One of the biggest winners of the Green Bay Packers’ draft in 2020 was receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who – without a field-stretching addition at his position group – will get another golden opportunity to be a pivotal part of Matt LaFleur’s offense this season.
The Packers are preparing to push Valdes-Scantling to take a big – and necessary – developmental step during his third NFL season.
“You look at MVS, the speed that he has – he has to take that next step, and that’s going to be a challenge for him, and we’re going to be all over him to do that,” LaFleur said following the draft.
After an encouraging rookie season and a strong start to 2019, Valdes-Scantling mostly fell off the map, becoming an afterthought in the offense by the end of his second season. He caught just six passes for 44 yards over his final 10 games, including the postseason. By the playoffs, his snaps had all but evaporated.
Knee and ankle injuries suffered during a win over the Detroit Lions in October contributed to his steep dropoff. So did Valdes-Scantling’s lack of detail as a receiver, the emergence of breakout pass-catcher Allen Lazard and the offense’s slow-but-steady shift to a run-centered offense reliant on receivers blocking in the run game.
During the first seven games of 2019, Valdes-Scantling caught 21 passes for 416 yards, including two scores over 40 yards. His impressive long speed has made him a valuable vertical threat, especially in the run action passing game. He has nine career catches over 40 yards. But his struggles as an intermediate route runner and inconsistency as a blocker limited his production ceiling and reduced opportunities in LaFleur’s offense.
By the end of the 2019 season, Valdes-Scantling was buried on the depth chart and watching the majority of games from the sideline.
Now, the Packers need him to shake off the finish to last year, take a big step forward as a receiver this offseason and regain his confidence entering 2020. Valdes-Scantling is the offense’s best deep threat, but he’ll struggle to get on the field if he can’t improve in a meaningful way to start his third season.
GM Brian Gutekunst, who didn’t draft a receiver, believes Valdes-Scantling is about to enter the sweet spot for receiver development in the NFL, especially in Green Bay.
“I really like our group of young receivers and where they’re headed,” Gutekunst told Larry McCarren of Packers.com. “I’ve always talked how, I think it’s very true if you look back, that most receivers in this league really start to come into their own in Year 3. Look back at our history here, with guys like Davante (Adams) and Jordy (Nelson), that’s really where they’ve started to come into their own. So I’m excited for those guys.”
The Packers need Valdes-Scantling, a big winner of the offseason, to come into his own in 2020.
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