Green Bay If you can picture him lined up like a wide receiver, bending linebackers' ankles with his crossover moves and jumping over cornerbacks to snare jump balls, then introduce yourself to the highlight reel that has been running over and over in Jermichael Finley's head since the 2009 season ended.
In the playoff loss to Arizona, the speedy Finley made his statement about how productive he can be playing multiple positions in the Green Bay Packers' offense, catching six passes for a career-high 159 yards.
The 6-5, 247-pound Finley was regularly spread out wide or in the slot in a receiver's two-point stance, drawing one-on-one match-up advantages against linebackers, corners and safeties, and double coverage in most instances. It is a role he not only embraces, but one he focused on all off-season.
"I just worked on more receiving skills on the outside, two-point stances," Finley said during a break at training camp. "That's all I really worked on. I think I'm better in a two-point because I get to observe everything. Hopefully, I can talk to the coaches to do more two-point out there than get down and block."
As good as Finley was playing the role of Donald Driver and Greg Jennings last year, he's not going to get his wish to play standing up all the time. Not in coach Mike McCarthy's offense, anyway.
The coaches want Finley to improve his blocking so that he can be as effective in-line as spread out. One very prominent observer echoed that sentiment in assessing how effective Finley was at both spots.
"I think most of the stuff we did with him was out of a three-point stance," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "We have plenty of plays when he's in-line and he has a Z (flanker) outside of him, and we can run combination routes and different things. There's definitely more that we can do with him and will do with him as he becomes a better blocker, which he has. We'll see more options off him."
Finley's point, however, is: Look at the playoff game.
Of the roughly 60 times he lined up (penalty play or not), he was split out wide or stationed in the slot 39 times or about two-thirds of his snaps.
The Packers, meanwhile, had their most productive game of the season, totaling 45 points and 493 yards, 404 of which came through the air. Of the Packers' six touchdowns, four were thrown by Rodgers, all at the end of sustained drives.
Speaking to Rodgers' point that Finley is just as effective playing in-line as split out, the tight end caught passes of 17, 33 and 38 yards while in-line. But he also caught passes of 44, 18 and 9 yards while split out, and just as important was the effect he had on the rest of the offense.
What the numbers don't show is how much other receivers benefited when he lined up outside. Perhaps the best example was Rodgers' near miss in the first quarter when he overthrew a wide-open Jennings.
Finley, lined up at the inside slot position with Jennings to his left and James Jones split wide, was the one who drew safety help on the play, allowing Jennings to run straight down the field in man-to-man coverage. That ball fell incomplete, but it was just one play that Finley affected.
In general, when Rodgers spotted a mismatch with Finley, he tried to exploit it and, when he was doubled, he generally went somewhere else.
"It gives us an opportunity to go inside and match up differently," Driver said of the receivers. "Sometimes if the corner decides he wants to stay out and guard him, then it puts a receiver on a linebacker or a safety. That's a bad combination on both parts. How do you stop us? You can't."
Driver said he considers Finley part of the receiving group not only because of where he lines up, but also because of the connection he has with the others in the passing game. Finley is a solid route runner with a growing knowledge of the West Coast offense, so his potential to open things up for others is great.
One thing the Packers haven't explored much are the stack formations that bugged their own defense in the playoff loss. Stacking receivers together makes it more difficult to play man-to-man defense and allows receivers to rub off one another and avoid safety help.
"We have a little bit more where we're stacking outside, everybody is wide," Driver said. "That's what we needed. Jermichael can clear through the middle and take everyone with him and we break off him. Or I take the middle and Jermichael comes around off me. It's just one of those combination things that everybody has a different position.
"They're starting to spread us around to give us all an opportunity to get open."
The Packers will never use Finley solely as a split receiver because, as Rodgers said, there are good matchups and effective route combinations they can run when Finley is lined up at tight end. As the Arizona game showed however, there are ways to force the defense into coverage that benefits Finley, and so he'll continue to be motioned out of the backfield or from side to side.
How far it goes will depend on the opponent and how good of a lobbyist Finley is.
"They're going to work something," Finley said. "We're in a West Coast offense; we just need to pass the ball every down if we could. No disrespect to the running backs, but we have to roll with what we got, what's strong right now.
"I'll do whatever I have to do, especially the two-point. I'm ready to go."