At one point or another this offseason, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, general manager Brian Gutekunst, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and now receiver Davante Adams have all hyped the abilities and potential of Allen Lazard, who caught 35 passes during a breakout season with the Packers in 2019.
Look, coaches and players hype players. It happens every offseason, and the vast majority of those players don’t match the hype once the games are played. This is a fact. And this phenomenon happens often at the wide receiver position.
Still, four of the most important players in the building at Lambeau Field all went out of their way to talk up Lazard this offseason, noting everything from his unique path to the field, his ability to quickly gain the trust of Rodgers and how well he handled big-time situations during his first season as a major contributor.
There must be confidence growing inside Lazard, and confidence from the Packers – who didn’t draft a wide receiver despite the perceived outside need – in their second-leading receiver from last season.
From LaFleur: “Allen did a great job. I’m really excited about him. He earned it. He earned it, every rep he got. Just the effort, the intensity, he’s a very intelligent player. He earned it on special teams first. I think that’s kind of a good blueprint for young players coming in. You produce on special teams, you earn that trust from the coaching staff. He did that – not only from the coaching staff but from our players, as well, and specifically our quarterback.”
From Gutekunst: “Allen did the things you need to do at the right times, third downs, big games. Not everybody is built for that, and I thought he did a really good job at the end of the year.”
From Rodgers: “By the end of the season, he was called upon many, many times in important situations to make big plays and he did. He’s just a great teammate, and ascending player, loved his approach every week and he made some big-time plays for us.”
From Adams: “Allen Lazard is one of the guys that, he’s shown he’s a really talented player on the field and he’s coming into his own confidence-wise. Once you start to have that true confidence, once you start to believe you’re a really, really good player, and you know your role on the team and all of that. That’s when you start to have an Allen Lazard. He’s a lot more confident. The coaches have obviously shared that with the media, the rest of the team. I’m really excited to see that.”
Both Pro Football Focus and Football Outsiders gave Lazard high marks for his work during the 2019 season, and Rodgers had a completion percentage over 67.0 and a passer rating over 115.0 when targeting him in the passing game. All young players that have success must find ways to adjust to new things, but Lazard laid a strong foundation during his first full season in Green Bay.
The hype is real for Allen Lazard entering 2020. It’s on the former undrafted free agent from Iowa State to match it once the games begin.
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