Aryan wunderkind trying out for Packers

limitless

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In the past 36 hours, wide receiver Moritz Boehringer has become one of the hottest names in the 2016 NFL Draft. The 22-year old German wideout was virtually unknown before Wednesday, but reports that he would be working out at Florida Atlantic University's Pro Day on Thursday got his name out there, and we at Acme Packing Company took special note because the Green Bay Packers were mentioned as a team that has been researching him.

Now that his workout is complete, he is under the radar no longer.


Here is the summary of his Pro Day from Tony Pauline, via Walterfootball.com:

German receiver Moritz Wilhelm Boehringer put up Olympian-type of numbers. He measured 6044, 227 pounds, posted a vertical jump of 39 inches, a broad jump of 10-11, timed anywhere from 4.38 to 4.45 in the 40 while also running 4.09 in the short shuttle and 6.64 in the 3-cone. Wow!! I'm told he also looked good catching the ball.

As an aside, it's a little hilarious to see the last sentence of that description thrown in for a little extra context. It's almost as if his ability to catch is an afterthought regarding whether he can play wideout.

Mike Kaye of First Coast News confirmed that Boehringer's official 40 times were 4.41 and 4.51 seconds.

Let's try to put Boehringer's numbers into context. As far as we can tell from the NFL's Scouting Combine results, the last wide receiver who left Indianapolis after measuring 6'4" or taller, weighing over 225 pounds, and running his 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds or less was named Calvin Johnson.


Let that sink in for a moment.

Okay, now let's snap back to reality. Boehringer will not be Calvin Johnson, and he certainly won't be Megatron in his first NFL season if he makes a 53-man roster this fall. If anything, Boehringer's best comparison in terms of size, physical ability, and need to grow as a player might already be on the Green Bay Packers' roster: Jeff Janis.

Janis played his college ball at Division II Saginaw State, a far cry from elite college football competition. Likewise, Boehringer is looking to enter the draft after playing in the German Football League for the past few years. Both players dominated their defensive competition before leaving for the NFL, and like Janis, Boehringer will likely need time to learn how to run a full route tree and understand an NFL offense.

Beyond the experience factor, though, let's match up the physical parameters of the two and see how well the comparison works.

Measurement Jeff Janis (2014 Combine) Moritz Boehringer (Pro Day)
Height 6' 2-7/8" 6' 4-1/2"
Weight 219 lbs 227 lbs
40-yard dash 4.42 4.41
Vertical 37 1/2" 39"
Broad jump 10' 3" 10' 11"
20-yard shuttle 3.98 4.09
3-cone 6.64 6.64
Those are actually remarkably similar numbers for the two, with both possessing elite short-area quickness and excellent speed in a large frame. Both have excellent explosiveness as well, as their leaping measurements demonstrate, but Boehringer even exceeds Janis there. However, Boehringer's numbers are probably more impressive, considering he carries an extra inch and five eighths and eight more pounds.

We would have included Megatron's measurements as well, but he did no drills other than run the 40-yard dash at the Combine in 2007. For the sake of argument, however, he measured in at 6'5" and 239 pounds, and NFL.com shows his 40-yard dash time at 4.35 seconds.

Here are a pair of videos taken by Mike Kaye at the Pro Day workout, which show his size, speed, and shiftiness:
 

Don Wassall

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It would be nice to see a team other than New England and Green Bay show an interest in White receivers. But Boehringer is smart to try to hook on with the Packers (or Patriots).

I doubt he'll be drafted despite his freaky athleticism, which is better for him as at least he'll be able to pick among the teams interested in signing him as a free agent.

His name reminds me of Marc Boerigter, another tall and fast receiver (6' 3" 220 lbs with 4.4 speed) who went to tiny Hastings and who was totally screwed over by Kansas City (and the rest of the league) after flashing great talent in limited use with the Chiefs in 2002. He turned 20 catches into 420 yards and 8 TDs in '02, including a 99 yard touchdown. Boerigter's 8 TDs were ninth best in the league that year despite having just 20 receptions. But "amazingly" he was hardly used after that and eventually had a knee injury before quickly being out of the league.
 
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Don Wassall

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I don't mean to hijack this thread as I very much hope Boehringer gets a legitimate shot at the NFL and this thread becomes a long celebration of his career, but wanted to post this YouTube video of Marc Boerigter when he was a star in the CFL. He went from there to the NFL, and showed studly potential as mentioned in my post above.

Check his size compared to the d-backs he effortlessly outran, who are a good head shorter. I remember his 99 yard TD catch for Kansas City (which I couldn't find on YouTube), none of the much smaller black d-backs could gain any ground on him, yet he was quickly run out of the league.

In the fantasy football league I was in, there was a bunch of owners all jockeying to draft Boerigter in '03, figuring he would start for KC after his astonishing 21 yards per catch average and 8 TDs in limited action the year before. He was taken in the second round in our league, and of course did nothing as the Chiefs' crybaby Caste whore of a coach, none other than Dick Vermeil, who regarded super-criminal Lawrence Phillips as a son, placed Boerigter deep on the bench.

 
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Thrashen

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Don, I also remember Marc Boerigter's career very well. I was a 16 year old high school football player (WR/LB) at the time as his great success (and subsequent inexplicable disappearance) was one of the first times I realized the racial Caste System in the NFL was very real.

He indeed could've been a superstar flanker on the level of Jordy Nelson.

Marc was also jerked around by the Packers and Colts in 2006 before returning to the CFL.
 
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