{"id":10335,"date":"2018-08-22T12:45:50","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T17:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/?p=10335"},"modified":"2018-08-28T15:08:28","modified_gmt":"2018-08-28T20:08:28","slug":"jake-kumerow-packers-great-white-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/jake-kumerow-packers-great-white-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Kumerow is the Packers’ latest Great White Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Green Bay Packers are a football team steeped in tradition<\/a> \u2014 both the kind that is recognized by the organization and the more informal, unofficial kind. In the latter category is the annual habit of fans to get attached to a Great White Hope<\/a>: a fringe roster player who likely will amount to nothing but has captured the minds and hearts of summer onlookers.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s runaway favorite for the role is wide receiver Jake Kumerow<\/a>. Measuring 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, the third-year player \u2014 sporting a head full of long, flowing locks \u2014 checks just about all the boxes Packers fans seek out when looking for a player to irrationally fall in love with.<\/p>\n

First and foremost, he is at best a borderline NFL talent. This is essential for summer football fandom. It\u2019s easy to get attached to a highly-touted draft pick or a free agent with proven skills. Those players are supposed to be good. A preseason crush has to actually be bad yet flash just enough to make you think, \u201cOK, but if everything breaks just right, maybe he could be something…\u201d He has to be of the everyman quality that makes people think anyone can make it with enough hard work and dedication.<\/p>\n

Kumerow has this in spades. He went undrafted in 2015 and spent two seasons on the Cincinnati Bengals\u2019 practice squad. Last year he lasted two weeks with the New England Patriots (another team with a rich tradition of Great White Hope players) before landing on the Packers\u2019 practice squad. Players fall through the cracks all the time in the NFL, but Kumerow didn\u2019t hear his name called for the 256 selections of his draft and he twice passed through waivers. This makes him a prime candidate to get overly attached to for no good reason.<\/p>\n

There are two ways for these kinds of players to catch on with fans: flash some sort of physical gifts that can\u2019t be taught, or over-perform expectations in typically meaningless situations that cause people to imagine those talents appearing in actual game situations.<\/p>\n

Ex-Packers wideout Jeff Janis<\/a> embodies the former. With his big frame, a blazing fast 4.42-second 40-yard dash time, and a sky-touching vertical leap, Janis was the type of receiver most teams dream of having on their roster. Unfortunately, his on-field skills never caught up to his physical prowess. The man can\u2019t run any direction but straight, and save for two miraculous catches<\/a> in a playoff game he never really left his mark in Green Bay in any meaningful way other than amassing undeserved support<\/a> from fans. Now he\u2019s trying to make the Cleveland Browns\u2019 roster.<\/p>\n

Kumerow falls decidedly into the category of the overachiever. His measurables aren\u2019t anything to write home about: He has average speed and acceleration, an underwhelming vertical leap, and he doesn\u2019t have the strength to shrug off defenders. But what he lacks in physical abilities, he has more than made up for in his performance on the practice field and in preseason game action.<\/p>\n

The hype train for the long shot wide receiver started this offseason when he stood out on the practice field, pulling in catches and building a rapport with Aaron Rodgers. Then, when the quarterback chewed out the slew of young wideouts on the roster for turning in a \u201cpiss poor effort<\/a>\u201d during a drill, he went out of his way to mention Kumerow as one of the few who actually showed up.<\/p>\n

And through two preseason games, Kumerow has managed to turn in big play after big play. In the opener, against the Tennessee Titans, he beat his man to pull down a 52-yard bomb from Tim Boyle.<\/p>\n