heavily.
Outside of Parker, there are not too many other offensive weapons to look into, but both tight end Mike Gesicki and running back Kenyan Drake should register a look too.
Emmanuel Sanders
After having defeated the Denver Broncos in week three at home, Gute should have tried to keep Emmanuel Sanders in Green Bay and made him switch uniforms – would have cut down on travel costs.
Regardless, Sanders would be a good slot option for this team that is desperately missing one since Randall Cobb left. An older veteran presence that would be a welcome sight in the young wide receiver room, AR would love to have a proven veteran who is not concerned about padding stats.
Give Denver a sixth, settle for a fifth, and move on. Pretty simple deal, pretty simple idea, and overall a pretty simple way to improving the receiver grouping for Rodgers.
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Mike Johrendt has been an avid fan of the Packers ever since he can remember. He is now a writer at PackersTalk and you can follow him on Twitter at @MJohrendt23
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