Jermichael Finley: Is the Green Bay Packers Tight End Overrated?

When the Green Bay Packers reached a two-year deal with tight end Jermichael Finley, there was a wide variety of reactions from Packers fans. Some were relieved that a young, talented piece of Mike McCarthy’s offense remains in the fold, despite some apparent bad blood between the player and the organization.

Others wondered aloud whether Finley is really worth the headache that some of his public comments this year caused—mainly those voicing frustration over his somewhat limited role in the offense.

Prior to the 2011 season, everyone from McCarthy to quarterback Aaron Rodgers to nearly every Packers fan on every football message board in existence bought their tickets for the Finley the hype train. Rodgers hinted at the prospect of a 1,000-yard season for Finley on his weekly ESPN radio show, while fantasy football “experts” implored everyone to make Finley one of the first couple tight ends taken in their drafts.

How did it pan out?

Well, it’s sort of a mixed bag. On one hand, Finley’s 767 yards and eight touchdowns are nothing to sneeze at, especially when you consider the immense amount of talent the Packers have in their receiving corps. After all, there are only so many footballs to go around. On the other hand, Finley did not have a single 100-yard game all season.

You’d think this guy who we have all talked about as a matchup nightmare, an absolute beast who can line up at receiver if need be, would have one monster game in a season where Aaron Rodgers was setting all kinds of records.

Against the New York Giants when the Packers offense broke down, and Finley was needed most, he folded, with several key drops and a busted route on a play that could have gone a long way in changing the outcome of the game.

In the aftermath of that disastrous loss, fans—including Packers fans—and the local and national media slowly but surely began to turn on Finley, with suggestions that he’s overrated becoming more and more frequent.

Fans might have been a little more merciful toward Finley after that game if he had been a little more humble before it. On several occasions this year, Finley whined about not getting the ball enough, even while the Packers were in the midst of a 13-0 start to the season.

There are few better ways to tick off a fan base than showing you care more about your own stats than you do a team’s win-loss record. There can be little doubt Finley buys into his own hype as much as his quarterback and his coaches do, and that’s probably more their fault than his.

In fact, one could argue that Rodgers, McCarthy and company probably did Finley no favors by drawing so much attention to his talent and potential over the last couple of years. If you have a secret weapon, then why not try to keep it a secret, as long as you can instead of telling everyone within earshot to watch out for it?

None of this is to say that Finley won’t pan out as the uncoverable monster Green Bay fans seemed to think he was coming into the 2011 season. I, personally, think he will. It’s only to say that he definitely hasn’t up to this point. If the Giants game humbled Finley (and his quarterback) as much as it should have, that could be the first step toward a truly breakout 2012 season.

Note: This article was previously featured on my personal blog.