With two back-to-back games without any catches, the last reception for Marquez Valdes-Scantling was in week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs in which he had a single reception for 4-yards. MVS was drafted by the Packers in the 5th round of the 2018 NFL Draft and currently has a 4-year contract with the Green Bay Packers worth ~$2.7m — so while the Packers are not heavily invested in the guy, his future with the team is dimmer than ever as his snap count opportunities are rapidly dwindling.
Here is the breakdown of snap percentages for Packers’ wide receivers in Week 9 against the Los Angeles Chargers:
Davante Adams 83%
Allen Lazard 46%
Marquez Valdes-Scantling 69%
Geronimo Allison 65%
Jake Kumerow 24%
Here is the breakdown of snap percentages for Packers’ wide receivers in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers:
Davante Adams 79%
Geronimo Allison 62%
Allen Lazard 44%
Jake Kumerow 34%
Marquez Valdes-Scantling 16%
Despite lining up for 69% of offensive snaps against the Chargers, MVS managed a whopping 0 receptions for, you guessed it, 0 yards. He was only targeted twice that game with Davante Adams targeted 11 times and Allen Lazard targeted the second-most at 4 times.
Here is a breakdown of the top WRs and their catch percentage so far this season:
Davante Adams 68.4%
Allen Lazard 75%
Geronimo Allison 62.2%
Jake Kumerow 62.5%
Marquez Valdes-Scantling 52.4%
While there was some talk last season about his ability to create matchup problems for defenses, this just has not been the case this season. One thing is becoming more and more certain: Aaron Rodgers just doesn’t trust the guy as much as his other receivers and it is hard to blame him. Even in the absence of WR1 Davante Adams due to injury, Rodgers barely targeted MVS at all and he certainly does not now that Adams is back on the field in full form.
Things were looking up for MVS after the week 7 game against the Oakland Raiders in which he only had 2 receptions but a total of 133-yards and a TD because of a 74-yard reception in the 4th quarter. However, it is important to note that this catch came late in the game after the Packers had a very safe lead over the Raiders.
At this point, Allen Lazard has passed MVS on the Packers depth chart at WR3. Even the most hardcore Packer fan should not be holding onto this guy on their fantasy team. It also seems that having Jake Kumerow at WR2 is more of a seniority thing than being based on actual performance as Lazard is proving to be the true WR2 at the moment. Despite Lazard’s ability and entertaining catches, he really shouldn’t be this high up in the depth chart right now — the front office obviously has some work to do on this in the upcoming offseason.
Thankfully, Rodgers also has superstar RB Aaron Jones as a reliable target, but as the playoffs draw closer, the need to keep Jones healthy and not over-utilized is stronger than ever. Within the division, the Minnesota Vikings are currently burning their top RB, Dalvin Cook, at both ends and that is likely to burn them in the end.