Jordy might not have freakish, rare athletic talents like a few of top end WR's in the league, but I think he's still one of the best in the NFL considering all the parts of his game. A few things having watched him since college:
I think he lacks top end speed (sure he ran away from the vikings defense but so has everyone else this year). But that is about it, those two TD throws rodgers made last night were incredible and the 1st nelson TD catch was ridiculous
This is actually backwards. The strength of Nelson's game is his top end speed. He doesn't have the short area explosion or quickness of a guy like Cobb or some of the freaks mentioned in the top five, but once he gets into top gear he rarely if ever gets caught from behind. That's why he's the primary deep threat in the Packers offense, if you go watch 2011 Nelson highlights its largely him running vertical trees right past coverage down-field.
That Favre guy is essentially wrong about pretty much everything as well so not going to bother responding to most of the nonsense in that post, Nelson has a bunch of nice qualities in how he plays the position:
-LIS, fantastic top end speed that makes him a legitimate vertical threat
-Works outside the boundary along the sideline as well as any WR in the NFL. Definitely special in that regard.
-Like most of GB's WR's under McCarthy, both a savvy route-runner and plays with a great feel for the defense. Jimmy Robinson (when he was here as WR coach) placed a big emphasis on fundamentals of the WR position, a tradition that Edgar Bennett has carried on with. GB's WR's are the best in the league when it comes to getting open once the pocket or plays breaks down and Rodgers starts scrambling around, and being able to feel a defense effectively means even slowpokes like Boykin still manage to get separation from NFL defensive backs pretty consisently. IDK why the other guy called him an "okay route runner" when its been a strength of Cobb, Nelson, Jones, and was one of the primary facets of Jennings' game that made him so successful in Green Bay as well. GB reminds me a lot of Peyton-era Indy in that regard with Harrison, Wayne, etc, lots of good route runners that can feel the defense and create openings for the QB.
-One of the best (again) aspects of the GB offensive scheme is that they move all the WR's around; all of them can and do play the X, Y, and Z, so the Packers can shift to favor match-ups easily. Go watch the the all-22 from yesterday and watch them play Nelson in the slot almost the whole game, impressive considering he's usually considered an outside WR who isn't know for his short burst, quickness, or lateral agility. Nelson can win everywhere on the field, he doesn't have to be lined up in a given spot to find success.
-He (and James Jones) are both particularly strong guys as well, I've seen Jordy throw his fair share of impressive stiff arms, blocks, and use his large size to create extra yards by bouncing off tacklers. He's not Brandon Marshall or anything but he can definitely create his own YAC
And I think it's important to remember its not like Nelson was some also-ran scrub WR GB just dumpster picked. He was a borderline first round pick out of Kansas State solely off tape he put together his senior year, roasted NFL talent like Aqib Talib at school, and finished second in Biletnikoff award voting to Michael Crabtree and his video game Texas Tech numbers. You don't get drafted that high if there isn't some expectation that there are good qualities in your game, it just took Nelson a bit to get going. Just calling him a "white receiver" sells him short by painting him as just some quick white slot guy.
If you include all those aspects of his game, you get a top ten receiver IMO. More of a sum of his parts than a look at X facet of my game player.
EDIT: Jennings was elite in his time with Green Bay. The injuries the past few years I think have done some things to his game, but a few years ago it could be argued he was the second best route runner in the NFL after Reggie Wayne. His short-area movement skills (were) and are still IMO ridiculous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBzkCCUtEO4
Couldn't find the clip but one of my favorite connections between the two was a little short pass Rodgers flipped to him in the 2007 Cowboys game where he relieved an injured Favre where Jennings makes a great little jump cut move and navigates through a ton of defensive players to gain a quick 15+ yard completion, really typified what made Jennings fun to watch here.
His worst game this season is 5 for 82.
