On the surface, the Green Bay Packers had a very good 2020 season when it came to producing yards after the catch (YAC)—although there wasn’t much that this offense did struggle with. Green Bay’s 2,248 yards after the catch ranked as the fifth most in the NFL—not too bad.

That overall figure might come as a surprise to you — it did to me — because when we think of this Packers offense, playmaking ability with the ball in their hands isn’t exactly what comes to mind first. And if we peel back that layer of fluff, we see that it was a fairly big need to address.

One contributor to the Packers' overall YAC total is that they have Davante Adams, who many would consider the top receiver in football. With 597 yards after the catch, Adams accounted for almost one-third of Green Bay’s total YAC. Adams' 597 yards after the catch were also the second-most in football last season, according to Pro Football Reference.

For some context, the next highest-ranked Packers receiver was Marquez Valdes-Scantling; his 241 yards after the catch ranked 80th. Now to be fair, I will point out that MVS’ 7.3 YAC average ranked 17th, but with Valdez-Scantling being a primary downfield threat, his YAC is much different than the YAC that turns a reception at the line of scrimmage into a first down. The latter is what has been missing from this offense.

Running back Aaron Jones ranked 31st last season in total YAC while Allen Lazard’s 5.9 YAC average ranked 39th. Again, not bad at all, but when looking at the overall success that this offense had producing YAC, a decent portion of the credit for that 2,248 YAC total could also be linked to Matt LaFleur’s offensive system more so than the individual playmaking ability that this team possesses as a whole.

LaFleur does a terrific job of scheming players open and creating ways for them to get the ball in space. This is reflected by the fact that Green Bay finished 29th as a team in broken tackles and 20th in missed tackles forced, per PFF. Thus helping to illustrate that the YAC accumulated is oftentimes due to the open space in front of the receiver rather than him making defenders miss.

If we look at a team like the Los Angeles Rams, who under Sean McVay deploys a similar offensive philosophy as LaFleur, they were only three yards behind the Packers in total YAC, but unlike Green Bay, Los Angeles posted 70 missed tackles forced compared to 45 for the Packers. LA also finished third in broken tackles forced and had two receivers in the top-10 in total YAC, rather than one in the top-79 like the Packers did.

As good as this Green Bay offense was last season, this ability to make defenders miss was a missing element. And I now use the term “was” because with the addition of Amari Rodgers in the third round of the draft, he will bring that added playmaking ability to this offense.

A big part of Rodgers’ breakout season in 2020 with Clemson was his ability to make plays with the ball in his hands. Of Rodgers’ 1,020 total receiving yards, 613 came after the catch, which was the second-most in college football behind only Heisman Trophy Winner DeVonta Smith.

Rodgers 8.0 YAC average ranked fourth out of 46 eligible receivers and was ahead of players like Kadarius Toney and Elijah Moore, who averaged 6.8 and 5.9 yards after the catch, respectively. Rodgers would also force 17 missed tackles, again ranking among the best as the seventh most in college football.

In 2019, Rodgers would tally 335 yards after the catch, and his average YAC of 11.5 ranked as the fifth most that year. The year before, he would record 405 yards after the catch, giving Rodgers a total of 1,353 YAC in his final three seasons.

While his 40-yard dash time at his Pro-Day of 4.52 seconds was nothing to write home about, don’t let that figure fool you; as evidenced by the numbers referenced above, Rodgers can certainly make defenders miss.

Andy Herman of Packer Report summed that up quite well in a recent article of his, also calling Rodgers a “true triple threat with the ball in his hands.”

“If Rodgers has the angle, he’s going to run by you, if your feet are planted, he’s going to juke and run around you, and if there’s no other option, he will absolutely run right through you.”

In addition to his overall elusiveness, Rodgers stands 5’9,” weighs 212 pounds, and is built like a running back. As Andy points out, if Rodgers can’t get around you, he has absolutely no problem trying to run through you.

In this Green Bay Packers’ offense, Rodgers will provide a true slot presence, something that the team hasn’t had since the days of Randall Cobb, who is oftentimes a player that Rodgers is compared to.

We will also see Amari used in that gadget role as the motion man and on designed touches such as jet sweeps and screens—all of which helps LaFleur achieve the “illusion of complexity,” as he calls it. This allows Green Bay to keep defenses off balance by running the same play from a variety of personnel while also having different plays start off looking similar, but they’re actually quite different.

As we saw last season, this Green Bay Packers offense did just fine without a true slot or gadget presence and someone who can consistently turn a quick pass into a 12 yard gain by making defenders miss. But that doesn’t mean it should have been overlooked either. Rodgers’ skill-set was a missing and needed element in this LaFleur offense that should make the NFL’s top-scoring offense even more difficult to defend.