The Green Bay Packers wide receiver room looks a lot thinner with Jayden Reed out of the picture. They wanted to consolidate the targets in the offense, and now it has backfired with a room that does not have much to offer beyond their top two. Fortunately for them, the injury might give them a chance to lean more into their depth at tight ends.
Matt Schneidman of The Athletic talked about the chances of newly acquired tight end Jonnu Smith being one of the big beneficiaries of the Reed injury. At the very least, he sees tight end as the group that needs more work.
“We know Jonnu Smith can catch passes; he has done it in his career before he did it a little bit against the Vikings,” said Schneidman. “The yards after a catch might be an issue, but they’re going to need a couple of guys to pick up the slack with Reed out…
“Where my eyes go, when you say, ‘How can we make up those Jayden Reed snaps are a little more Skyy Moore, but also more targets for Tucker Kraft and Jonnu Smith. I don’t even look at the wide receiver room that much.”
Smith has played 45 offensive snaps for the Packers and has two catches for 50 yards.
Green Bay Packers Plan to Use Jonnu Smith More
The Packers have wanted to lean into being a multiple tight end team. They drafted Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave in the same draft. With Musgrave out, the team went out and acquired Smith, who has 3,579 career yards.
The team also acquired Mark Redman before the cut-down days, to give them a third tight end. Through two weeks, they rank seventh in the number of 12-personnel they run, which means two tight ends and one running back. They are seventh in the number of 13-personnel they run, which is three tight ends and one running back.
Meanwhile, they were 21st in 11-personnel, which is three wide receivers. So, the team was already leaning into this being their preferred set. Without Reed, they will lean in heavier.
Packers Have Role for Smith
Smith is a former third-round pick, going 100th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. Now, he is in his tenth NFL season. Smith spent his first four seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He had 114 receptions for 1,302 yards in his first four years.
He had 448 yards in his last season, which led the New England Patriots to give him a big contract. He spent two years in New England and caught 55 passes for 539 yards.
He signed with the Atlanta Falcons on a one-year deal and caught 50 passes for 582 yards that season. Then next year, he went to the Miami Dolphins and had a career-high 88 receptions for 884 yards.
Last year, he was with Aaron Rodgers on the Pittsburgh Steelers but only caught 38 passes for 222 yards.
His cap hit is just $2M this year. However, he has made over $55M in his NFL career.
Packers Could Unleash $55M Veteran After Jayden Reed Injury