Who Is Jared Abbrederis?

If the season started right now, I would bet money that Jared Abbrederis was the Lions third wide receiver. He was ESPN writer Rob Dombrovsky‘s “breakout player” for the Packers in the 2016 offseason.

Abbredaris is not the most jaw-dropping athlete and put up a comically small number of bench reps at his combine. Three years later, however, he had all the earmarks of an ascending player for the Packers. He narrowly lost the third receiver role to Devonte Adams, hurt his thigh, and took an injury settlement in October.

The Lions picked him up January 9, 2017.

What Can Jared Abbrederis Do?

He will compete for the Lions kick returning job in the wake of Andre Roberts’ departure to Atlanta. He is also an effective possession receiver inside the hash marks. It is route running that sets his game apart from most of the other 4th-5th WR options in the NFL.

He has a really good set of hands. He has all of the attributes that you might give to a player in the “Rudy” mold. Former walk-on to scholarship and eventually the number one receiver at Wisconsin? Check.

Described as a “Coach on the field?” Check. A great deal of football intelligence? Check. Hard working and coachable? Check.

Even if you hadn’t seen the two pictures above this you could probably guess just by the “scout speak” that he was a white guy playing a skill position. That is how they tend to be described unless they’re also meth addicts. Abbredaris is a legitimate NFL player though who has just never taken that last step to make an impact on offense for a team on Sundays.

The bottom line on Jared Abbredaris is that every wide receiver signed by the Lions should push him down a spot but I would not be surprised at all if he made the final roster. He will make a team somewhere, and that team very well could be the Lions.

He is a fine fifth WR, but less than adequate third. Jared Abbredaris is probably the most intriguing signing Bob Quinn made in January of 2017.