Green Bay Packers Rookie WR Ty Montgomery Flashes Excellence in Offensive Debut

On Sunday night against the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers rookie wide receiver Ty Montgomery got an opportunity. 

It was one he wasn't meant to have this early in the season, but when No. 2 wideout Davante Adams went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter, Green Bay needed a pair of hands to replace him.

Thus, Montgomery, who until midway through Sunday night's game had only been a special teams contributor, got his first offensive snaps of his rookie season. 

To simply look at Montgomery's stat line, you wouldn't think his night was remarkable. The wideout finished with four receptions on four targets for 37 yards. 

But anyone who actually watched Montgomery's performance in the game saw it: This kid is going to be special. 

Montgomery, drafted out of Stanford in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft, follows in a long line of talented receivers that general manger Ted Thompson and his team of scouts have selected and developed in Green Bay: Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Adams. 

In May, the selection was regarded as a bit of a luxury; the Packers expected to have a solid receiving corps in Nelson, Cobb and Adams as the top three, with help by 2014 draft picks Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Janis and former practice-squad player Myles White. 

But, as it often has been before, Thompson's selection of Montgomery appeared to be prescient.

He couldn't have known at the time that the Packers would lose Nelson for the season to a torn ACL and be forced to cut and re-sign Abbrederis to the practice squad after back-to-back training camp injuries, but he was certainly prepared for it.

Re-signing veteran wideout Jones gave him a little more insurance and Rodgers a go-to scoring threat. 

Still, if possible, the Packers prefer to give their rookies time to develop rather than throw them into the fire. Adams earned increasing snaps in 2014 as Jarrett Boykin proved to be unsuccessful, but Janis didn't see the field. 

This season, it appeared the Packers would take the same approach with Montgomery: Let him earn his keep returning kicks—at which he has been excelling, averaging 31.2 yards per on four returns—but give him time to develop trust with Aaron Rodgers and learn the playbook before lining up him out wide.

However, despite all the moves Thompson made to prepare for exigencies at the wide receiver position, Adams going down, too, wasn't in the plans. 

It said a lot, however, about head coach Mike McCarthy's belief in Montgomery that it was the rookie who took over Adams' snaps, and not second-year player Janis, who didn't receive a passing target.

In the 19 routes he ran, per Pro Football Focus, Montgomery displayed everything you'd look for in a receiver: blocking, run-after-the-catch ability, quickness, good hands.

Of Montgomery's 37 yards, 27 came after the catch, per Pro Football Focus. Rodgers had a passer rating of 105.2 when targeting the rookie. 

He also achieved something even seasoned veteran receivers struggle to do, drawing two pass interference penalties on Seattle corner Richard Sherman. 

On the Packers' momentum-swinging 10-play, 80-yard, touchdown-scoring drive, Rodgers was able to propel the offense down the field with the help of two slot weapons: Cobb working in one slot, and Montgomery in the other. 

"That's what we talked about," Montgomery said after the game, regarding the successful drive, per Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I think as an offense we all feel that that's pretty big for us. That's the personnel that we've talked about."

Packers wide receivers coach Edgar Bennett praised Montgomery after the game, perhaps hinting that if Montgomery continues to do his job, he'll see more snaps. 

"

Bennett on Montgomery: That was fun. You saw his balance. He did his job. That's the starting point. How do you build that trust with QB.

— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) September 21, 2015"

Montgomery connected with Rodgers for three completions of 17, two and five yards on that drive, and Seattle wasn't really sure how to defend him, not having game-planned for his usage.

That may differ in future weeks if the Packers unleash more packages that include both Cobb and Montgomery on the field, but it's still a personnel grouping that fits well with Green Bay's up-tempo offense. 

This was by no means Montgomery's breakout game; that may not come for weeks, and ideally it will coincide with his first Lambeau leap after his first NFL touchdown.

But he flashed enough skill on Sunday night to prove that if the Packers want to get him involved in the offense, even if Adams is healthy in Week 3 and beyond, he can handle it.