DJ Williams

[denverYooper]

In his "Rating the Packers" article McGinn stated:

D.J. Williams (22) was the best tight end.

Reports on him in TC were that he was catching everything coming at him. He has been solid in pretty limited play. Plus, he was the Mackey award winner in college for best receiving TE. Is it time to expand his role in the offense? Could he be the best tight end on the Packers?

[mraynrand]

Just catch the damn ball and run your patterns past the first down marker, that's all I ask. Is that really too much to expect? Is it?

[Patler]

In his "Rating the Packers" article McGinn stated:



Reports on him in TC were that he was catching everything coming at him. He has been solid in pretty limited play. Plus, he was the Mackey award winner in college for best receiving TE. Is it time to expand his role in the offense? Could he be the best tight end on the Packers?

I don't know if he can be their best or not, but when a guy performs well in TC, I think he deserves some opportunities during the year.

[denverYooper]

Just catch the damn ball and run your patterns past the first down marker, that's all I ask. Is that really too much to expect? Is it?

That's mostly what he's done when asked, no? The reliable. not flashy chain movers?

[Harlan Huckleby]

All the way with DJ!

Fresh start with ..... DJ!

[packers11]

How did I know Finley was going to catch so much crap after this game… He didn’t play good at all, but here is the facts. Put me on the field with “Finley” on the back of my jersey, he still gets doubled covered constantly. As soon as he got hurt the packers scored 1 TD in two QTRS. DJ Williams could be the most overrated packer besides James Jones.

Speaking of which, James Jones runs the most lazy routes I have ever seen as a WR. Its not a coincidence that Rodgers always throws INT’s when its towards his way… Oh and Nelson… Overrated as well. He couldn’t get separation from the Colts #2 CB (Powers), who is awful by the way.

Without Jennings and Finley, this offense is suspect…

Why doesn’t Driver get as much crap… He dropped an easy wide open first down catch which the packers had to punt on the next play…

But back on topic and back on my main point.
JF#88 is obviously still struggling. But everyone and their mother still gameplans for him and he sees consistant double coverage because who in gods name would double cover James Jones or DJ Williams? Keep him on the field and hope he works the kinks out.

¼ of the season has passed. I’d rather be 9-7 and win it all with a hot streak in December then 15-1 and lose first round in the playoffs…

JF will not disappoint by years end, I can almost guarantee it...

[denverYooper]

I don't know if he can be their best or not, but when a guy performs well in TC, I think he deserves some opportunities during the year.

This is mostly what I'm getting at. The Packers are often slow to bring new guys along before they fully know the system. Or maybe they have a near fatal level of fidelity to those guys who have worked into the system and played well in the past. They seem married to the idea of using Finley everywhere on the field to generate mismatches even though he continues to be wildly inconsistent. Maybe they just need a guy who can catch the ball, get a first down, put his head down and play ball right now.

.

[Old School]

I think Williams deserves a shot at proving what he did in TC is who he is. When Finley came into the league he was billed as the next great TE. Finley has had more than ample time to play up to the expectations for him. Since then, a half dozen young TE's have come into the league and outperformed him. Being a Twitter celebrity, silly slogans, and running his mouth have never moved the chains or caused Finley to score a point. I can't believe somebody on the team hasn't told him to SHUT UP and let good play do his talking for him. Maybe a week or two being inactive will get through to him.

I'd be happy with a D J Williams who is assignment sure and can hold on to the ball. Just being reliable without being flashy still trumps big talk. At some point Andrew Quarles will figure into the equation too.

[denverYooper]

How did I know Finley was going to catch so much crap after this game… He didn’t play good at all, but here is the facts. Put me on the field with “Finley” on the back of my jersey, he still gets doubled covered constantly. As soon as he got hurt the packers scored 1 TD in two QTRS. DJ Williams could be the most overrated packer besides James Jones.

Speaking of which, James Jones runs the most lazy routes I have ever seen as a WR. Its not a coincidence that Rodgers always throws INT’s when its towards his way… Oh and Nelson… Overrated as well. He couldn’t get separation from the Colts #2 CB (Powers), who is awful by the way.

Without Jennings and Finley, this offense is suspect…

Why doesn’t Driver get as much crap… He dropped an easy wide open first down catch which the packers had to punt on the next play…

But back on topic and back on my main point.
JF#88 is obviously still struggling. But everyone and their mother still gameplans for him and he sees consistant double coverage because who in gods name would double cover James Jones or DJ Williams? Keep him on the field and hope he works the kinks out.

¼ of the season has passed. I’d rather be 9-7 and win it all with a hot streak in December then 15-1 and lose first round in the playoffs…

JF will not disappoint by years end, I can almost guarantee it...

You might very well be right about Finley. I don't deny the guy has talent and that teams do pay attention to him. I fully realize that he *could be* a monster. In a way, he's a microcosm of the offense right now, like the genie in Aladdin: "Phenomenal cosmic powers, itty bitty living space".

[Bossman641]

I think the biggest question with Williams might be how he can hold up as the inline TE. Seems like MM prefers using him as an H-back. Can Williams line up next to the tackle and handle his blocking assignment? But then again, based on McGinn's newest game rating, Finley hasn't seemed very interesting in blocking lately anyways.

[Smidgeon]

I don't know if he can be their best or not, but when a guy performs well in TC, I think he deserves some opportunities during the year.

Donald Driver?

Tell you the truth, that one's confusing me. He seemed to be doing well in TC and preseason. Was that just overreported?

[Bossman641]

Donald Driver?

Tell you the truth, that one's confusing me. He seemed to be doing well in TC and preseason. Was that just overreported?

I feel the opposite. Driver probably has 3 drops on only 8-9 targets. if his name wasn't Donald Driver he would be getting ripped by fans.

[Smidgeon]

Speaking of which, James Jones runs the most lazy routes I have ever seen as a WR. Its not a coincidence that Rodgers always throws INT’s when its towards his way… Oh and Nelson… Overrated as well. He couldn’t get separation from the Colts #2 CB (Powers), who is awful by the way.

And yet James Jones is the only player on the team with more than 1 TD and is tied for the league receiving lead with 5 TDs. His "lazy" routes are getting him open at or near the end zone. He won't maintain the league lead, but he's the most effective WR on the field if you include the ability to score in your evaluation.

Also, Rodgers said the INT to Jones was tipped at the line. So it wasn't Jones either.

[Smidgeon]

I feel the opposite. Driver probably has 3 drops on only 8-9 targets. if his name wasn't Donald Driver he would be getting ripped by fans.

Good observation. I noticed that too. But I guess I subconsciously attributed that to being rusty off the bench. It's not like he played a lot and then was benched because he was dropping passes. I wonder if his decline has been a lot more drastic than what we anticipated. The Packers are basically paying him to be a mentor.

I didn't quite believe in the "Driver won't fall off" hype myself, but I didn't expect him to be off the field this much either. I expected him to have the 2011 Randall Cobb role: ~25 catches on the year.

But to the original point, TC doesn't always demonstrate capability. There have been several instances where Mr. August flunks in October.

[Patler]

...
Put me on the field with “Finley” on the back of my jersey, he still gets doubled covered constantly. As soon as he got hurt the packers scored 1 TD in two QTRS. DJ Williams could be the most overrated packer besides James Jones.
...

JF#88 is obviously still struggling. But everyone and their mother still gameplans for him and he sees consistant double coverage because who in gods name would double cover James Jones or DJ Williams? Keep him on the field and hope he works the kinks out.

I'm not sure that is still the case. A recent article indicated that Finley is no longer getting special attention from defenses, except in the red zone. That is not surprising, and some of us discussed that possibility in the off-season. You only get respect for a short time unless you continue to earn it. Finley is dropping too many easy catches, is not making many of the difficult ones, and has been going down fairly easy after catching the ball. Nothing screams for double coverage in that scenario, as it has now been going on since the start of last season. He will get double coverage in the red zone, because he is a big target. Outside of that, defenses will dare him to beat them. Lately, he hasn't.