1) Introduction: Andrew Quarless, the Green Bay Packers’ 2010 fifth round pick, wasn’t expected to contribute as much as he was forced to this season. Jermichael Finley’s season-ending injury in Week 5 and the decline of Donald Lee put Quarless into the starting lineup — a position he wasn’t mentally or physically ready for.
Despite the unfavorable scenario, Quarless generally made the most of his limited opportunities and didn’t make any glaring mistakes. With an offseason to get more comfortable with the playbook and add some body weight, Quarless could be expected to make a jump in his second year to becoming more of a play-maker for the Packers offense.
2) Profile:
Andrew Christopher Quarless
Position: TE
Height: 6-4 Weight: 248 lbs.
Born: October 6, 1988 in New York, NY
College: Penn State (school history) (Quarless college stats)
Drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 5th round (154th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft.
3) Expectations coming into the season for that player: Very low. With Finley, one of the NFL’s up and coming pass catchers firmly entrenched at starting tight end, many probably didn’t even expect Quarless to see the field. You could see the potential he had athletically early on (much like Finley in 2008), but it was clear that he needed a season or two to mature into a player you could count on to contribute.
4) Player’s highlights/lowlights: After Finley went down in Washington, Quarless caught a 23-yard pass on the Packers’ final drive of regulation that helped get Green Bay into field goal range. Two weeks later, Quarless caught his first ever touchdown pass — a difficult nine yard catch in the back of the end zone against the Vikings.
In Week 14 against the Lions, Quarless had his best game statistically (5 receptions, 61 yards), but also lost a fumble in the first half that took points of the board for the Packers.
5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: While much of the offense ran through Finley and the tight end position through the first 5 weeks, the Packers shied away from Quarless once Finley was lost for the season. In fact, Quarless caught as many passes (21) in 13 regular season games as Finley had in his four games and change.
Also, according to Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Quarless had the worst drop percentage on the team (6 in 42 chances; 14.3%).
Overall, Quarless contributed just 18.3 yards/game in the regular season, and had only one touchdown and one turnover. While he never really had a defined role once Finley went out, Quarless wasn’t an impact player for the Packers this season.
6) Player’s contributions during the 6-win end-of-season run: During the Packers’ final six games, Quarless only caught seven passes for 67 yards and zero touchdowns. His most meaningful game during that stretch was a two-catch, 27-yard performance against the Eagles in the NFC Wild Card, and that marked the only time he broke 20 yards in the final six games.
In Aaron Rodgers’ two biggest statistical games of the postseason (at Atlanta, vs. Pittsburgh), Quarless caught just three combined passes for 19 yards. While he didn’t make any notable mistakes during the pressure-packed run, Quarless didn’t make much for positive impacts either.
Season Report Card:
(B) Level of expectations met during the season
(C-) Contributions to team’s overall success.
(D+) Contributions to team’s success during the playoff run (last 6 games)
Overall Grade for the year: C-
——————Zach Kruse is a 23-year-old sports journalist with a passion for the Green Bay Packers. He currently lives in Wisconsin and is working on his journalism degree, while also covering prep sports for The Dunn Co. News.
You can read more of Zach's Packers articles on AllGreenBayPackers.com.
Follow @zachkruse2——————
I dont think quarless will ever be as good as finley but if he makes a jump in his second year which i think he will he could become very serviceable.
I agree. Quarless doesn’t have the same ceiling as Finley, but he can be a very good No. 2 TE——and the Packers employ a lot of 2 TE sets.
Watching the Packers this season, you could see Rodgers wrestling with Quarless whenever he entered the game. He frequently lined up wrong and Rodgers had to move him into position constantly. I think his lack of productivity was a reflection on the lack of confidence he instilled in his QB. The kid looks like he can beat LBs and safeties all day and I think has a future in the league but must immerse himself in the playbook and at least meet the mental expectations of his position if not become a scholar of the game.
The upside to this is that he has a LOT in common with where Finley was as a young player and in many ways is ahead of where #88 was at this point in his development.