With his touchdown grab in the third quarter, Green Bay Packers rookie wide receiver Samori Toure has made the case for more playing time.
Of course, it’s great that the play ended in six points, but the reason he should be pushing for more snaps moving forward is because of how he found his way into the end zone.
Toure’s initial route left him covered quite well by the Bills defender. But as Aaron Rodgers moved around to buy time against the Buffalo pass rush, Toure made an adjustment and headed for open grass. Rodgers saw this and found him in the end zone.
Rodgers has talked about a few times how the playbook on paper and what happens in a game can be different. Toure adjusting while Rodgers buys time is an example of that. That’s how you earn the trust and more snaps.
pic.twitter.com/wmayewYJn3— Paul Bretl (@Paul_Bretl) October 31, 2022
It seems like a simple concept – go to where there are no defenders – but that’s not always the case, especially for a young wide receiver. Against Washington, Romeo Doubs found himself in a similar situation with broken coverage by the Commanders’ secondary. However, instead of adjusting the route, he stuck with the original play design, and Rodgers, who threw to the open spot on the field, missed him by quite a bit. On live TV, this looked like a very poorly thrown ball by Rodgers.
Another example of this took place in Week 2 against the Bears. On Sammy Watkins’ 55-yard catch and run, he didn’t run the route as it was drawn up in the playbook. Rather, he made an adjustment based on the Bears’ coverage, and Rodgers found him for a big gain.
There have been several times this year that Rodgers has discussed how the playbook on paper differs from what can actually take place on the field. The plays described above are examples of that, and with Toure’s recognition and execution, that’s a prime way to build trust with Rodgers and to get more snaps.
“There’s the paper offense and the on-the-field offense,” said Rodgers recently “We just have to transfer some of those, the expectations of what’s going to happen out there, allowing our instincts to kind take over when it’s not cookie cutter like it is on the playbook.”
As always, there are several reasons why this Packers’ offense has struggled this season, but their inability to push the ball downfield has been one of the bigger issues. Rodgers currently ranks among the worst in yards per attempt and average depth of target. Right now, opposing defenses aren’t terribly concerned about getting beat over the top, which shrinks the field and makes moving the ball all the more challenging in that confined space.
In part, the Packers haven’t had many downfield attempts because of a lack of opportunities, whether that be due to how the defense is defending them or the receivers simply not creating enough space. But another factor is Rodgers and his pass-catchers not being on the same page either–and improvement in that area can be had by making those on-the-fly adjustments more consistently.
“If we look at a route like Sammy (Watkins) ran against the Bears, he doesn’t do the paper route, but he felt it, ran a great route, and he was wide open,” said Rodgers following the Giants game. “There’s opportunities for some of those instinctual adjustments on the play, and if we get that, we probably start hitting those (downfield passes).”
As we all know, having Rodgers’ trust and confidence is a must when it comes to getting regular opportunities in the passing game. Toure took a big step in earning that with one route against the Bills, as he gave Rodgers something that has been regularly missing this season for the Packers’ offense – the ability to adjust based on what the defense was doing and converting on the big play.
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