It's quite understandable that Boykin had more trust from the staff than Janis. Janis quite clearly has much more of an upside but small college to the pros is a huge jump. I expect to see a huge jump, after having a year in the program, from Janis this year.

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I love Abbrederis, I still hope he makes it.

But this MOntgomery kid has skills.

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I wouldn't be surprised to see six wide receivers on the team and two on the practice squad, if someone else doesn't grab them. I see a good dose of 5 wide coming this year, at least that is my hope.

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Unless there's injury to either Abby, Janis or our "Big 3" I would all but guarantee 6 WR's make this team, and possibly 7.

Montgomery is a lock...he makes 4 locks. We didn't want to lose Janis on the PS so we rostered him, so I can't see how he doesn't make it again. He makes 5. I'm sure the org felt they got a steal in Abbrederis and want to see what he has to offer, so I can't see him going. That's 6.

Are we really going to cut a guy like Pinkard or Coxson if they light it up in pre-season? I'd rather have 7 WR's and have Montgomery/Cobb as the emergency RB's than to lose a STUD WR. Jordy is closing toward his end. A few more and he's done.

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I also wouldn't mind keeping 7 WRs. Didn't we keep 5 WRs and 5 TEs a couple of years ago? So 7 WRs and 3 TEs is not out of line at all.

The thing that got me about Janis - and various other seemingly talented young players - Jayrone Elliot comes to mind the most - is that talented young players on other teams, particularly wideouts, don't get basically red-shirted. They get their experience on the field. McCarthy and the Packers are exceptionally prone to being overly cautious that way.

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We did carry an obscene amount of TEs not too long ago.

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I just read that Janis got some time with 1s today. Even capped off a 2 minute drill with a TD catch from Rodgers.

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I think they carried 5 one year. Of course that was with only 2 QBs, 1 FB, and probably only 7 O-linemen.

It will be interesting to see how it shakes out but I think they keep 3 QBs and possibly 2 FBs putting roster spots at a premium.

Here’s some of the things Janis needs to get down before he can play effectively, the measurables/talent are only 10% of being a WR:

1. Where he has to go whether WR is playing r, h, x, y or z.

2. The time he needs to be at a certain spot [EG if he's third read in progression, he often will need to delay his move for separation to a certain spot and/or time].

3. How 1 and 2 change depending on the alignment of the D [After a play is called, routes often change depending on whether, EG, the D shows, EG, a cover 0, 1, 2 or 3 look].

4. How 1 and 2 change if D makes pre-snap adjustments [The D may show, EG, a cover 2 and then drop a safety in box, this will often change the routes of the WRs].

5. How 1 and 2 change if D adjusts after snap [The D may show, EG, a Cover 2 and then at the snap transition to a Cover 3 by dropping a safety into the hook zone, this will often change the routes of the WRs].

6. How 1 and 2 change if there's a blitz [If the D blitzes of routes are shortened and or otherwise adjusted and this may have several variable depending whether the blitzer is a CB, a S, a LB and/or whether a DLman drops into coverage].

7. When running his route the way the CB plays him can change whether he does, EG, a stop and go, aback shoulder, dig, come back, etc.

8. Often the after snap movement of the safety will similarly cause an alteration of the route.

9. If AR audibles to run, WR needs to know his blocking assignment and this can change depending on the alignment, last second shift or unexpected movement of D after snap.

ETC.

After getting all this down, Janis needs to understand what AR sees and when. EG, if the play calls for Janis to set up for a back shoulder if CB stays on top and flips his hips, Janis needs to process EXACTLY WHEN AR will see this movement. If AR is looking for the flip in 1.5 seconds and Janis not seeing the flip at 1 second runs a go; the play fails.

If Janis runs his route wrong, it probably will sabotage the entire play. The route trees and progressions are designed to account for the D’s reaction. EG, Read one slant left is jumped by box safety; read two TE deep right seem is doubled by CB and deep safety; read three Janis on shallow cross needing only to beat CB that had outside leverage and should be wide open. But if Janis aint there or not there at the appropriate time, AR takes a hit from the DL. The entire play is sabotaged by one wrong route.

And then there’s the obvious like Cobb in champ game; where Cobb curled up instead of continuing his shallow cross and Maxwell INTed.

The coaches work w/ these guys every day. Over a period of time Janis gets reps w/ various QBs in camp and probably a few from AR. The tape is broken down, he's assigned a grade and it is explained what he did wrong/right on each play. Note: he doesn't have to get ball to be graded on his route running.

Over several other periods of time, he gets X # more reps and the same grading is done...and this occurs probably 1x per week each week.

If during one week Janis ran 38 of 40 routes perfect for Flynn, AR would develop trust. And he get more reps w/ AR. Remember practice time is limited; each rep is precious and most cant be used on a guy who's not gonna play.

Bennett can even test him as they're walking to the parking lot [Jeff you're playing "H in 2x2" in a flip left double-Z Omaha jet 619 619 Blue five Z Thirds naked waggle on 2 and the Will moves to LOS 2 feet outside of weakside T; explain your route reads and adjustments on those reads"]. ESPN reported that when questioned like this Janis would routinely clutch his left arm, drop to ground and fake a heart attack-LOL j/k of course].

Now, it gets very simple, if Janis dont get this in practice he's not going to play; if he gets it in practice he will play. He may even play if his acumen is slightly below another WR; but his charted grades are improving steadily upward at a more rapid rate.

Note: MM said Janis' catch radius was not that good as well. This means the ball has to be more perfect than for other WRs to catch the ball. This becomes really critical on shorter inside routes, where the less than perfect pass instead of being caught by Jordy or Cobb bounces off Janis hands for an INT.

And as has been mentioned, even if Janis is a little better than WR #4; but WR 4 is better at special teams, Janis sits.

My main agenda in starting this thread was to complain a little bit about the lack of use of Janis last season and to express the STRONG hope that situation will be remedied this year with the coaching changes on offense.

I hear crap about Janis can't play because he went to a small college, etc.. A lot of small colleges play just as sophisticated passing offense as major colleges - and some major colleges play less.

Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, and Terrell Owens all came from small or mid-major colleges, not to mention Greg Jennings. I don't remember any of them getting extended periods of inactivity for games. Other teams tend to let their rookies get experience on the field, not the bench.

The whole long laundry list in the previous post of what Janis can't do/needs to learn/whatever strikes me as nothing more than lame excuses. What Janis showed on the field in limited playing time in the preseason belies these "can'ts" and "needs". At very least, his speed and size should have made him an asset on special teams.

I'm generally satisfied with McCarthy's coaching, although he'd have to be pretty bad to not win with Aaron Rodgers playing. Just the same, this aspect - slowness to put young players on the field/seniority system/whatever is a hole in his game. Janis is far from the only case of that. Elliot, Tolzien, Barrington early on, maybe Goodson if he really has some talent, maybe Pennell, Starks early in his career, etc.

The few exceptions to this tendency have been fairly successful - Bakhtiari and Linsley (and O Line supposedly requires more learning that WR or most defensive positions), Richard Rodgers etc.

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