The big 5

[RashanGary]

Jermichael Finley talked in his interview about the skills he worked on this offseason. He said most of his work was out of the 2 pt stance (wr stance). Either Finley is going his own way and doing his own thing, or the Packers are on board with him becoming more of a wide out. I tend to think he's doing this with the Packers blessing and that he's going to be playing split out quite a bit this season.


Our big 5 is going to be as dangerous as it's ever been. And here's a wrinkle I think might be interesting to see. . . .


We go big 5 with Finley, Jennings, Driver, Jones and Nelson. . .

The opposing defense will always go dime. Facing 6 DB's and 1 LB, we could shift Finely and Jones into the backfield. Finley would be a solid FB type lead blocker and I think Jones skills would be great as a running back. I actually think he could be an NFL 3rd down back. The way he runs with the ball, his explosiveness. . . I think he'd be good in that position. Then we have Driver and Jennings split wide with our best blocking WR (Nelson) either in line or lined up as slot WR.

Regardless, we just got a team to commit to dime defense and now we have a solid blocker in line (Nelson), a solid blocker at FB (Finley) and a guy I think could be a pretty good runner (Jones). . . .

Just as receivers, we can put some pressure on defenses, but this would be a wrinkle teams might have a tough time defending too.

[MJZiggy]

Do you really want one of your receivers taking the punishment a runningback gets? I gotta think there's a reason it doesn't happen that often. Are the TE and wide receiver allowed to suddenly shift into the backfield before the snap?

[Brandon494]

I make Finley my #3 WR in Madden with 3 and 4 WR sets so it makes sense to me. :lol:

[Brandon494]

Also we don't need Finley at FB blocking to get hurt. I'm still hoping Quin Johnson sees more time this season.

[MadScientist]

Do you really want one of your receivers taking the punishment a runningback gets? I gotta think there's a reason it doesn't happen that often. Are the TE and wide receiver allowed to suddenly shift into the backfield before the snap?

The shift is legal as long as the tackles are covered and they set for a second. As for using the WR as a RB, you wouldn't want it to be an inside run, but perhaps more like a end around. Put Finley on the line with Jordy and DD on that side, Jones and Jennings on the other. Send Jones in motion, and at the snap have him circle the QB to take the ball.

Could work as a surprise, but it becomes a bit of a speed v. speed, not a speed v. beef, so the defense is not at that great of a disadvantage.

[Lurker64]

You can line up in a two point stance and block, a whole lot of college left tackles do it. Some guys are just more comfortable blocking starting from a two point base than a three point base.

[packerbacker1234]

This is more of a trickeration sort of play that the packers would only run once or twice a season, so to me it's not even worth talking about.

Finely was split out A LOT last season. It makes sense for him to work a bit harder on running routes out of a WR stance when he was motioned out so many times last year, and will only be more so now that he is an everydown player.

He has spent his whole of college/nfl working out of the TE stance, so I think he has proven he is a solid route runner already form there and he is just working on what him, or the team, feels is a weakness in his pass catching game - running routes out of the WR stance.

[get louder at lambeau]

Do you really want one of your receivers taking the punishment a runningback gets? I gotta think there's a reason it doesn't happen that often. Are the TE and wide receiver allowed to suddenly shift into the backfield before the snap?

The shift is legal as long as the tackles are covered and they set for a second. As for using the WR as a RB, you wouldn't want it to be an inside run, but perhaps more like a end around. Put Finley on the line with Jordy and DD on that side, Jones and Jennings on the other. Send Jones in motion, and at the snap have him circle the QB to take the ball.

Could work as a surprise, but it becomes a bit of a speed v. speed, not a speed v. beef, so the defense is not at that great of a disadvantage.

How about Finley takes the ball on an end around from the WR position? He's a mismatch for everyone on the field. If he gets a step on the LBs, it's Finley with a head of steam vs 5'10" 195 lb CBs downfield.