The thinking behind using Jordy Nelson more as a slot receiver was simple. If he stayed exclusively on the outside, it would have been a lot easier for the Minnesota Vikings to roll coverage toward him. With Green Bay down three of its original four top weapons, the Vikings might have been able to eliminate Nelson.
So the Packers slid him inside more and moved him around. Both of his scores came from the slot.
"We went into the game trying to move Jordy around to get him some more opportunities," offensive coordinator Tom Clements said. "He's a big target in there. It's beneficial to the offense for us to do that. We'll continue to move guys around to try to put them in position to help them be successful as well as the offense."
Nelson finished with seven receptions for 123 yards and the two scores. From the slot, Nelson's speed is a boost. But so is his size. He's a strong, long-limbed 6 feet, 3 inches tall, 217 pounds.
With the pending return of James Jones (sprained knee), there has been a lot of handwringing in the fantasy community about the season-long value of Jarrett Boykin due to the belief that the Packers will instead play Myles White in the slot. While it's true that White is playing primarily in the slot, the Packers have drafted receivers who can play both inside and outside and Nelson, Jones and Boykin all fit that profile. Boykin has been the 'next man up' in the receiving corps all year and has performed very well in the last two weeks, so there's no reason to believe that he heads to the bench when Jones returns.
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