Marquez Valdes-Scantling is starting his fourth NFL season in 2021 and the former South Florida star is at a crossroads in his career. In three years, he has proven he can use his speed to be a dangerous deep threat. But he has yet to find the consistency he needs to become a top-notch number two receiver in the NFL. This year at training camp, MVS has shown signs that he may be ready to take a big leap forward.
Last season was the best of Valdes-Scantling’s career so far. He led the league (among qualified receivers) with a 20.9-yard average per catch. He also scored six touchdowns, more than the four he caught in his first two NFL campaigns combined. He also had 690 receiving yards, a new career best.
Valdes-Scantling showed he was one of the league’s best deep threats. With his elite speed, he was able to beat almost any corner downfield to create big plays. Four of his six touchdowns were on long passes including scores of 45, 52, 72 and 78 yards.
But despite these accomplishments, MVS still struggled with consistency. His catch percentage was just 52.4 percent. While that was his career best, it was still a far cry from where you want a receiver to be. By comparison, Allen Lazard had a catch percentage of 71.7 percent while Davante Adams was at 77.2 percent. Running back Aaron Jones had a catch percentage of 74.3 percent while tight end Robert Tonyan had an impressive 88.1 percent catch percentage.
According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, Valdes-Scantling dropped seven passes last season or roughly one of every nine passes thrown his way. That was the second highest drop total out of all the receivers who were targeted at least 60 times in 2020. The Packers need to see more consistency and fewer drops from MVS if he is to become a more consistent pass catcher. He also needs to be more precise with his routes.
There were positive signs in the postseason. In the Packers two playoff games, Valdes-Scanting caught eight total passes and had 115 yards and a touchdown in the NFC Championship Game against the Buccaneers. The touchdown came on a 50-yard strike from Aaron Rodgers that tied the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter.
In training camp this season, MVS seems to be getting more consistent. Packers wide receivers coach Jason Vrable has been pleased with what MVS has done so far this summer.
“People were talking about that the other day,” Vrable told reporters. “They’re like, ‘Man, I almost feel like he hasn’t dropped a ball.’ We always keep track of drops, but with him, I think it’s just confidence in our system and confidence in himself.”
Vrable added, “He’s just really confident right now, he’s playing at a high level. He’s in attack mode at all times. Typically, when you’re confident, you trust yourself. Things just start going in the direction that you want and that’s what I see with him. He’s worked at a lot of things that he wanted to get better at as opposed to pushing those away. He’s bought into the saying, ‘Whatever my weakness was, I’m going to make it my strength,’ and he’s bought into that type of coaching. He’s done a great job. I’m really pleased with him.”
The Packers are hoping MVS takes his game to the next level this season. Many Packers fans may recall that Davante Adams also struggled early in his career. In his first two seasons, Adams had catch percentages of 57.6 and 53.2. He had issues with consistency, running precise routes and holding on to the football. Many fans were ready to right Adams off as a bust.
But in 2016, Adams’ catch percentage went up by nearly 10 percent over the previous season. He caught 75 passes for 997 yards and 12 touchdowns and established himself as one of the team’s best and most reliable pass catchers. A year later, he made the first of what are so far four straight Pro Bowl appearances.
Obviously, MVS may never become as consistent as Adams who is now considered by many to be the best receiver in the NFL. But if Valdes-Scantling can become more consistent while remaining a dangerous deep threat, he can take his game to another level and give the Packers a more dangerous weapon opposite Adams.
If Valdes-Scantling can become more consistent and add a set of short and medium patterns to his route tree, he can give the Packers a higher level WR2 opposite Adams and an even better receiving corps than the one they had in 2020. He can also take his own career to the next level and establish himself as a bona fide starting wide receiver in the NFL.
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