Geronimo Allison Will Have Every Opportunity in 2019
Geronimo Allison enters 2019 as the Packers no.2 receiver.
Last month, the Packers resigned wide receiver Geronimo Allison to a one-year deal for the upcoming season. Allison was on pace for a breakout year before a core and groin injury ended his 2018 season after five games. In those five games, Allison had emerged as Aaron Rodgers’ second option behind Davante Adams recording 20 receptions, 303 yards, and two touchdowns. His injury is one of the most underrated factors for the debacle that was Green Bay’s offense in 2018. Now, he will get every chance to prove himself again as he will likely enter training camp as the clear number two receiver.
During the 2018 offseason, the Packers released veteran Jordy Nelson with the expectation that Allison could fill in. This year, Randall Cobb walked in free agency opening up a similar door for Allison. To his credit, Allison believes these guys had a lot do with getting him to where he is now.
In an interview with Jason Wilde of Madison.com, Allison discussed how much he learned from the veterans, specifically Nelson, and the role he played in his development.
“I really clung to Jordy when he was here,” he said. “I actually sat in front of him in meetings so everything he said was drilled into the back of my head (as) I’m listening. Sometimes we didn’t even make eye contact, but I’m hearing everything he’s saying and everything he’s doing when he’s out on the field.”
Allison has come a long way since being an undrafted free agent back in 2016. Since then, he’s had some incredible moments including a 39-yard touchdown grab that jump-started Green Bay’s improbable comeback over the Chicago Bears in week one.
The Packers receiver has all the tools to be successful standing at 6-3 with strong yet sticky hands. On top of that, he just turned 25 at the beginning of the year meaning he is still very much in the thick of his development. Allison has earned the trust of his star quarterback and that shouldn’t be taken lightly as he has a bright future ahead.
Green Bay will be counting on Allison to line up outside and occasionally in the slot to replace Cobb. In the past, he’s proven he can win from both spots which will go a long way towards the offense rebounding next season. If Allison can build on the success he saw early last year, it’s not out of the question for him to flirt with the 1,000-yard mark in 2019.
Allison will join Adams at the head of the receivers room as those two will be the guys the Packers will turn to during big moments and down the stretch. Meanwhile, Green Bay’s young receivers should be watching Allison’s every move to learn how to become a contributor Rodgers can lean on.
Brandon Carwile is a Packers writer who also enjoys watching and breaking down film. Follow him on Twitter @PackerScribe.
Comments (34)
4thand1
April 07, 2019 at 12:18 pm
AR trusts Geronimo, he will shine.
Handsback
April 07, 2019 at 12:22 pm
Gemo is a number 3 receiver. Can he be a number 2? He will have to earn it and we will see if he can do it. This isn't "does he have enough speed", it's about getting open and I really think he can do it. I think his football IQ is really high and if he hadn't gotten hurt....he would have really broken out last year.
fthisJack
April 07, 2019 at 09:27 pm
he proved that last year...if it wasn't for injury, he would have posted big numbers.
EddieLeeIvory
April 07, 2019 at 01:34 pm
I love G-mo, just wish he was faster or quicker....
Agree with you hands back that he's a fine #3 receiver.
fthisJack
April 07, 2019 at 09:28 pm
the only thing that matters is getting open and catching the football.
Tundraboy
April 07, 2019 at 09:49 pm
And that is something we always can use. Just hope he has better luck injury wise.
Lare
April 07, 2019 at 02:04 pm
I don't think we can judge any of the current receivers (including TE's) based on their performance in previous years. There's a whole new offensive scheme, new coaches and new passing routes to learn.
I'm optimistic that the new offense will be simpler and easier to learn which should allow QB's and receivers to get on the same page quicker than the old one. I also expect the new scheme to accent the abilities of each receiver instead of forcing them all to fit into the system instead.
In this day and age, you just can't afford to wait three years for receivers to learn where they're supposed to be on any given play.
Leatherhead
April 07, 2019 at 02:31 pm
He lasted 5 games as an every down player before he broke. I'm not sure why we'd think he'd do better this year. Hope for the best and plan for the worst.....we do have other people that we can go to if he can't do it.
Coldworld
April 07, 2019 at 10:46 pm
Really? On that basis Rodgers would never have had a career because he was injured in one of his first outings.
stockholder
April 07, 2019 at 03:19 pm
The only way I see Allison on this club is because of Rodgers. He' good people. Sure. But somethings missing from this offense when he's in there. (YAC) We need a slot. Allison is not a fit for it. Cobb and monty were more then a Wr. Allison doesn't have MORE>. Lefleur doesn't need 3 blind mice. He needs 3 Wrs that can separate, catch, and score. Even BLOCK> I haven't seen Allison do that. We surely need a #2 and 3 guy that will scare the pants off the safety. Allison won't scare anybody.
EddieLeeIvory
April 07, 2019 at 06:08 pm
Allison blocks better than most WR.
Yes he's slower than we want. But 12 likes & trusts him/his route running.
Coldworld
April 07, 2019 at 10:49 pm
Alison showed last year that he can have a role and is very good at certain routes, notably the comeback. That said, I’m hoping that we use our receivers in more varied ways than the rigid 1, 2 and 3 to amplify their strengths. I see Alison as capable of being a significant contributor in such a scheme.
fthisJack
April 07, 2019 at 09:31 pm
what is there not to like about Allison? oh yeah...he doesn't run the forty in 4.4.
Duneslick
April 07, 2019 at 10:12 pm
Not 4.5 not 4.6 4.7 something Big difference from 4.4
Ferrari Driver
April 07, 2019 at 10:41 pm
Which is just about the same 40 time as Jerry Rice had during his career.
Thegreatreynoldo
April 07, 2019 at 03:57 pm
Previously posted, but what the heck:
GMO: 9 recs on 30 snaps in the slot.
GMO: 11 recs on 230 snaps split wide.
Per: ESPN Stats and Info/Demovsky: Allison caught 43% of his receptions in the slot.
Per Playerprofiler: GMO played slot 12.6% of his snaps.
Per FO Snap Counts: GMO 241 total snaps.
Then I just did the math.
Johnblood27
April 07, 2019 at 05:07 pm
It seems as if everybody that the GBP under MM put in the slot had pretty good production.
Gmo as illustrated above
Jordy in his last couple seasons in GB worked from the slot productively
Cobb was pretty much a failure outside the year Jordy went down, so basically all of his production was out of the slot
MLF will have a different scheme, lets see how the scheme matches up with individual receivers skill sets before we assign rankings and positions.
Im all for a new mindset with this offense, it is time to be new.
jannesbjornson
April 07, 2019 at 05:55 pm
Need a fast WR that can go in motion and set up the quick release passing game. See who Gutey drafts in three weeks.
EddieLeeIvory
April 07, 2019 at 06:07 pm
Sounds like you're describing Marquise Hollywood Brown
Rak43
April 08, 2019 at 03:47 am
So much for stockholder's argument that G-mo can't play slot. I for one am tired of hearing about his 40 times. He sure enough seems to get behind enough CB's for long gains and TD's when he's playing. Jerry Rice actually ran a 4.69 40 and no one complains about his speed.
Thegreatreynoldo
April 08, 2019 at 09:58 am
I suspect that most receivers have better numbers when they are in the slot. Looking at Football Outsiders splits, between slot/split wide, a few boundary receivers seem to do badly in the slot: see Martavis Bryant, Dez Bryant, and Pierre Garcon, but most play as well or better in the slot. More slot receivers don't do well when played outside.
Cobb: 5.3 slot; 7.1 wide; 2016: 13.3 slot, 12.2 wide
Nelson: 2.2 slot, -6.9 wide; 2016: 27.0, 12.8 wide
Adams: 9.2 slot, 13.9 wide; 2016: -3.0 slot, 29.5 wide
AR: 2016: slot 9.3, wide 17.5/ 2017: 7.6, 8.2
2017: AR
curl: 5.4 (12th) Adot 5.7, 22 passes
Out: -16.6 (27th) Adot 6.0 29 passes!!
Dig: +140 (1st) Adot 13, just 3 passes
Slant: 6.3 (19th), Adot 6.7 28 passes!!
Drag: 78 (1st) Adot 3.2 just 6 passes
Fly: 6.5 (19th) Adot 31, just 4 passes
WR screen: -34.6 (21st), Adot -0.7 19 passes
Post: 173.6 (1st), Adot 23.3 just 3 passes
Comeback N/A just 1 incompletion
Broken: -2.8 (15th) Adot 14.7 15 passes
Fade: 5.4 (13th), Adot 16.5 8 passes
Seam: -32 (34th) 5 passes, no completions Adot 11.6
!!: AR was on a pace to leade the NFL in outs and slants, and GB liked WR screens. AR threw the 15th most passes on broken plays despite playing just 6+ games. Hundley tied for 4th in the league by himself. AR and Hundley tied for 2nd in the league in passes on broken plays with 38, but by a wide margin, as 3rd place was 28. 13 teams had 11 or less,
"Wilson (29), Brady (28), and Roethlisberger (20) were the only passers to throw at least 20 seam routes last year. Wilson threw 10 seam passes to Jimmy Graham alone. That's notable since Rodgers only has thrown nine seam routes since 2016. He was the only quarterback out of the 35 to not complete a seam route last year (2017), so that's just not something the Packers have been into lately. Hopefully, that changes with the addition of Graham at tight end, because these can be very effective plays as the numbers show with 27.0% DVOA across the league." Football Outsiders
footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2018/2017-slot-vs-wide-wide-receivers
Thegreatreynoldo
April 09, 2019 at 01:37 am
Should we draft a TE in the first?
If we do, will we run seam routes?
If we run seam routes, will AR pull the trigger?
Packer Dave
April 07, 2019 at 05:41 pm
Feels like we have two solid outside guys in Adams and MVS. Moore has the potential to take a giant leap forward to be a poor man's Adams. He could equally as well not even make the roster though.
Allison to me is in the next tier of guys with a similar game as EQ and Kumerow. They won't burn you, but they will make the catch and move the chains. I'm glad he's back.
Duneslick
April 07, 2019 at 10:16 pm
Packer Dave Allison is a 4.7 something receiver EQ is 4.48 Kumerow 4.52 They are both much faster
PeteK
April 07, 2019 at 06:25 pm
Allison 's performance improves because we have a great receiver in Adams that requires dbl teams most of the time. Also, improving the running game by drafting a good offensive lineman and a solid back can take the pressure off these young receivers. We went very far when we had Lacy and solid guards, even though our D was just avg.
Leatherhead
April 07, 2019 at 06:52 pm
I suspect that we're going to see Jimmy Graham in the slot quite a bit this year. It is where he's done a lot of his damage during his career and he's a tough matchup for a safety.
Adams will require his fair share of double teams. The other WR is going to be in single coverage quite a bit of the time And since this will be done off a 2-2-1 set, it makes it really difficult for teams to play a Cover 2.
I really don't think we need to draft some small, quick, slot receiver.
PAPackerbacker
April 07, 2019 at 07:11 pm
Allison can get open and he has pretty good hands. Rodgers trusts him. He can keep the sticks moving. He should do well in the slot.
JonathanSpader
April 07, 2019 at 11:08 pm
GGGGEEEERRRROOOONNNNIIIIIMMMMMOOOO!!!
Tundraboy
April 07, 2019 at 09:59 pm
Has good hands.
Knows how to find the open spot.
Rodgers trusts him.
Rodgers likes him.
More creative Coach.
All good.
stockholder
April 08, 2019 at 10:15 am
Then don't talk about taking a Wr early. Roll with what we got. Until Rodgers and Lefleur get on the same page. Any offensive pick should not be considered until the defense is set.
Adorabelle
April 07, 2019 at 10:49 pm
He had a good start. He will just need to stay in there. And he's got the most important part. The quarterback likes him.
EddieLeeIvory
April 08, 2019 at 06:15 am
What happens when Davante gets hurt?
3 years ago, playoff game in Arizona, Janis bailed 12 out. Now who? 12 is going to have to work with & build up the youngsters confidence instead of being the A-hole that he was to EQ, MVS, & Janis.
stockholder
April 08, 2019 at 10:30 am
Moore.
Renllaw
April 08, 2019 at 06:46 am
Geronimo is a good football player, every team needs good football players. But, if you have a "good" football player starting in a certain position, that position becomes one that needs to be improved. It may not a position of need, but it will be one that the team will be always looking to upgrade to a plus player. Hopefully he can improve in place and become that kind of WR. I just don't think he is dynamic enough to hold down a WR2 job in the NFL on a playoff caliber team.