It took 51 selections to occur before receiver Greg Jennings was picked in the 2006 NFL draft, so it’s not surprising that a brilliant start to a rookie season would be widely overlooked nationwide.
But such is life when you enter the league with Reggie Bush and Vince Young.
Jennings is among one of the top-producing rookies through the first five weeks of the season, and his presence has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal 1-4 start for the Green Bay Packers. Every week since being held to one catch for 5 yards against the Bears in the season opener, Jennings has done something special.
Yet you can forget about him being in the running for offensive rookie of the year honors because unless Bush gets hurt or somehow fades into oblivion he’ll win the award. And if it’s not him, you can bet it will be Young, who became a starter last week and is off to the races.
“You know what, I’m glad that that’s there because no focus has been shifted over to myself,” said the likable Jennings. “The spotlight is on him. I can kind of play underneath that spotlight. That way there’s no expectations elsewhere but here in this family and around here.
“Other than here, there’s nobody talking about Greg Jennings as rookie of the year. There’s no add-on pressure.”
It’s premature, of course, to think about postseason honors, but the point is that Jennings has produced about as much as any rookie in the draft thus far and looks to be the real deal. He and New Orleans seventh-round receiver Marques Colston have been the two biggest surprises in the draft, at least where offense is concerned.
Among all rookies, Jennings ranks third behind Bush (34) and Colston (23) in receptions with 20, tied for second behind Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew (four) in touchdowns with three, second behind Colston (374) in receiving yards with 364 and second behind Colston (18) in receiving first downs with 13.
Among all NFL receivers with a minimum of 18 catches, Jennings ranks tied for third with Indianapolis’ Reggie Wayne (18.2) in yards per catch and fifth in the league in yards after the catch with 178, according to STATS.
All of those numbers are proof that the Packers made a wise choice in selecting Jennings to replace the departed Javon Walker, who in four games with Denver has 16 catches for 313 yards (19.6 average) and two TDs. What remains uncertain is how much more the highly-polished Jennings has to offer given his physical limitations.
Many scouts loved his production at Western Michigan but questioned whether his height (5 feet 11 inches) and average speed (4.42 seconds in the 40-yard dash) would allow him to survive for many years in the NFL. If he has an upside, how high is it, they asked themselves.
“He is polished at an early age,” receivers coach Jimmy Robinson said.
In college, Jennings was known as someone who could take a short pass and turn it into something big. In Green Bay, he’s been productive both short and deep. His three touchdown catches average 47.6 yards, and his longest, a 75-yarder against Detroit, came after he caught a ball 10 yards downfield.
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For now, Jennings is benefiting from not facing double coverage and not having the other team’s best cornerback right in his face at the line of scrimmage. In preparation for those days, Jennings has dedicated himself to the weight room in an attempt to get everything out of his 200-pound body.
He would like to be as explosive as Carolina’s Steve Smith, who at 5-9 and 184 pounds ran the 40 in about the same time as Jennings coming out of college but has a strong build and most important, powerful legs.
“Everybody is always trying to work upper body, upper body, upper body,” Jennings said. “But I think it starts with your base and if you don’t have a firm foundation everything else crumbles.
“I focus on my legs to stay explosive, to keep my strength in my legs so that explosiveness will never leave. As long as I continue to do that and put weight on in the right areas, man, who knows, I don’t know where I can go.”