Packers: Five players to watch during preseason 2019
By Evan Siegel
2. Marquez Valdes-Scantling
The Packers selected three receivers in last year’s draft, two of which showed some promise in their rookie seasons. Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown each had flashes of extreme ability over the course of the season.
But make no mistake about it; Valdes-Scantling is the one to be excited about. He has tremendous downfield speed and made a number of impressive catches against tight coverage over the course of the season.
The Packers need Valdes-Scantling to establish himself as a dependable number two receiver. Defenses are going to pay more and more attention to Davante Adams, and will take their chances with the two largely unproven sophomore receivers. Valdes-Scantling has the preseason to earn Matt LaFleur’s trust as a dependable deep threat and consistent downfield receiver that the team missed last year after the departure of Jordy Nelson.
Geronimo Allison‘s production can come and go with extreme inconsistency. The Packers badly need one more vertical threat to at least give Adams some one-on-one opportunities and continue to have such a lethal connection with Aaron Rodgers. The Packers surprisingly ignored the receiver position in the draft, focusing on the defense and the line of scrimmage on offense.
The pressure is on Valdes-Scantling to assert himself.