Somebody other than Davante Adams led the Green Bay Packers in receiving this week. In arguably the best game of his career, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling lifted Green Bay’s offense with four receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown during Sunday’s 24-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He was Packers fans’ whipping boy for most of the season, but now Valdes-Scantling has put together notable performances in back-to-back weeks. Following a crushing drop on third down in last week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, Valdes-Scantling finished the day with two receptions for 53 yards and two touchdowns.
On his first catch this week, Valdes-Scantling hauled in a bomb from Aaron Rodgers that resulted in a 78-yard touchdown. Despite a heavy wind impacting the trajectory of the ball, Valdes-Scantling had asked Rodgers to look for him downfield.
“I had run a go route on that previous play and saw that I could get behind him (Sidney Jones),” he said. “He wasn’t really respecting the deep (ball), and so I went back to the huddle and told Aaron that I can get by him.”
“The next play, we went out and threw a go ball.”
Rodgers connected with Valdes-Scantling in stride after he ran by and separated from Jones. The third-year receiver then finished off the longest touchdown of his career by cutting across the field to beat the last defender.
The 78-yard catch and run was the most impactful play of the game for Valdes-Scantling, but it wasn’t the only one that was significant. All three of Valdes-Scantling’s other receptions resulted in first downs.
On a third-down play during the second quarter, Rodgers escaped the pocket and found Valdes-Scantling, who had settled into an opening 22 yards downfield. The play further displayed the confidence Rodgers and his young receiver have been trying to build on over the last two and a half years.
While Rodgers’ confidence in Valdes-Scantling has seldom wavered, fans have clamored for reducing his snaps. Whether it was dropped passes or a failure to get open and warrant targets, it’s safe to say Valdes-Scantling’s career has been a rollercoaster.
As a rookie, he would flash some games and then disappear for weeks at a time. The same was true in 2019, a year in which his targets, receptions, and receiving yards all decreased from the year before. After a promising first year, many wondered if Valdes-Scantling’s ceiling was lower than originally thought.
However, this year when Green Bay has needed another threat to emerge alongside Adams, Valdes-Scantling has been steady. If Valdes-Scantling can continue to build off of these last two outings, he will have definitely shown improvement from the last two seasons.
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