Can the Packers expect more out of Marquez Valdes-Scantling?

After a solid performance against the 49ers, should the Packers expect more from MVS?

Marquez Valdes-Scantling may be the most polarizing player on the Green Bay Packers. It seems like you either love him or hate him, there is no in-between. He has certainly shown flashes but also has his fair share of blunders.

The Packers drafted MVS in the fifth round of the 2018 draft and had a decent rookie year that seemed to be a solid building block for his career before having a very disappointing 2019 season.

MVS has legit sprinter speed but seems to struggle with creating separation and also seems good for at least one drop a game. Last Thursday’s game against the 49ers is no different where he dropped his first target of the game, before bouncing back to finish with two touchdowns.

This was the first multi-touchdown game in Valdes-Scantling’s career and while he only had two catches in the game, both of them being touchdowns is a huge positive to take from it. One question that always comes up whenever the WR is brought up is that Aaron Rodgers seems to not have trust in him.

I actually find this to be a somewhat unfair assessment. Rodgers is always speaking glowingly of Marquez, who seems to do all the right things in practice but just can’t always get it right when he’s on the field.

Whether people like it or not, he is most likely still going to be on the team for next year. His contract runs through the end of next year and cutting him just doesn’t make sense if you don’t have a replacement, which seems to be the case in Green Bay.

Also, while Allen Lazard is still out, Valdes-Scantling will continue to get at least some targets. He only received a total of four against San Fransisco but if he continues to play well, expect that number to grow a little bit more each week.

Matt LaFleur seems to love getting Valdes-Scantling a few deep play-action shots a game as well so expect those to keep coming. With Lazard coming back soon, that may open things up for MVS a little more as well. Lazard is the clear-cut number two WR when he is in the lineup which will then bring less attention to MVS.

So can the Packers expect more out of the third-year WR? We will have to wait and see. At this point, Valdes-Scantling may be who he has been, which is a pretty inconsistent deep-threat. However, I feel that he had a confidence-building game last Thursday and that another good game could do wonders for the young receiver.