Rookie wideouts thrive on Family Night and LeRoy Butler finally enters the Hall of Fame
Romeo Doubs passes his biggest test yet the same weekend Packers legend LeRoy Butler officially gains induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Good morning!
The weekend brought plenty of good news for the Green Bay Packers. The hype train for the team's rookie wideouts gained even more steam while one of the franchise's all-time greats finally gained induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Leap covers those topics and more in today's newsletter.
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Which play or player stood out to you from Family Night?
Jason B. Hirschhorn: At this point, The Leap can barely go a few days without mentioning Romeo Doubs. The rookie wideout whom Aaron Rodgers recently praised for making "at least one wow play" every practice delivered another highlight during Family Night.
During the one-on-one drills, Doubs got over the top of second-year corner Kiondre Thomas on a vertical route, giving quarterback Jordan Love an open target streaking toward the end zone. Love didn't put quite enough air under the ball, forcing Doubs to fight through contact for the catch. The rookie didn't disappoint, however, hauling in the pass and celebrating with arms stretched toward the sky over his vanquished foe.
Another look at the impressive catch highlights the strength Doubs displayed with Thomas draped over him.
Doubs still has several tests to go, but he passed this latest challenge with flying colors.
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Peter Bukowski: The 54-yard touchdown from Jordan Love to Samori Toure featured three of the touchstone players from Family Night in addition to being a terrific highlight play. There’s the obvious: a beautiful throw from Love amid heavy pressure to a rookie receiver trying to make the roster. Toure split the safety and corner and was running free down the middle of the field when the ball got to him for the walk-in score.
The former Husker was among the standouts from Family Night including another highlight reel play in the end zone in which he made a difficult adjustment to a ball thrown low and outside, away from the defender.
But as the Love haters will be quick to point out, in the regular season, this play probably never happens because Devonte Wyatt demolishes Sean Rhyan off the snap with a wicked spin move. The first-round pick worked his way into the backfield on a handful of occasions and while he’s been off to a bit of a slow start to the summer, the pads just went on and anything in t-shirts doesn’t matter for trench players.
The Packers have yet to play their preseason opener, but already the lack of depth at outside linebacker has become a common refrain at training camp. How concerned should the team feel at this time?
JBH: Even with more than a month remaining before the regular-season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers should have a medium-to-high level of concern about the depth at outside linebacker. Regardless of how durable Rashan Gary and Preston Smith have proven to be during their respective careers, the defense cannot operate with just two viable edge rushers for an entire season. At least one more will have to emerge to take some of the burden off Gary and Smith's shoulders.
In the months since the draft, Kingsley Enagbare seemed well positioned to compete for that role. The rookie enjoyed a highly productive career at South Carolina and, at 6-foot-4 and 258 pounds with nearly 35-inch arms, fit the mold of a Packers edge rusher. Enagbare could still fill that void, but he hasn't provided many flashes during training camp to suggest he will, at least not yet.
That leaves Jonathan Garvin and Randy Ramsey as the other top options, and both present concerns for such a featured role. Garvin has shown potential throughout his career, but the consistency just hasn't manifested to this point. Ramsey remains a favorite of the coaching staff but he started camp on the physically unable to perform list and, shortly after the team activated him, endured another injury to keep him out of practice on Family Night. Ramsey could have the inside track if he can put his health woes behind him, but that has proven to be the biggest challenge of his career so far.
Unless one of those players dramatically improves their trajectory in the near future, the Packers will have to seriously consider veteran options. The list of free agents doesn't look encouraging, and only time will tell whether an appealing option will become available during final cuts.
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PB: There’s no concern, but there is … let’s call it, “unease.” The reason I’m not concerned is because Gary and Smith are a terrific tandem. With a top-flight duo of pass rushers like that, I can’t be concerned. Now, am I concerned about the depth? Yes, but not the group as a whole.
That said, I’m with Jason on the need to bring in a veteran. There are some guys out there who could be cut as well as some players who could be bought out or dealt early in the season (I’m looking at you, Jerry Hughes). This is a perilously thin group right now, but because the guys at the top are so good, it’s not that scary … yet.
Remember, the Whitney Mercilus signing came only after it became clear Za’Darius Smith would be out a while. Luckily, Gary was ready to step into that role, but they lost Mercilus shortly thereafter and played most of the season with what amounted to Gary, Smith, and the Island of Misfit toys at outside linebacker. Sure, trying that again could be playing with fire, but it’s not a bad option considering Gary is getting buzz as a potential DPOY candidate this season.
What we're hearing/seeing
JBH: Among the Packers' personnel concerns, running back ranks near the bottom. Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon form a dangerous, versatile one-two punch on which the offense will lean heavily this season.
But the competition for the likely third spot behind them remains as open as any across the roster. Kylin Hill, the Packers' seventh-round pick from a year ago, remains on the PUP list and seems likely to remain there come the start of the season. That leaves Patrick Taylor as the only experienced option behind the top tandem, though a groin injury kept him on the sidelines for the better part of a week. The third-year pro returned Sunday, but how much work he receives over the upcoming week in practice and Friday's preseason opener remains unclear.
Regardless of how much Taylor plays during the upcoming preseason tilt, the Packers will extensively feature two undrafted rookies during the upcoming preseason opener, Tyler Goodson and B.J. Baylor. Neither has done much to distinguish themselves through the first two weeks of training camp, but either has a clear path to a roster spot, especially if Taylor suffers any setbacks.
Goodson and Taylor bring somewhat different traits to the table. Goodson offers top-shelf athleticism and the ability to operate as an advanced receiver out of the backfield. Meanwhile, Baylor operates more like a traditional tailback and looks like a decent fit for Green Bay's run schemes. At least on paper, each can make a compelling case for a job.
Of course, they have to give the Packers a reason to stick around first. That can start this Thursday against the San Francisco 49ers.
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PB: It’s a good thing Romeo Doubs is showing out because Packers fans might be having terrible FOMO looking around at some of these rookie receivers. Chris Olave has looked as advertised with the Saints.
Alec Pierce looks like he’s going to start and his highlight videos are making the rounds. Ditto for George Pickens in Pittsburgh where a Steelers media friend told me Pickens has been the best receiver in camp and looks like a bona fide future No. 1.
Doubs getting some viral moments of his own helps mute the drum beat of fans with their draft crushes playing well elsewhere, but if Christian Watson can’t get on the field soon and/or struggles when he does get back, we’re going to hear again from the Pierce/Pickens/Olave stans.
Parting shots
JBH: This past weekend, LeRoy Butler entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame. To mark the occasion, I've unlocked the story about the quintessential play of Butler's career. Oh, and it's not the play you think.
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PB: Congratulations to LeRoy Butler who gets into the Hall of Fame a decade too late. He was a generational safety with the accolades to prove it, a vital cog on the best defense in football, one that helped bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Titletown. It’s not just the four first-team All-Pros or the All-Decade Team for the 1990s, Butler redefined the way the position was played.
He wasn’t a big-hitting enforcer, but he was a terrific tackler in run support and would hit guys who came across the middle. Butler didn’t go full Jamal Adams becoming a rush linebacker, but he was the best blitzing safety in the league and one of the best ever.
And while some players’ games would not have aged well into a modern era (looking at you Steve Atwater, who somehow got in before Butler), today’s game actually demands versatile safeties exactly like Butler who can play all over the field.
We’ll also never forget what he did just after Christmas back in 1993 when he scored on a pitch from Reggie White and jumped into the Lambeau Field end zone seats into surprised fans. Somehow that caught on and launched the most iconic celebration in football, maybe in American sports.