Devin Funchess has opted out of the 2020 season

[Fredrik87]

Honestly I'm not sure how big of impact Funchess opting out will have I was never high on him and if none of Lazard, ESB, and MVS improve our WR's are going to be bad.

I still have ESB winning the #2 job so I'm hoping for a breakout there but I don't see us having a great WR corp this year and don't think Funchess would have changed that.

 

[gopkrs]

Honestly I'm not sure how big of impact Funchess opting out will have I was never high on him and if none of Lazard, ESB, and MVS improve our WR's are going to be bad.

I still have ESB winning the #2 job so I'm hoping for a breakout there but I don't see us having a great WR corp this year and don't think Funchess would have changed that.

Sternberger is a wild card imho. He has the potential to catch a lot of passes. And I'm not going to write off the rookie TE just because he is a rookie. And that could open it up for the wide outs.

 

[Fredrik87]

Sternberger is a wild card imho. He has the potential to catch a lot of passes. And I'm not going to write off the rookie TE just because he is a rookie. And that could open it up for the wide outs.

Sternberger is on the Covid reserve list so that unfortunately may hurt him.

 

[Passepartout]

Hate that for Sternberger. As hope he gets well.

 

[Fredrik87]

Hate that for Sternberger. As hope he gets well.

It doesn't necessarily mean he has Covid you get on the list from having the virus OR just being in contact with someone who does but the teams don't say which it is.

Hopefully it is the latter and he is fine.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Honestly I'm not sure how big of impact Funchess opting out will have I was never high on him and if none of Lazard, ESB, and MVS improve our WR's are going to be bad.

I still have ESB winning the #2 job so I'm hoping for a breakout there but I don't see us having a great WR corp this year and don't think Funchess would have changed that.

While Funchess wouldn't have made the Packers wide receiving corps a strength he would have been an upgrade over everybody aside of Adams.

Sternberger is a wild card imho. He has the potential to catch a lot of passes. And I'm not going to write off the rookie TE just because he is a rookie. And that could open it up for the wide outs.

With Sternberger missing most of last season he's essentially a rookie as well. Unfortunately it takes most tight ends quite some time to have an impact at the pro level.

Therefore expecting him and Deguara to make up for a lack of talent at wide receiver is unrealistic.

 

[Fredrik87]

While Funchess wouldn't have made the Packers wide receiving corps a strength he would have been an upgrade over everybody aside of Adams.



With Sternberger missing most of last season he's essentially a rookie as well. Unfortunately it takes most tight ends quite some time to have an impact at the pro level.

Therefore expecting him and Deguara to make up for a lack of talent at wide receiver is unrealistic.

I disagree on Funchess being a upgrade over all but Adams outside of his 2017 season his numbers are very pedestrian and he got 111 targets in 2017 in GB he'd probably see more in the range of 70 targets IF he won the number 2 job.
Funchess over his career averages less yards per target than Lazard or ESB, tested worse than either EQ or Lazard at the combine.
And Funchess has a lot of trouble with drops.
If he was on the team I could see him starting as the WR2 but I think he would have been the #3 or #4 by the seasons end.


As for Sternberger I agree it's unrealistic for him to make up for the lack of talent at WR but he did flash a bit and I could see him filling the void of Graham who did not leave particularly large shoes to fill.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Funchess over his career averages less yards per target than Lazard or ESB, tested worse than either EQ or Lazard at the combine.

As for Sternberger I agree it's unrealistic for him to make up for the lack of talent at WR but he did flash a bit and I could see him filling the void of Graham who did not leave particularly large shoes to fill.

Funchess is a completely different type of receiver than Lazard, MVS or EQ. Therefore comparing their yards per target doesn't make any sense. I'm convinced he would have been provided Rodgers with a more reliable target than any other WR not named Adams though.

It seems a lot of fans put way too much stack into Sternberger's touchdown reception against the Niners with the game already out of reach. They should actually focus on him having a total of only three receptions all season long.

While Graham didn't perform up to his contract by any means it's most likely unrealistic to expect a de facto rookie tight end to put up similar numbers.

 

[gopkrs]

Funchess is a completely different type of receiver than Lazard, MVS or EQ. Therefore comparing their yards per target doesn't make any sense. I'm convinced he would have been provided Rodgers with a more reliable target than any other WR not named Adams though.

It seems a lot of fans put way too much stack into Sternberger's touchdown reception against the Niners with the game already out of reach. They should actually focus on him having a total of only three receptions all season long.

While Graham didn't perform up to his contract by any means it's most likely unrealistic to expect a de facto rookie tight end to put up similar numbers.

The thing about Graham/Sternberger and last year is that Graham played the whole year as the number one. So Sternberger did not have much of a chance to do anything. Even after he came back from injury; he just did not have hardly any chances.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The thing about Graham/Sternberger and last year is that Graham played the whole year as the number one. So Sternberger did not have much of a chance to do anything. Even after he came back from injury; he just did not have hardly any chances.

Sternberger didn't receive more playing time because he wasn't better than Graham. There's no reason to believe he has developed into a better tight end than the veteran while not having any practice time over the past few months.

 

[gopkrs]

Sternberger didn't receive more playing time because he wasn't better than Graham. There's no reason to believe he has developed into a better tight end than the veteran while not having any practice time over the past few months.

I really could not say. But I do not think coaches always make the right decisions on who plays. My guess is that Sternberger will be both a better blocker and have better stats than Graham. I don't have a lot to go on but it is what I think will happen.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I really could not say. But I do not think coaches always make the right decisions on who plays. My guess is that Sternberger will be both a better blocker and have better stats than Graham. I don't have a lot to go on but it is what I think will happen.

As I've mentioned in several discussion with other posters that is wishful thinking and has no basis in fact. It takes most tight ends several years to have an impact in the NFL and unfortunately I don't believe Sternberger will be an exception.

 

[Mondio]

I still don't believe there will be any sort of season to be excited about. If they start, I highly doubt they finish. But IF there is a season, while Sternberger may be young and very little experience from which to base projections on, there is some good news. He can't be really much less effective given the number of opportunities our main TE had last season either

 

[gopkrs]

As I've mentioned in several discussion with other posters that is wishful thinking and has no basis in fact. It takes most tight ends several years to have an impact in the NFL and unfortunately I don't believe Sternberger will be an exception.

Well, I hope we find out. At least you have come out and said that you don't think Sternberger will be good.

 

[Fredrik87]

Funchess is a completely different type of receiver than Lazard, MVS or EQ. Therefore comparing their yards per target doesn't make any sense. I'm convinced he would have been provided Rodgers with a more reliable target than any other WR not named Adams though.

It seems a lot of fans put way too much stack into Sternberger's touchdown reception against the Niners with the game already out of reach. They should actually focus on him having a total of only three receptions all season long.

While Graham didn't perform up to his contract by any means it's most likely unrealistic to expect a de facto rookie tight end to put up similar numbers.

Ok so for the sake of this argument I will roll with you and say ypt does not count though the point being with a equal target share ESB and Lazard would outperform Funchess.

Funchess still has a lot of trouble elsewhere over his career he 24 drops he averaged over 5 drops a season during his time in Carolina, and his Catch% reflects that and is under 60 in every year of his career.
And his QB's passer rating when targeting him was 68 in 2018.

I cant find anything that says Funchess is a better player or more reliable than Lazard.
Athletically Lazard is better, Total drops and drop% Lazard is better, YAC Lazard is way better, Passer Rating when Targeted Lazard is significantly better, Lazard has a deeper ADOT, Lazards grade by PFF last year matched the highest Funchess has had in his career which was in 2015, Lazard gets better separation.

Funchess has more yards and TD's but they came with a much larger target share that if you equal to Lazards would see Lazard outproduce him.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I still don't believe there will be any sort of season to be excited about. If they start, I highly doubt they finish. But IF there is a season, while Sternberger may be young and very little experience from which to base projections on, there is some good news. He can't be really much less effective given the number of opportunities our main TE had last season either

Well, he could. Just take a look at the numbers Tonyan put up last season after all the optimism about him entering it.

Well, I hope we find out. At least you have come out and said that you don't think Sternberger will be good.

Don't put words in my mouth, I said that it's unrealistic to expect Sternberger to have a significant impact in 2020.

Ok so for the sake of this argument I will roll with you and say ypt does not count though the point being with a equal target share ESB and Lazard would outperform Funchess.

Funchess still has a lot of trouble elsewhere over his career he 24 drops he averaged over 5 drops a season during his time in Carolina, and his Catch% reflects that and is under 60 in every year of his career.
And his QB's passer rating when targeting him was 68 in 2018.

I cant find anything that says Funchess is a better player or more reliable than Lazard.
Athletically Lazard is better, Total drops and drop% Lazard is better, YAC Lazard is way better, Passer Rating when Targeted Lazard is significantly better, Lazard has a deeper ADOT, Lazards grade by PFF last year matched the highest Funchess has had in his career which was in 2015, Lazard gets better separation.

Funchess has more yards and TD's but they came with a much larger target share that if you equal to Lazards would see Lazard outproduce him.

Funchess would have probably received more targets than any of the other receivers not named Adams because he's a better and more reliable route runner.

The other numbers you posted don't mean a whole lot when you consider Funchess had Newton (who has been the most inaccurate passer aside of Bortles since entering the league) throwing to him.

Another thing to remember is that Lazard's numbers are based on a small sample size. In addition he put up half of his yards in three games against terrible secondaries.

 

[Mondio]

Well, he could. Just take a look at the numbers Tonyan put up last season after all the optimism about him entering it.

Well they need the opportunity too. Throw it to either Sternberger or Tonyan 4-5 times a game i'm betting they put up at least what Graham did last year.

 

[gopkrs]

Don't put words in my mouth, I said that it's unrealistic to expect Sternberger to have a significant impact in 2020.

Sounds to me like you don't think he will be good this year.

 

[mradtke66]

Sounds to me like you don't think he will be good this year.

Subtlety and nuance not your thing?

There is a quite a range between "He's going to bad" and "He's going to be good." The odds are stacked against 1st and 2nd year tight ends. There is historical precedence for that. Cap saying as much doesn't mean he's betting against him, just that it's a bet that is unlikely to pay off. Ie, Risky.

 

[tynimiller]

Subtlety and nuance not your thing?

There is a quite a range between "He's going to bad" and "He's going to be good." The odds are stacked against 1st and 2nd year tight ends. There is historical precedence for that. Cap saying as much doesn't mean he's betting against him, just that it's a bet that is unlikely to pay off. Ie, Risky.

Even further is the opinion of what is a good and/or bad season? Is this set for TEs period in someone's opinion? Is it relative to their teams' system? Relative to their years in the league?

Tons of factors can muddy this water A LOT!

 

[Fredrik87]

Funchess would have probably received more targets than any of the other receivers not named Adams because he's a better and more reliable route runner.

If Funchess was on the team he would probably receive more targets than the #3 WR but it would still likely be less than what he's used to GB's #2 WR last year had about 50 targets, Funchess
had 111 in 2017 and 79 in 14 games in 2018 with Alison gone the #2 WR in GB would probably see around 70 targets but thats still less than Funchess is used to and he'd probably see his already low production decline, Lazard with those same # of targets would outproduce Funchess.

The other numbers you posted don't mean a whole lot when you consider Funchess had Newton (who has been the most inaccurate passer aside of Bortles since entering the league) throwing to him.

I can think of a few other QB's that are worse than Newton, but regardless Newton can't be blamed for all of Funchesses numerous shortcomings, Newtons passer rating in the redzone targeting funchess is almost 30 points lower than targeting other WR's.
Newton also can hardly be blamed for Funchess being a lesser athlete than Lazard, or for him getting less separation, or for the fact Funchess has a ton of issues with drops, or the fact he got outperformed by other WR's on his own team playing with the same QB.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Subtlety and nuance not your thing?

There is a quite a range between "He's going to bad" and "He's going to be good." The odds are stacked against 1st and 2nd year tight ends. There is historical precedence for that. Cap saying as much doesn't mean he's betting against him, just that it's a bet that is unlikely to pay off. Ie, Risky.

You know, for all the yada yada about a run heavy offense, does it occur to anybody that if that's they way they roll, with this offensive line, you'll need a lot of good run blocking from the TEs. Sternberger is not that. I question how many snaps he'd actually get under that questionable scenario. Even Tonyan's a better blocker. And while we talk about Deguara as an H-back in the backfield, there would not be all that many snaps in that role. He could be the go-to guy in-line, the other half of the H in H-back. People don't spend 3rd. round picks on fullbacks. It might surprise some that Lewis had a 45% snap count last year. He's back.

Regardless if it's run-heavy or not, with a "big slot" approach to that position, the position I expected to be Funchess' primary role, that could be Sternberger. There certainly isn't anybody else one could clearly point to as the odds on favorite in that role. And he'll be the 4th. best blocking TE in what is likely to be a 4 TE group unless they missed the mark on Deguara by a wide margin.

 

[Fredrik87]

You know, for all the yada yada about a run heavy offense, does it occur to anybody that if that's they way they roll, with this offensive line, you'll need a lot of good run blocking from the TEs. Sternberger is not that. I question how many snaps he'd actually get under that questionable scenario. Even Tonyan's a better blocker. And while we talk about Deguara as an H-back in the backfield, there would not be all that many snaps in that role. He could be the go-to guy in-line, the other half of the H in H-back. People don't spend 3rd. round picks on fullbacks. It might surprise some that Lewis had a 45% snap count last year. He's back.

Regardless if it's run-heavy or not, with a "big slot" approach to that position, the position I expected to be Funchess' primary role, that could be Sternberger. There certainly isn't anybody else one could clearly point to as the odds on favorite in that role. And he'll be the 4th. best blocking TE in what is likely to be a 4 TE group unless they missed the mark on Deguara by a wide margin.

Honestly I don't believe all the run heavy offense talk we weren't as run heavy as people think last year the Texans, Eagles, Cowboys, and several other team were much more run heavy than GB last year.
I think it will be a big part of our game plan but with Rodgers I doubt we go as run heavy as some here think.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Well they need the opportunity too. Throw it to either Sternberger or Tonyan 4-5 times a game i'm betting they put up at least what Graham did last year.

Rodgers won't target Sternberger or Tonyan four or five times a game if they're not on the same page though.

Sounds to me like you don't think he will be good this year.

Once again, I don't believe Sternberger will have as much of an impact as some here believe for whatever reason. He might develop into a goog tight end down the road though.

If Funchess was on the team he would probably receive more targets than the #3 WR but it would still likely be less than what he's used to GB's #2 WR last year had about 50 targets, Funchess
had 111 in 2017 and 79 in 14 games in 2018 with Alison gone the #2 WR in GB would probably see around 70 targets but thats still less than Funchess is used to and he'd probably see his already low production decline, Lazard with those same # of targets would outproduce Funchess.

I can think of a few other QB's that are worse than Newton, but regardless Newton can't be blamed for all of Funchesses numerous shortcomings, Newtons passer rating in the redzone targeting funchess is almost 30 points lower than targeting other WR's.
Newton also can hardly be blamed for Funchess being a lesser athlete than Lazard, or for him getting less separation, or for the fact Funchess has a ton of issues with drops, or the fact he got outperformed by other WR's on his own team playing with the same QB.

Since Newton entered the league in 2011 only Bortles has a lower completion percentage than him among qualified quarterbacks.

Interceptions greatly affect passer rating for wide receivers while they're mostly not to blame for it. Therefore those numbers don't mean a whole lot.

Once again, you need to understand that Funchess is a different type of receiver than Lazard. He doesn't need as mich separation as Lazard to come up with the ball.

You cite that Funchess has a huge issue with drops but 24 out of 316 targets for a percentage of 7.5% isn't that bad compared to the rest of the league.

Funchess being outperformed by other receivers on his team doesn't mean he can't be a decent #2. Otherwise Lazard wouldn't have a chance to develop into one either.

 

[Mondio]

He might not, I said given the same opportunities they wouldn't put up less than our main TE last year. The bar isn't very high but it's not like there is anyone else so chances are some balls are going to go to the TE. I doubt it's going to be Mercedes.