After a year on the sidelines and no preseason action to speak of, we all knew Jordy Nelson wasn’t going to walk out onto the field be the dominant receiver he was in 2014. That’s clearly played out in the first two weeks of the season.
Nelson opened with six catches for a meager 32 yards in week 1. That was a Richard Rodgers-like 5.3 yards per reception. He improved that dramatically in week 2, catching five balls for 73 yards, a 14.6 average.
On paper, that looks nice, but it wouldn’t if had Nelson not had a 39-yarder in the mix. The point is, Jordy is catching balls, but he’s not blowing by guys like he used to.
That 39-yard reception came when he went up and over the cornerback. There was no separation on the play. Will that separation, that speed ever return?
We certainly hope so. Nelson says he’s getting better every week, which at least statistically appears to be correct.
“This Sunday was better than the week before,” Nelson said. “As long as that continues, I’ll be excited. I felt really good out there in Minnesota. I felt like I ran quite a bit and never got too winded. The couple times I did come out, it was mainly because I was 50 yards downfield and it would take me a while to get back to the line of scrimmage. That was encouraging for myself, and I think that will continue to grow, and I want to be back to where I can play every snap possible that’s out there and take advantage of those opportunities.”
The important thing here isn’t whether Nelson plays every snap, it’s what he does with those snaps. The Packers have no deep passing game to speak of and since Mike McCarthy will only play three receivers, Nelson is clearly the key to reviving that part of the offense.
Nelson needs to start beating guys like he used to. If he doesn’t, the only way we see the passing game getting any better is if the Packers change up the types of plays they run. Instead of relying on receivers to beat coverage, they use formations and routes to get their receivers in space.
That, of course, is a long shot too. We harped on the Packers to do that most of last season when Nelson was out and for whatever reason, they very rarely did.
So no pressure, but it’s all up to you Jordy.