Gallup is going into year 3, in which WRs are supposed to click, coming off a 1K yard season.
This why the thought of taking a WR at 17 makes me sick.
It really depends what our offense looks like. If we make up our minds to really feature the #3 WR, a late 1st rounder isn't too high a resource to spend there.
If you flip through the stat sheets on McCarthy's Packers teams during his time there, I noticed something: if the cupboard was bare at TE, he was fine treating them as an afterthought instead of force-feeding them as many targets as superior WR weapons.
When we hired McCarthy, there was a lot of chatter on the board about how he likes to feature the TE so we better go get a good one. But that's not exactly the case when you look at his time in Green Bay.
For years in Dallas, we featured a TE so much that he was more prominent than our #2 WR. McCarthy basically never did that ever (except the year he was fired). And when our TE wasn't featured more than the #2, he was usually more prominent than--or at the very least, at least roughly equal to--our 3rd WR. That's VERY rare in McCarthy's offenses in Green Bay. They usually featured a trio of WRs and the TE was an afterthought after them. We might have benefited from that mindset in 2019 if we hadn't been so locked-in on force-feeding Witten that we gave our broken-down old TE the same number of targets as we gave a much better weapon in our #3 WR.
Here's a season-by-season look at the usage of TEs in McCarthy's passing game during his time in Green Bay...
2006 - The Packers' top TE, Bubba Franks, was their 5th leading receiver with only 232 yards receiving on 25 catches with zero TD. 3 WRs and a RB ranked ahead of him as a receiving weapon.
2007 - Top TE Donald Lee was their 4th leading receiver with 575 yards (on 48 catches with 6 TD), behind a strong trio of WRs who were each given starting WR workloads. The receivers ahead of him got 122 targets, 84 targets, and 80 targets. Lee was targeted only 63 times. So their 3rd WR got a workload equivalent to a starting #2 WR, while the top TE was an appreciable rung lower on the ladder.
2008 - TE Donald Lee was again their 4th leading receiver behind 3 WR, this time with only 303 yards. Backup TEs chipped in 162 and 74 yards. Bad year for the TE position in that offense. Worth mentioning that the team added Jordy Nelson to the mix despite already being 3-deep at WR. So they now had 4 legit WR in Jennings, Driver, James Jones, and Nelson. Jennings and Driver got 140 and 116 targets. That's a lot. Nelson was targeted 54 times. TE Lee was targeted only 50 times.
2009 - For the first time in McCarthy's tenure, the TE becomes showcased enough to rank third in receiving yards. TE Jermichael Finley got 676 yards and 5 TDs on 72 targets and 55 catches. The two WR behind him, Jordy Nelson and James Jones, were both good, so they weren't hurting for weapons at WR. They just decided to feature the TE more. TE Donald Lee chipped in 260 yards and was targeted 54 times (more than Jordy Nelson and almost as much as James Jones, the #3 WR) himself. Lot of TE usage this year despite being so stacked at WR.
2010 - This was their Super Bowl winning season (though not a division-winning one -- probably thanks to losing Finley). TE Jermichael Finley only played 5 games this year, with 303 yards, and he *still* got more receiving yards than their next TE who played 13 games. Yikes, that's bad. So clearly the TE position went down the crapper after Finley. Their leading TEs finished behind 4 WRs and a RB in receiving yardage. Of course, with 4 starting-caliber WRs, they were able to weather the storm.
2011 - Jermichael Finley is plays 16 games, and he is the 3rd leading receiver behind the top two wideouts. 767 yards on a whopping 92 targets. He averaged 13.9 yards per catch, which is great for a TE. Real showcase season for Finley. (Though interesting that, at this high-water mark, he's still not more prominent in their offense than their #2 WR. McCarthy's offenses just didn't go there like some offenses with weapons at TE do.) Finished ahead of James Jones and Donald Driver in targets, catches, yards, and TDs. Worth mentioning that Randall Cobb was also in the fold this year as a rookie, with 31 targets and 375 yards despite obviously never starting a game and being at the bottom of the depth chart. They were legitimately 5-deep at WR this season. So many weapons at WR and one really good one at TE. Their backup TEs were basically non-existent, managing single-digit catches and less than a hundred yards, but that's understandable when you have 5 great WRs. Not surprisingly, with all those weapons, this was a banner year for their QBs. Rodgers threw 4600 yards, 45 TDs and only 6 INT. 9.2 yards per attempt. BONKERS. A passer rating of 122.5. And would you believe their backup QB had an even higher rating with 124.8? Matt Flynn threw for 500 yards and 6 TDs against 2 INT, given only one start. He threw 10 yards per attempt. Small sample size, but it earned him the contract he fetched on the open market. This is why teams usually pay handsomely to keep their QB from exploring the market, because the market is crazy. The open market will almost always pay your QB more than you would have, even if your QB is a product of your system and only really that useful to your team.
2012 - Finley is back to being their 4th leading receiver behind 3 WRs with 667 yards and only 2 TDs. No 1000 yard receivers on the team this year. Greg Jennings missed half the year and only started 5 games. Jordy Nelson dealt with some injuries too. So James Jones, normally 3 or 4, was elevated. But it was Cobb, previously their 5th WR, rocketing up the stat sheet to lead the team with 104 targets. Backup TEs are still largely invisible, with Tom Crabtree managing only 8 catches as the 2nd leading TE -- but he made the most of it with 203 yards (a 72 yard TE will really boost that yards per catch -- 25 yards per catch) and 3 TDs. That's a lot of production for only 8 catches (12 targets).
2013 - Another disaster season for the TE position as Finley again only plays 5 games and manages 300 yards. This time, though, the other TE at least managed to out-produce him with 313 yards. Still not good. Randall Cobb missed most of the season with injuries too. And they were without Donald Driver by now. Which led to Jarret Boykin (who?) being their 3rd leading receiver, coming out of nowhere to get 83 targets for 681 yards. Their top 4 receiving yardage leaders were WRs, including Cobb, who only started 4 games and spent the season injured. Their backup TE was their 5th leading receiver.
2014 - Finley's gone. Quarless and Rodgers are their top TEs this year. They finish 5th and 6th on the team in receiving yards behind a strong WR trio (now featuring Davanta Adams -- they just don't stop adding good WRs even when they already had good ones) and a RB. Very top-heavy passing attack. Nelson and Cobb at the top got 151 and 127 targets.
2015 - TE Richard Rodgers was their 3rd leading receiver behind two WRs with only 510 yards. He averaged less than 9 yards per catch, so he really was a generic warm body most of the time. His 8 TDs suggests he was valuable in that part of the field even if he was mediocre elsewhere. If Jordy Nelson hadn't missed the season, I imagine the TE position would've remained an afterthought like it was the previous season. Nobody went over 1000 yards for them. Without Nelson to suck up attention, Cobb went from 1200 yards and double-digit TDs last year to 829 yards and 6 TD.
2016 - New TE Jared Cook is their 4th leading receiver with only 377 yards. A strong trio of WRs leads the way again with Nelson, Adams, and Cobb getting 152, 121, and 84 targets. TE Cook got only 51 targets and 1 TD, but his 12.6 yards per catch is pretty fine. The other TE, Rodgers, was their 6th leading receiver with 271 yards. A ho-hum season for the TEs while the WR trio dominated (although Cobb missed time with injuries).
2017 - Aaron Rodgers only started 7 games, so Brett Hundley was their main QB this season. For what it's worth. TE Martellus Bennett, who only played 7 games, was their leading TE. He was their 6th leading receiver with 233 yards. TE Lance Kendricks was their 7th leading receiver with 203 yards. Richard Rodgers chipped in another 160 as a backup. Bad year for tight ends and for their passing game as a whole. No 1000 yard receivers despite Adams, Cobb and Nelson all staying healthy enough to play 14 or 15 games. To be fair, the wheels are probably falling off Nelson by this point whether he suits up or not. Adams and Cobb are both better weapons than him by now, though Nelson is probably still more valuable than Cobb in the redzone.
2018 - McCarthy gets fired during the season this year. TE Jimmy Graham is technically their 2nd leading receiver in yardage, which sounds great. But he did it with only 636 yards. Which is not great. They were very invested in giving him chances though, as they forced 89 targets his way. The 2nd most targets on the entire offense. Davanta Adams was targeted 169 times! That's bananas. Randall Cobb played 9 games but only started 6 -- he was hurt. WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling was their 3rd leading receiver with 581 yards on 73 targets.
