Jordy Nelson caught 98 passes for 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. Now he’s not even playing? Tears an ACL on a non-contact injury. That’s unprecedented. Almost unprecedented, that is.
I got out the numbers started looking for other great receivers who hadn’t even played following a great season.
You have to go back 20 years to find anything similar, and oddly it’s the same team.
Sterling Sharpe, recall, was about the best receiver in the game at that time. In the 1994 season, he caught 94 passes for 1,119 yards and 15 TDs. When you adjust for how the game has changed, those are even better numbers than Nelson.
But Sharpe suffered a neck injury, and that kept him from ever playing again.
The Packers ended up being OK in that 1995 season. They plugged in Robert Brooks, and he put up some pretty incredible numbers – 102 receptions for 1,497 yards and 13 TDs.
The current-day Packers have a cupboard that’s far from bare. They have Randall Cobb, who’s an established and dynamic receiver. He’ll probably catch 100-plus passes. They also have a pair of second-year players who are ready to do a lot more in the passing game. Davante Adams looked very good at times late last year, and tight end Richard Rodgers should be more involved this season.
—Ian Allan