Packers Blueprint - Wide Receivers

[kccrow]

I was tooling around on the interwebs... so I decided to take a look at the Packers' receiving corps because of their obvious success running the West Coast offense.

What did I find? I'll start with what you might not expect. For starters, not a single receiver was drafted in the first round of the draft, with the highest selection being #36. Secondly, lack of top-end speed, which inexplicably seems to be high on everyone's wish list. In fact, only 2 of their receivers run faster than 4.5, one at 4.46 and one at 4.42. Only one of those 2 received a significant number of snaps, the one that ran 4.46. A third thing is that there is a wide range of verticals, but only half boast a vertical leap over 34 inches, with only 1 of them seeing significant snaps.

What we should expect is another story, and perhaps should shed some light on what is important in running an effective WCO. All of the receivers had a 3-cone of 7.12 seconds or less. Most are in the 6'1" to 6'3" range. In fact, only 1 is under 6'1" at 5'10" although that player was second on the team in receptions. What may be most important is that all showed in college they were comfortable catching balls in traffic and continue to do so in the pros except for 1, who didn't catch balls in college. Another is that no receiver is under 190 pounds, which helps with durability.

Now, I know this isn't the end-all-be-all to the receiver position, but the story is telling. So if a WCO has proven to be successful with players you expect to see in a WCO, why doesn't Reid tend to get these types? I have relayed in the past that Reid has never been a guy to carry too many big receivers, instead relying mostly on receivers with some speed to them that are 6'0" to 6'1". Reid has taken his share of receivers that run close to 4.40 or even lower. Why no love for the quick, but not so fast, bigger receivers that catch the ball in traffic extremely well? I don't get it with Reid, he's difficult to put a finger on.

The receiver that seems to fit Reid to a T is Ohio State's Devin Smith. 6'0" with speed to burn (he'll likely run in the 4.3s). While we are all salivating over guys like Kevin White and DeVante Parker, Reid goes against the grain.