After losing Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the same offseason, the Green Bay Packers added three wide receivers in this year’s NFL Draft. Everyone is most excited about Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, who the Packers selected in the second and fourth rounds, respectively. However, during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Aaron Rodgers made an interesting comment about seventh-rounder Samori Toure.
“Physically, they definitely look the part,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “All three of the guys we drafted all have physical gifts. Obviously, the top two picks are bigger, but the seventh-rounder has a lot of stuff to him.”
Usually, when teams are drafting in the later rounds, they will look for certain traits. Toure possesses a nice blend of size and athleticism, which obviously attracted him to the Packers. At his pro day, he ran a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash and has decent size at 6-1, 190 pounds.
Toure began his college career at Montana. In 2019, he recorded 87 receptions and set the program record for receiving yards in a season (1,495). Toure later transferred to Nebraska for his final season in 2021. He appeared in 12 games for the Cornhuskers and caught 46 catches for 898 yards and five touchdowns.
Rodgers saw Toure firsthand at mandatory minicamp even though the two had little work together. On the second day of minicamp, Toure had a spectacular day. He stood out during the two-minute period, catching multiple catches from backup Jordan Love.
Toure will need to continue to make plays in training camp and eventually the preseason if he hopes to make the roster. Right now, he might be the seventh or eighth receiver on the depth chart battling for one of the last remaining spots. Perhaps, his experience on special teams will give him a slight edge.
“I’ve had special teams snaps throughout my career at Montana,” Toure said. “That’s something I can be really good at it. I’m going to put a lot of focus towards it entering the NFL.”
As far as what exactly he will play on special teams, Toure is open to pretty much anything.
“I feel like I can contribute in a few different ways. I think I can run down on kickoff, I can return kicks, I can return punts if that’s where they want me,” he said in June. “I can get down there at the gunner spot on punt and also rush the punt on punt returns, so I feel like there’s a lot of different ways that I can impact the team.”
Toure will have to work harder than ever before when training camp starts on July 27. It will be an uphill battle to make Green Bay’s final 53-man roster but getting the attention of Rodgers is a good sign.
