Getty Wide receiver Malik Turner #17 of the Seattle Seahawks rushes against safety Jalen Thompson #34 of the Arizona Cardinals at CenturyLink Field on December 22, 2019 in Seattle, Washington.
The Green Bay Packers are taking a second look at a young NFL wideout who took part in their rookie minicamp during the 2018 offseason.
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, the Packers hosted former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Malik Turner for a visit on Friday, potentially looking to supplement the position group after free-agent signee Devin Funchess opted out of the 2020 season.
The Packers had WR Malik Turner in for a visit today, per source. Was with the Seahawks last year.
Turner caught 15 passes for 245 yards and his first-career touchdown during the 2019 season for Seattle, despite playing in just 22 percent of offensive snaps. Unfortunately, the 24-year-old wideout also began to struggle with drops late in the season, including a devasting fourth-quarter drop against the Packers during the NFC divisional-round game.
Turner was invited to the Packers’ rookie minicamp as a tryout player in 2018 after going undrafted out of the University of Illinois, where he was teammates with former Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison. He was unable to secure a spot on the Packers’ offseason roster and ended up signing as an undrafted free agent with the Seahawks just before training camp.
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Turner Could Add Competition to WR Group
The Packers wouldn’t find a replacement for Funchess if they signed Turner, but they would add another young receiver who, despite some flaws, would be perfectly capable of pushing some of their returning wide receivers for a roster spot.
While Funchess was the only notable offseason addition at the position for the Packers, they are bringing back several players second- and third-year players who they expect will take the next step in their development in 2020, including Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown and Jake Kumerow.
Turner’s underwhelming career production might cause some to scoff, but there is no reason to think he couldn’t challenge any one of them for their spot, especially if he fixes his issue with dropped passes. And when you consider his remaining competition would be a former CFL player, an undrafted rookie and two practice-squad holdovers, the odds don’t look too bad for him if the Packers decide to sign him for camp.
Turner proved he possesses the skill and speed to compete at a high level during his four-year career at Illinois, where he finished with the ninth-most receptions (143) and receiving yards (1,804) despite the Illini averaging just four wins per season over his career. The only question now is whether his next chance will arrive in Green Bay or someplace else.
How Many Receivers Will Packers Keep for 2020?
The Packers struggled to get consistent production out of their receiver not named Davante Adams during the 2019 season, even though there were some bright spots.
Valdes-Scantling seemed destined for the No. 2 role after nearly reaching 500 receiving yards by the season’s midpoint, but he completely vanished within the depth chart and seldom made an impact whenever he did reappear. Lazard, on the other hand, seemed to appear out of nowhere and offer the Packers an exciting new receiving target, but even his consistency waned at times when the offense needed a jolt.
Now, both Valdes-Scantling and Lazard would seem to be locks for the 2020 roster given their combination of speed, skill and experience, but the subtraction of Funchess raises some questions about what will happen behind them on the depth chart. Equanimeous St. Brown would make sense as the next-retained given how high the Packers were on him before his year-ending injury last preseason, but that still only makes four.
A fair guess would be for the Packers to keep six wide receivers on their initial 53-man roster, especially with more fluidity between the active roster and practice squad this season (to deal with COVID-19-related injuries). Jake Kumerow should be able to leverage his experience in the system into grabbing one of those spots, but that would still leave a wide-open race for the sixth spot between Reggie Begelton, Malik Taylor, Darrius Shepherd and Darrell Stewart.
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