By: Marques Eversoll
Last season, the Packers ranked second-to-last in the NFL returning kicks, averaging a meager 19.1 yards per return. Their primary return man DuJuan Harris – who has since signed with the Minnesota Vikings – ranked second-to-last among qualifiers with a pedestrian 20.7 yards per kick return.
Ted Thompson spent his third-round pick (#94 overall) on Stanford wide receiver Ty Montgomery.
What? A wide receiver?
Yes, a wide receiver who was one of the most dangerous return men in the country during his time with the Cardinal. A wide receiver that Packers west regional scout Sam Seale referred to as a “bigger Randall (Cobb).”
While Harris struggled to get anything going in the return game a year ago, Montgomery averaged 27.3 yards per kick return in four years at Stanford, and he ran three back for touchdowns. Following the draft, Packers coach Mike McCarthy reiterated his preference for returners of Montgomery’s body type; at 6-0 221, Montgomery is built like a running back and bounces off of defenders.
The punt return game wasn’t nearly the problem for the Packers in 2014 that the kick return game was. The Packers ranked fifth in the NFL, averaging 11.5 yards per return on 29 attempts. Micah Hyde returned two of his 14 punts fielded back for touchdowns, meaning about 14.2 percent of the time he catches a punt he scores. Hyde has three punt-return touchdowns in two seasons with the Packers.
Montgomery, last season at Stanford, returned punts for the first time. And it probably won’t be the last time he does so. He scored twice in the punt return game and fielded just 13 punts all year – one fewer than it took Hyde to score twice. (Sports math: Montgomery scored on 15.3 percent of his punt returns last season.)
Montgomery could be used as a “gadget player,” perhaps coming out of the backfield as a third-down back, or running routes out of the slot, a la Randall Cobb. But in his first season, he’s the odds-on favorite to be the team’s kick return man, and will likely compete (or perhaps rotate) with Hyde as the punt returner.
Best guess: Montgomery will be the KR, PR and “gadget player”
Hyde could see some time as the return man, considering he’s returned 38 punts in his two-year NFL career, but Montgomery looks the part as a natural return man. He’s got the size, speed and strength to be a game breaker returning kicks and punts.
Ted Thompson’s track record picking wide receivers in the second and third rounds speaks for itself. Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and James Jones all were selected in the second and third round, and Montgomery became the latest addition to that list Friday night when Thompson plucked him with the 94th pick.
With Davante Adams ready for his sophomore campaign after a stellar showing in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys, it’s unlikely that Montgomery will be anything more than the No. 4 option at receiver, but as a return man and versatile weapon at receiver (and maybe running back?), Montgomery could play a key role in making the league’s top scoring offense from a year ago even more explosive.
Marques Eversoll is on-air on SportsLine every weekday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 PM on The Fan, and he hosts the Saturday Morning Showcase every weekend 8:00-10:00 AM. Follow him on Twitter @MarquesEversoll.
