"Humble" DeAngelo Yancey fits well in Green Bay

A crowded wide receiver room in Green Bay just continues building up in numbers, especially after the Packers drafted two more in last weekend's draft.

DeAngelo Yancey is one of them; one that brings background from his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia to Purdue as a Boilermaker. Drafted to the Packers with the final pick in the fifth round, he was originally projected to fall out of the draft and wind up somewhere as an undrafted free agent.

However, he landed in Green Bay at 175th overall and became the first receiver drafted out of Purdue since 2001.

"Humble" is how one ex-teammate of Yancey's would describe him to me. A receiver who shared the side of the field opposite Yancey stayed true to the subtle reminder that the Packers may have reached - but reached successfully for Yancey.

"He's down-to-earth and competitive," Domonique Young, the aforementioned teammate of Yancey said. "He plays with a chip on his shoulder and he's always working; he's one of the hardest working dudes I've ever met playing this sport.

"He comes from a rough background so he's like the inspiration to all of those back home."

Young, now a New York Jets wide receiver who went undrafted but landed with the team last weekend, spent his two years at Purdue as Yancey's teammate before a knee injury ultimately ended his 2016 season. Now, they go their separate ways in the NFL, but their shared roots and adhesive bond help keep their support for the other intact.

Yancey, meanwhile, was on the cusp of a 1,000-yard season his senior year at Purdue.

He averaged a remarkable career-high of 19.4 yards per catch and entered the double-digits for receiving touchdowns with 10. A season that may have been the determining factor for him landing with the Packers two rounds ahead of where he was initially projected.

At 6'2", 220-pounds, Yancey was dubbed by ESPN reporter Rob Demovsky as "thick and strong," and that was evident during the rookie orientation practice.

He'll join a receiving corps whose bread and butter is the passer of the football; Aaron Rodgers.

"I definitely look forward to playing with Aaron Rodgers," Yancey said on Friday with an elated grin before quickly cutting himself off. "I look forward to seeing Aaron Rodgers.

"Definitely playing with a guy like Aaron Rodgers is going to force me to elevate my level of play."

Yancey said Rodgers, who wasn't present at the rookie practices, sent him a message on Twitter, likely welcoming him and encouraging him for the next phase of his life: succeeding as a Green Bay Packers wide receiver.

It's not Yancey's first exposure to the Packers or Lambeau Field. During his pre-draft visit in Green Bay, Yancey made it a point to get in a Lambeau Leap before all else. A once-in-a-lifetime bucket list event that he now hopes to turn into a regular happening.

"We went out to the field, and I was like, 'I'm here, why not?' Gotta get a Lambeau Leap in," Yancey said, chuckling. "It's higher than you think!"

Yancey has some other leaps to make before he can count on mingling with the fans at the back end of either end zone in Green Bay. The Packers currently house 12 receivers on their roster, a number that will obviously be trimmed down before the start of the regular season.

Where the former Third Team All-Big Ten receiver fits into the roster remains to be seen, but his first mountainous task of making it to the NFL is accomplished. From here, he writes his own script.

__________________________

Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].

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Comments (28)

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worztik's picture

May 06, 2017 at 03:53 pm

I wish him and all of his fellow rookies the very best and hopefully a long and injury free career!!!

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Lphill's picture

May 06, 2017 at 04:37 pm

Packers are loaded at wide receiver Davis and Janis probably odd men out.

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ZacharyJacobson's picture

May 06, 2017 at 04:38 pm

My money is on Janis. You can only hang on to a talented gunner for so long.

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worztik's picture

May 06, 2017 at 04:43 pm

Agree... and we paid Bush 5 mil/year?!?!?!!! Still SMH!

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Snake Plissken's picture

May 06, 2017 at 11:17 pm

Bush was NEVER paid 5 million a year.... his last contract was 3 years for 5 million,..... and he intercepted Rothlesberger in the Super Bowl to help win the game.

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Spock's picture

May 07, 2017 at 10:20 am

Snake, "I thought you were dead."

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worztik's picture

May 07, 2017 at 11:22 am

Wrong NR SNAKE!!!

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worztik's picture

May 06, 2017 at 04:41 pm

Yes they are!!! Can't wait to see this new 6'5" WR to see if he can play MM and AR's game... just sayin'...

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

May 06, 2017 at 05:55 pm

Yancy is 6'2". If he was 6'5" with those number he'd have been a round one pick.

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worztik's picture

May 06, 2017 at 06:21 pm

FA WR they're looking at... pay attention...

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ZacharyJacobson's picture

May 06, 2017 at 06:23 pm

Only close to 6'5" WR I know they're looking at/signed already is Michael Clark, who's 6'6". Played a year of football in college and was an ex-basketball player. He's a UDFA on the team right now.

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worztik's picture

May 06, 2017 at 06:44 pm

Zach.... thanks for the clarification and details!!! I appreciate it bud...

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CJ Bauckham's picture

May 06, 2017 at 10:03 pm

Jsonline listed him at 6' 5". Must be 6'5" and a half, haha

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

May 06, 2017 at 07:14 pm

Well, this article is about Yancy, not some WR you didn't name.

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worztik's picture

May 06, 2017 at 07:37 pm

Sorry I snapped at you JJ... I should have had more specifics as to name and sh**... ;-ۥ

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stockholder's picture

May 06, 2017 at 07:55 pm

And my bet is 2 WR draft picks from 2017, will be on the practice squad. ( It takes a while to learn, in the packers offense.) Davis will be given that option yet. And as long as we keep making excuses for guys with injuries. janis does have a chance to stick. The only reason both Janis and Davis would get cut, is if their speed is declining.

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dobber's picture

May 07, 2017 at 08:54 am

I think you're right: unless either of Yancey and Dupre has ST chops, I see them both on the PS and Janis and Davis on the roster. Packers have enough returners that Davis might be the more expendable if he's not progressing.

Still holding out hope that Janis pulls a Bill Schroeder and suddenly 'gets it'.

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fthisJack's picture

May 07, 2017 at 09:43 am

he's had plenty of time to "get it." if he doesn't get it now, he will be gone. and last year, he wasn't all that special on ST.

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NickPerry's picture

May 07, 2017 at 10:09 am

Part of Janis's struggles early in the season was due to the club he had to play with on his hand. Once that huge club was removed he looked more like the ST demon form 2015 again. I'm not advocating Jeff Janis deserves a roster spot this season, just I think the club hurt his ST play last year.

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worztik's picture

May 07, 2017 at 11:29 am

Nick... I've always gotten the impression that Janis's problem was lack of football smarts or smarts in general.?! Is this accurate and if not, what's held him back from being a starter? Just askin'...

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Handsback's picture

May 06, 2017 at 05:16 pm

OK, I have waited for months to say this....Speedy Noil is trying out for the Packers!!!! I'm not sure the kid can keep his nose clean (if you know what I mean) but if he does and dedicates himself to football....he will make the Packer's team as a WR.

Come on Man, his first name is Speedy. Nuff said!

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Finwiz's picture

May 07, 2017 at 12:52 pm

Never heard of him. Impressive name though.
Camp fodder.

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PackEyedOptimist's picture

May 07, 2017 at 07:09 am

Yancy reminds me A LOT of James Jones. On his tapes, he doesn't get very open, except on occasional deep routes (he's a 4.5 guy--considerably faster than Jones), but when the ball arrives, it's HIS. His highlights are one great contested catch after another.
Yancy and Michael Clark have a similar skill: they are open when they are covered. I'd love to see Clark make the practice squad and develop into an NFL receiver to be ready for 2018. Hopefully they will also train him to block kicks. His height seems to be unclear; I've seen 6'5", 6'6", and 6'7" I'm hoping for 6'7"!

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ZacharyJacobson's picture

May 07, 2017 at 02:31 pm

It's funny you say that... I tweeted this the day he was drafted.

DeAngelo Yancey (6'2", 201, though many outlets list him at 220)
40: 4.53
Bench: 21
3-cone: 6.84
Vert: 35.5

James Jones (6'1", 207)
40: 4.57
Bench: 21
3-cone: 7.06
Vert: 35

The measurables are definitely similar. More than likely not the same ceiling that Jones had, though it's way, way too early to tell, still an interesting bit of info.

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Spock's picture

May 07, 2017 at 10:27 am

"He comes from a rough background so he's like the inspiration to all of those back home."

Seems I recall a guy described the same way who got drafted in the seventh round: Donald Driver. How'd that work out? :)

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worztik's picture

May 07, 2017 at 11:32 am

We can only hope he's DD 2.0.....

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

May 08, 2017 at 03:27 am

The "real" Mr. Spock's mind would have seized up due to all the logical fallacies in this comment.

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Spock's picture

May 08, 2017 at 09:55 am

Not saying the results would be the same, just that he comes from a rough background, is a receiver, and was drafted in a later round. Where's the logical fallacies in that? Besides this is purely "Speculation". :)

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