Despite the Packers’ receiving corps being under intense scrutiny this season, there is a Green Bay receiver who is leading the league in TD receptions in 2022.
Allen Lazard has five TD catches this year. That is the most by any undrafted free agent (UDFA) receiver in the league. Lazard, who signed as a free agent with Green Bay in 2018, has 30 receptions for 427 yards to go along with his five TD receptions. He is first on the team in TD receptions, reception yards and fourth in receptions this season.
Lazard’s 2022 numbers make him one of the Top 3 UDFA receivers currently in the NFL. As mentioned, his five TD catches rank first; his 427 receiving yards are second to fellow UDFA Jakobi Meyers’ 457; and his 30 receptions are third among UDFA receivers behind Meyers (40) and Adam Thielen (38).
Lazard’s stats among other UDFA receivers since 2018
If we go back to 2018 when Lazard entered the league, he has been one of the top UDFA receivers in the NFL in the past five years. Here’s a look at where Lazard ranks among other UDFAs since 2018:
Receiving TDs: Lazard’s 19 TD catches since 2018 rank third. Minnesota’s Adam Thielen tops the list with 41 TD receptions. Lazard has his sights on Robbie Anderson who is in second with 20 TD catches.
Receptions: Thielen again leads the UDFA receivers’ category with 322 since 2018. Lazard ranks 11th with 139 receptions since ’18.
Receiving yards: Thielen tops this UDFA receiver stat since 2018 with 3,860. Lazard is in the Top 10 at #10 with 1,875 receiving yards.
(It’s important to note that in Lazard’s first season in the league, 2018, his stat line included one reception for seven yards. That means almost all his stats in the league have come from 2019-2022.)
Lazard among Top 3 UDFA receivers in Green Bay history
While time will tell whether Lazard has a long career in the NFL, and with the Packers, he has already established himself as one of the top UDFA receivers in Green Bay history. His career numbers in TD catches, receptions and receiving yards as an UDFA receiver with the Packers places him as one of the Top 3 in each category:
Packers’ UDFA receivers
Most career TD receptions
1. Don Hutson, 25 *
2. Allen Lazard, 19
3. Bob Mann, 16 (played with the Packers from 1951-53)
Most career receptions
1. Perry Kemp, 182
2. Allen Lazard, 139
3. Bob Mann, 103
Most career receiving yards
1. Perry Kemp, 2,341
2. Don Hutson, 1,913 *
3. Allen Lazard, 1,875
- Technically, Hutson was an UDFA although the NFL draft did not begin until 1936, a year after Hutson began playing for the Packers.
The best UDFA receivers in NFL history
For the record, the two most successful UDFA receivers in the history of the NFL are Rod Smith and Wes Welker. Smith played from 1995-2006 with Denver and had 846 receptions, 11,389 receiving yards and 68 TD receptions. Welker had a 12-year career from 2004-15. He had 903 catches, 9,924 receiving yards and 50 TD receptions.
Lazard may never get anywhere near the numbers put up by fellow UDFA’s Smith and Welker, but he has already made an impact in Green Bay as one of Aaron Rodgers’ favorite targets over the last four seasons.
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