The Green Bay Packers didn’t make a splash at receiver this offseason, and the team’s only notable addition – veteran Devin Funchess – opted out of the 2020 season.
It’ll fall on the shoulders of a young player returning from injury to provide a spark.
Re-enter Equanimeous St. Brown into the Packers’ receiver equation.
“It’s going to be great to get E.Q. back in the fold,” coach Matt LaFleur said this week, via Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com. “That certainly hurt us last year, so we do have a lot of confidence in our receiving corps and they’re going to have to take that next step for us to be as productive as we’d like to be this coming fall.”
St. Brown injured his ankle during the Packers’ third preseason game and never returned, ending up on season-ending injured reserve before the start of the 2019 season. Just like that, St. Brown’s potentially promising second season finished with a whimper, and the Packers lost a likely contributor at receiver, one of the team’s shakiest positions.
As a rookie, St. Brown caught 21 passes for 328 yards, including five catches over 20 yards and 13 first downs. He averaged 9.1 yards per target despite catching just 58.1 percent of targets.
Tall and athletic, St. Brown proved to be a smooth route-runner with some fearlessness in the middle of the field and toughness as a blocker, potentially giving the Packers a new slot option in 2020.
Back in April, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he was excited to have St. Brown back from injury.
“I’m excited about getting EQ back from injury and seeing how he feels,” Rodgers said. “He really made some great strides his rookie year, especially towards the end of the season, making plays for us and growing each week. He has a great approach to the game. It will be fun to see him healthy.”
Without Funchess available, St. Brown has an opportunity to emerge as the team’s third or fourth receiving option. He’ll battle with Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Jake Kumerow and several others for the majority of snaps at receiver behind Davante Adams and likely No. 2 receiver Allen Lazard.
St. Brown’s performance late in his rookie season should provide some hope for his third year. In November, he turned three catches into first downs against the Minnesota Vikings. A month later, he caught five passes for a career-high 94 yards against the New York Jets. An injury robbed him of his second season, but the Packers are hopeful they’ll get something meaningful from St. Brown in 2020.
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