WR battle

[bobblehead]

So, from everything I'm reading Jeff Janis is sort of like Bill Schroeder. No one likes him, but when he is on the field he produces. Everyone wants him off the roster, but he is likely a lock to make it.

Davis really hurt himself with his muffed punt. It seems like after the first 3 anything goes. Janis will make it because he is even better as a gunner than Bush was. So I see 2 spots after that. Anyones game in my book.

[smuggler]

I would be shocked if Allison wasn't on the team week 2.

[texaspackerbacker]

You're a little loose with your use of "no one" and "everyone". Janis is just scratching the surface, as I said he would if he ever got the opportunity.

I don't see the fascination with Trevor Davis, who hasn't come close to performing as well as Janis, who doesn't have the measureables of Janis, and who, other than the big punt return, hasn't been much on special teams either.

As for WR in general, assuming they don't cut Cobb - which wouldn't bother me at all, and Adams stays in the top 3 - deserved or not. Allison and Janis (and I mean at WR) are head and shoulders above anyone else from 4 on down. There are 9, maybe even 10 total quality WRs there. Crockett seems good enough to play in the NFL, but no way he stays; Maybe they can PUP Dupre and keep him that way, otherwise, a risk of the practice squad; It's been said Clark is too good to risk putting on the practice squad and losing him - I believe it; Yancey has looked way more good than bad, although I'm starting to see him as a Janis 2.0 in terms of lack of use. That leaves Davis and McCaffrey who I see battling for one spot, and I think McCaffrey may be the better of the two.

So my prediction/wish would be keeping 7 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Janis, Allison, Yancey, Clark, and either McCaffrey or Davis.

[ND72]

You're a little loose with your use of "no one" and "everyone". Janis is just scratching the surface, as I said he would if he ever got the opportunity.

I don't see the fascination with Trevor Davis, who hasn't come close to performing as well as Janis, who doesn't have the measureables of Janis, and who, other than the big punt return, hasn't been much on special teams either.

As for WR in general, assuming they don't cut Cobb - which wouldn't bother me at all, and Adams stays in the top 3 - deserved or not. Allison and Janis (and I mean at WR) are head and shoulders above anyone else from 4 on down. There are 9, maybe even 10 total quality WRs there. Crockett seems good enough to play in the NFL, but no way he stays; Maybe they can PUP Dupre and keep him that way, otherwise, a risk of the practice squad; It's been said Clark is too good to risk putting on the practice squad and losing him - I believe it; Yancey has looked way more good than bad, although I'm starting to see him as a Janis 2.0 in terms of lack of use. That leaves Davis and McCaffrey who I see battling for one spot, and I think McCaffrey may be the better of the two.

So my prediction/wish would be keeping 7 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Janis, Allison, Yancey, Clark, and either McCaffrey or Davis.

Janis has been the Robert Ferguson of this team since he was drafted. Trade him and move on. Until he was injured Dupree was the talk of camp along with Clark, and at the same time Janis was looking horrible.

He catches one deep ball on a beautifully thrown ball and people lose their minds. The week before when he dropped a simple 7 yard hitch pass, nobody says a word. He's a dime a dozen player. Plenty of guys can do what he's done on special teams, in fact they did last year since he wasn't even their best special teamer. Take the younger guys with more upside than he has.

Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison(week 2), Davis, Yancey, Dupree - Clark slips through to the practice squad, next year he makes the team. McCaffrey is the one to watch. Coaches like him, 12 likes him. Same was said for Abbrederais though.

[Zool]

Wouldn't be shocked to see McCaffrey get "injured " around the 4th game and hit the ir. I agree with NDs take on Janice. He is what he is and that's average at best. I could see him making the roster this year based off ST play but I'd be more than shocked to see him get a second contract.

[Bretsky]

Janis will keep making the team because of what he is.........a special teams ace

As a WR he's unreliable and inconsistent. And he's consistent at being both of those and that is why GB can't count on him on offense.

[Brandon494]

Funny how people actually thought Janis was getting cut...guess you don't remember Jarrett Bush huh? Lmao

[smuggler]

Even with his salary, someone would trade *something* for Cobb

[pbmax]

The only other player to play slot other than Cobb were Monty and Nelson. One is the starting RB. The other is the premier outside WR.

Even if you move Jordy permanently into the slot, you need someone opposite Adams and I am not sure Geronimo, Janis or Davis are ready or reliable enough.

Even if you think Cobb is dreck, and I think this an exaggeration, he is here another year guaranteed except for injury.

[pbmax]

Janis has been the Robert Ferguson of this team since he was drafted. Trade him and move on. Until he was injured Dupree was the talk of camp along with Clark, and at the same time Janis was looking horrible.

He catches one deep ball on a beautifully thrown ball and people lose their minds. The week before when he dropped a simple 7 yard hitch pass, nobody says a word. He's a dime a dozen player. Plenty of guys can do what he's done on special teams, in fact they did last year since he wasn't even their best special teamer. Take the younger guys with more upside than he has.

Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison(week 2), Davis, Yancey, Dupree - Clark slips through to the practice squad, next year he makes the team. McCaffrey is the one to watch. Coaches like him, 12 likes him. Same was said for Abbrederais though.

Hello ND, good to see you.

I will say this in defense of Janis and this is from someone who has been consistently disappointed by him since he first preseason breakout three years ago.

He caught two other balls on two other routes against the starting D, or some starters and some backups. That is progress from the 9 route specialist he had become.

He has not been the talk of camp, so its still unclear whether he has demonstrated these new skills to the coaches and QB yet. But progress is better than the previous two off seasons. Its not enough to see his as a Pro Bowler, but he is good enough on ST that he will stick again and get another year to improve.

Problem is that not many WR break out in their fourth or fifth year.

[Smidgeon]

Hello ND, good to see you.

I will say this in defense of Janis and this is from someone who has been consistently disappointed by him since he first preseason breakout three years ago.

He caught two other balls on two other routes against the starting D, or some starters and some backups. That is progress from the 9 route specialist he had become.

He has not been the talk of camp, so its still unclear whether he has demonstrated these new skills to the coaches and QB yet. But progress is better than the previous two off seasons. Its not enough to see his as a Pro Bowler, but he is good enough on ST that he will stick again and get another year to improve.

Problem is that not many WR break out in their fourth or fifth year.

Correct on the fifth year, not correct on the fourth year.

Jordy Nelson was a D2 and had 300 yard seasons his first two years, a 580 yard season his third, then exploded his fourth year with 51% more catches and 117% more yards versus the prior year (1263 yards on 63 receptions following a 582/45 season).

Donald Driver was a D7 (like Janis) who only had 13 receptions his third year. In his fourth year, he had 70 for 1064 yards, basically an insane turnaround completely unpredictable according to stats.
James Jones' rookie season was pretty good (676 on 47), but he didn't top it again until his fourth year (679 on 50), Cobb's second season was his breakout season, and Greg Jennings started like Jones but then kept improving every year.

Right now, Janis' stats are barely less than Driver's thus far. The difference is Driver entered his fourth season as a starter. Janis is still WR5 or WR6 right now. It is unlikely he makes a big step like that this year. But considering how raw he was, it's possible he's a year or two behind Driver. If he puts up 20ish catches this year, he might still have a shot at a later breakout. If he puts out less than that, statistically it is unlikely he'll ever put out more than 10-15 catches per year.

[gbgary]

Even with his salary, someone would trade *something* for Cobb

besides the fact that trades seldom happen in the nfl, why would they take "something" for cobb? he's the third best wr (maybe 2nd) on the team. his skills haven't diminished. the $ he's being paid is irrelevant. we, and the Packers, want the best players playing. other than jordy and adams everyone else is a down grade. the team would be less talented without cobb. less!

[ThunderDan]

besides the fact that trades seldom happen in the nfl, why would they take "something" for cobb? he's the third best wr (maybe 2nd) on the team. his skills haven't diminished. the $ he's being paid is irrelevant. we, and the Packers, want the best players playing. other than jordy and adams everyone else is a down grade. the team would be less talented without cobb. less!

When did you buy your Cobb jersey? :-P

Just joking with you. I am not sure what I am going to do with my Lacy jersey.

[Fritz]

You're a little loose with your use of "no one" and "everyone". Janis is just scratching the surface, as I said he would if he ever got the opportunity.

I don't see the fascination with Trevor Davis, who hasn't come close to performing as well as Janis, who doesn't have the measureables of Janis, and who, other than the big punt return, hasn't been much on special teams either.

As for WR in general, assuming they don't cut Cobb - which wouldn't bother me at all, and Adams stays in the top 3 - deserved or not. Allison and Janis (and I mean at WR) are head and shoulders above anyone else from 4 on down. There are 9, maybe even 10 total quality WRs there. Crockett seems good enough to play in the NFL, but no way he stays; Maybe they can PUP Dupre and keep him that way, otherwise, a risk of the practice squad; It's been said Clark is too good to risk putting on the practice squad and losing him - I believe it; Yancey has looked way more good than bad, although I'm starting to see him as a Janis 2.0 in terms of lack of use. That leaves Davis and McCaffrey who I see battling for one spot, and I think McCaffrey may be the better of the two.

So my prediction/wish would be keeping 7 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Janis, Allison, Yancey, Clark, and either McCaffrey or Davis.


There are two factors involved with the fascination with Davis. First, it's speed. It's the one quality most people believe the Packers are missing with their wide receivers. It's why people were so enthralled with a seventh-round pick at WR a few years ago - his name was Janis. The second reason is that Davis is still new, so in our hopeful minds he's got the speed and perhaps ability to become a pro bowler. Janis is, to a football fan's mind, old hat. He seems to be, in our impatient minds, reaching his ceiling, and it doesn't seem to be a pro bowl ceiling. Davis we just don't know about, so we can still hope he's the next Bob Hayes.

I think that explains the fascination.

[pbmax]

Correct on the fifth year, not correct on the fourth year.

Jordy Nelson was a D2 and had 300 yard seasons his first two years, a 580 yard season his third, then exploded his fourth year with 51% more catches and 117% more yards versus the prior year (1263 yards on 63 receptions following a 582/45 season).

Donald Driver was a D7 (like Janis) who only had 13 receptions his third year. In his fourth year, he had 70 for 1064 yards, basically an insane turnaround completely unpredictable according to stats.
James Jones' rookie season was pretty good (676 on 47), but he didn't top it again until his fourth year (679 on 50), Cobb's second season was his breakout season, and Greg Jennings started like Jones but then kept improving every year.

Right now, Janis' stats are barely less than Driver's thus far. The difference is Driver entered his fourth season as a starter. Janis is still WR5 or WR6 right now. It is unlikely he makes a big step like that this year. But considering how raw he was, it's possible he's a year or two behind Driver. If he puts up 20ish catches this year, he might still have a shot at a later breakout. If he puts out less than that, statistically it is unlikely he'll ever put out more than 10-15 catches per year.

Yes, but do Nelson, Adams, Cobb really matchup with Jennings, Driver, Jones?

Nelson was in a serious logjam. There have been snaps available to Janis during the long offensive drought and from injuries.

I would argue that we knew Nelson was good by Year 4, even if that was the first sign of the monster to come.

[gbgary]

When did you buy your Cobb jersey? :-P

Just joking with you. I am not sure what I am going to do with my Lacy jersey.

no jersey lol. on yours get the name changed to jones.

[pbmax]

Right now, Janis' stats are barely less than Driver's thus far. The difference is Driver entered his fourth season as a starter. Janis is still WR5 or WR6 right now. It is unlikely he makes a big step like that this year. But considering how raw he was, it's possible he's a year or two behind Driver. If he puts up 20ish catches this year, he might still have a shot at a later breakout. If he puts out less than that, statistically it is unlikely he'll ever put out more than 10-15 catches per year.

Driver was a freak. Hope Janis makes that jump without others having injury.

[texaspackerbacker]

Driver was a freak. Hope Janis makes that jump without others having injury.

A long long time ago in the old JSOnline, I was almost the only one promoting Driver, just like I'm one of very few promoting Janis now. Mark my words, Janis WILL be an excellent receiver in the NFL - and it damn well better be for the Packers, not somebody else.

[Smidgeon]

Yes, but do Nelson, Adams, Cobb really matchup with Jennings, Driver, Jones?

Nelson was in a serious logjam. There have been snaps available to Janis during the long offensive drought and from injuries.

I would argue that we knew Nelson was good by Year 4, even if that was the first sign of the monster to come.

Only kinda sorta. The comparison with Nelson at the time was who was better, him or James Jones. Going into Nelson's fourth year, it was anyone's guess. Jones started out strong his rookie year, then regressed the next two before matching his rookie year. Nelson started weaker in the first two years and grew a little bit in the third. I remember a lot of people couldn't decide who was going to be better, but I think the general consensus leaned towards Jones. There was a logjam, but they were fighting for the #3 spot after Driver and Jennings.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Driver was a freak. Hope Janis makes that jump without others having injury.

Driver was a WR and worked his ass off to become a very good one. Janis has great athleticism who from reports, doesn't work very hard to be a better WR.

I don't think anyone is doubting Janis' physical ability, it's what's between his ears that many question.

[hoosier]

Yes, but do Nelson, Adams, Cobb really matchup with Jennings, Driver, Jones?

Nelson was in a serious logjam. There have been snaps available to Janis during the long offensive drought and from injuries.

I would argue that we knew Nelson was good by Year 4, even if that was the first sign of the monster to come.

Not to turn this into a sideshow but first sign of Nelson's emergence was in his thirrd year, at the end of 2010, in that late December game against NYG and then the huge game against Pittsburgh in the SB. In his fourth year he went over 1200 yards receiving. I agree with your main point, which is that there have been ample opportunities for Janis to earn playing time whereas Nelson had to split time for his first three years. Moreover, the comparison really isn't apt because Nelson was much more polished coming in and he got plenty of playing of time from the get go. Janis was much greener and has never really dispelled his initial limitations.

[Smidgeon]

Driver was a WR and worked his ass off to become a very good one. Janis has great athleticism who from reports, doesn't work very hard to be a better WR.

I don't think anyone is doubting Janis' physical ability, it's what's between his ears that many question.

I think this part is speculation. He may work super hard but still have trouble grasping things.
When I first started playing basketball in high school, I had a really difficult time with concepts. I was extremely book smart, but I just couldn't grasp court tactics. It took me well into college (watching relatively constantly) before I started picking up nuances before not caring anymore.

The point is: someone can be passionate about it and work hard at it, but sometimes some concepts are difficult to grasp. That's why people speak about a "light going on" because it suddenly makes sense. I think that's where Janis is. His interviews this year are a lot more humble, a lot more "I've got to keep working" and a lot less "I'm just waiting for the ball because I'm ready". We're still waiting for the light to go on, but I think he's finally on the right path.

Armchair sports psychoanalysis.

[Upnorth]

I don't know if we have seen enough to debate one way or another about his route running beyond saying it appears to have somewhat improveD. My question is how are his hands? What has he looked like when a ball is in his vicinity? I have heard no comments or observations either way which screams average to me. Anyone got anything?

[gbgary]

i think i'd rather clark make the team than janis. put josh jones in janis' special teams spot. two games to go to decide.

[ThunderDan]

I don't know if we have seen enough to debate one way or another about his route running beyond saying it appears to have somewhat improveD. My question is how are his hands? What has he looked like when a ball is in his vicinity? I have heard no comments or observations either way which screams average to me. Anyone got anything?

His hands have looked fine but both catches that are being talked about so far this preseason were absolute strikes by Hundley. That deep ball against the Redskins was amazing. Hundley hit Janis absolutely in stride 25 yards down the field into a 3 foot window.

I had 1 complaint against Janis during the game. He ran an out route and was open. The pass was thrown and he didn't come back to the ball to help his QB. He wait for the ball to come to him. Against a starting CB in the NFL that is for sure an incompletion and probably an INT.

[Fritz]

I think this part is speculation. He may work super hard but still have trouble grasping things.
When I first started playing basketball in high school, I had a really difficult time with concepts. I was extremely book smart, but I just couldn't grasp court tactics. It took me well into college (watching relatively constantly) before I started picking up nuances before not caring anymore.

The point is: someone can be passionate about it and work hard at it, but sometimes some concepts are difficult to grasp. That's why people speak about a "light going on" because it suddenly makes sense. I think that's where Janis is. His interviews this year are a lot more humble, a lot more "I've got to keep working" and a lot less "I'm just waiting for the ball because I'm ready". We're still waiting for the light to go on, but I think he's finally on the right path.

Armchair sports psychoanalysis.


Baloney. It's that stupid mustache of his that is holding him back. See, Arod wants to be the only guy on the team with that look, so he doesn"t like Janis and won"t throw to him.