1) Introduction: The previous four seasons for Jordy Nelson alternated from bad, to good, to bad, to good. This year the Packers were looking for more consistency from Nelson by having him stay healthy and for him to fully take the reigns of being the number one receiver on the team he had shown he can be.
2) Profile:
Jordy Nelson
- Age: 29
- Born: 5/31/1985 in Manhattan, KS
- Height: 6’3″
- Weight: 217
- College: Kansas St.
- Rookie Year: 2008
- NFL Experience: 7 years
3) Expectations coming into the season: Jordy came into the season as the expected leader of the Green Bay Packers’ wide receivers and the guy Aaron Rodgers could depend on. Before the season started Jordy signed a 4-year $39 million contract extension, making him paid to be the number one receiver everyone expected him to be.
4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Highlights? HIGHLIGHTS?! Yeah, Jordy had those. He had 13 of them, the second most in the NFL. Nelson also finished fourth in the NFL in receiving yards. His ability to get open for long touchdowns is uncanny. Nelson had seven games this season with touchdowns of at least 45 yards. His only real low-light of the season came against Buffalo. The Packers as a whole had an off day against Buffalo but it is Nelson’s drop on what would have likely been a 95 yard touchdown, likely winning the Packers the game and giving them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, that stands out. It’s tough to pin a loss on one play, but that was a big one.
5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: Nelson is Aaron Rodgers’ favorite receiver and a very good one at that. He led the team in touchdowns, yards, receptions, and targets. Nelson also produced the second highest passer rating in the NFL on passes thrown his way this year. He plays a huge role in this offense and it is hard to imagine the passing offense being close to where they were this year without him. His hands and his ability to adjust to the ball are uncanny and allow Rodgers to take chances by putting the ball in spot only where Nelson can catch it.
6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: In the playoffs Jordy was simply, “meh.” Against Dallas he only had two receptions on five targets for 22 yards and producing no touchdowns. One of the two catches was one hell of a catch for a first down however. Against Seattle Jordy continued to show that Rodgers puts his trust in him. 77 of Rodgers 178 yards went to Jordy, as well as 8 of his 34 passes. However, again, Nelson was held out of the end zone and got held up at the line for half of a second too long which caused what looked like and easy touchdown to go off his fingertips.
7) Intangibles: Jordy and Rodgers are on the same page, at the line of scrimmage they seemingly can use telepathy to communicate what they want to do. It’s weird. You can’t put a price on that. When the best quarterback in the NFL is on your team and you have a receiver that makes him comfortable and has a knack for being able to make big plays, he has all the intangibles he needs. Deceptive speed, great hands, big play ability, and trust from his quarterback is what Jordy brings to the table. It doesn’t hurt that Jordy also seems to fit the mold of a Packers player in that he stays relatively low-key and appears to more about the team than himself.
Season Report Card (Player Grades):
(A) Level of expectations met during the season
(A) Contributions to team’s overall success.
(C) Contributions to team during the playoffs
Overall Grade: A
Even though he had an uneventful playoffs, it his hard to give Jordy anything but an A for the season he had.
——————Mike Reuter lives in the Twin Cities and is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas. He is a mobile tech enthusiast, a 19 year Gopher Football season ticket holder and a huge Packers fan. Mike is a writer with AllGreenBayPackers.com and you can follow him on twitter at @uofmike.
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I am giving him a A- for not pushing Bostick out of the way and making the on-side catch…
Not sure I get the up/down commentary. Seems his career arc has been consistently climbing, but that’s based on nothing more than my homerish perception. But I do agree that if he’s the team #1, he has to be ‘that guy’ no matter who the opposition is or who’s covering him. That’s what $10MM a year is supposed to be buying.
He’s had the talent the last 4 years, but hasn’t put it together on the field for two consecutive years. The Super Bowl year of 2010 he had a pretty uneventful season where he seemingly traded weeks with James Jones on who was going to be good and who was going to be irrelevant. Culminating in his huge Super Bowl performance. 2011 broke out for his first big year. 2012 he struggled and dealt with injuries most of the season. 2013 he was very good, despite the QB situation.
So:
2010=not great
2011=great
2012=not great
2013=great
2014 was finally the year he put together back-to-back good seasons.
He got hurt. I see one down year due to injury, but the averages were about on pace.
Jordy was awesome, but the 2 plays that stand out to me were the drop in Buffalo, which caused the immediate reaction from me of whipping my Galaxy S5 across the room, and the miss in the end zone vs Seattle in the playoffs, which was 99% Rodgers’ fault, not Nelson’s.
All in all, Jordy was a Pro Bowler all year.
And he stayed healthy all year, as did Cobb, which is something fans are totally taking for granted. It won’t happen again.
Totally agree. I don’t know if it won’t happen again, hell, I think it will happen next year, but both those guys (and the entire offense outside of Rodgers for that matter) not getting injured was such a big part of the success this year.
98 receptions. 1,500 yards +. 13 Tds. One of the greatest receiving seasons ever. Jordy has never ever everrrrrr complained about targets like Finley, Jennings, Driver, J. Jones always would to the media. Not to mention he never makes his contract an issue.
Green Bay fans need to appreciate Jordy and stop trying to decide if he’s a 1 or 2. The only reciever you take before Nelson is Calvin Johnson. Cant wait to see Jordy run by DB’s again next season.
There might be better WRs in this league, but I don’t know if there is a better WR for Aaron Rodgers.
Honestly name a reciever besides Calvin Johnson that can bring everything Jordy does.
Without becoming a cancer, distraction, or hurt every week. In addition to 1,500 yards and 13 tds?
There’s quite a few you could put either in Jordy’s class or higher. I love Jordy, with Rodgers as my QB I would take Jordy over any receiver other than maybe Calvin. Maybe. But I also wouldn’t have any issue if someone took any of these guys over him either:
-Antonio Brown
-Calvin Johnson
-AJ Green
-Julio Jones
-Demaryius Thomas
-Dez Bryant
-Randall Cobb
Randall Cobb is better than Jordy Nelson. HAHAHAHAHAHA
Ok, I will give you Demaryius Thomas.
Dez Bryant is a cancer. Javon and Finley were prime examples of how that works out in Titletown.
Julio Jones is always hurt. Availability is key.
AJ Green disappears against anyone besides Ike Taylor. Outside of a TD Sam Shields ran AJ Green’s routes for him last time they played.
Antonio Brown is force fed and schemed to get open. Brown is good but he wouldn’t be that guy in Green Bay where the ball is spread around.
Jordy Nelson is amazing. We both agree on that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g5xib2PofM
He had a couple of drops on passes that probably would have been TDs, IIRC. Otherwise, I agree with the comments and grades. Another player who easily can be a beloved packer.
Mike – Nicely done! I agree with your comments and grading. It was great to watch Jordy play as hard and as well as he did after signing a big contract. Too many players in this league take it easy the season after they get their payday. Fortunately, Jordy is not one of those players. Thanks, Since ’61