For some reason, Allen Lazard is one the Packers fanbase’s favorite whipping boys.
He’s the Rodney Dangerfield of the Packers – he gets no respect.
Allen Lazard came into the league as an undrafted free agent and spent a year earning the trust of Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers, a master of his craft, his probably the hardest quarterback in the league to earn the trust of.
Then, in his first extended action, playing only because of a Davante Adams injury, he made big time clutch plays like this.
You know that stat about how the Packers are undefeated under LaFleur when Adams is out?
Lazard is one of the reasons why.
He’s stepped up again and again, doing whatever is asked of him.
Short routes, deep routes, blocking – he does it all.
You want him to catch the ball? His career catch rate of 68.6% is above Davante Adams’s 66.1%.
You want him to get yards? His career yards per catch of 13.3 is a full yard higher than Davante Adams’s 12.1.
You want him to score? His 12.8% touchdown rate is better than Adams’s 10.9%.
You want him to make big plays? His career long reception of 72 yards is longer than Davante Adams’s 66.
Does this make him better than Davante Adams?
Of course not, but it shows that he’s not just a guy.
He’s not going to challenge for the title of best receiver in the league while facing every team’s best cornerback.
But that doesn’t mean he’s bad. Really, only Adams and Cooper Kupp are doing that right now.
Still, some people say that Lazard doesn’t have the physical ability to be a good receiver. They say he’s just a big blocking receiver.
I don’t know why being big or being a good blocker is a bad thing, but if we look at their measurable physical skills, we see that Lazard absolutely has the physical ability.
Just look at Allen Lazard’s RAS score (a composite rating for Combine measureables) of 8.58 (link).
Davante Adams has a 6.53 (link). Cooper Kupp had a score of 5.0 (link).
There really isn’t anything to knock Allen Lazard on.
The one thing he’s guilty of is going undrafted.
It seems a lot of fans fall back to the idea that he’s “just a guy” because he went undrafted. His success in the league still hasn’t shaken a lot of people’s initial view of him as an UDFA.
That’s too bad, because Lazard has done nothing but get better and better since coming into the league.
He has done everything that has been asked on him.
And this year, the Packers will ask more.
He has the trust of Aaron Rodgers and Brian Gutekunst and is turning heads at training camp.
There is no reason not think Allen Lazard won’t be a solid receiver for the Packers.
Want to learn more!?
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Check out our PFTW 2022 Mock Draft Archive to see how other scenarios played out!
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