Former Griz WR Samori Toure turning heads in Green Bay during transformative offseason

The second-year NFL player has garnered praise from Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur. The most recent compliments came unprompted from wide receivers coach Jason Vrable.

“If you guys could see Samori right now, you wouldn’t even recognize the guy from last year, his growth,” Vrable said May 18 in a press conference video posted on the Wisconsin State Journal’s website. "He’s probably, of everybody, the one that everyone around the building is like, ‘83 looks unbelievable right now.’

“He’s put on like 8-10 pounds, he has worked his butt off, and he’s just grown into his own. So, you feel comfortable in your own skin and you play fast and you play with confidence, and that’s all you really want.”

In preparation for Year 2, Toure worked with Aaron Woods, a former CFL player who owns Grind Time Fit and Elite Grind Meals near Toure's hometown of Portland, Oregon. Woods provided Toure with an offseason workout plan and a nutrition program that provided him meals and snacks.

That helped Toure, 25, lose fat and gain lean muscle to bulk up from 184 to 193 pounds in his 6-foot-1 frame. It was the first time the two of them worked together for a full offseason although they had done some occasional training when Toure was at Montana and Nebraska.

“Samori’s always had a slender body type,” Woods said, according to a Sports Illustrated article. “When you’re a slender guy like that, especially if you don’t prepare yourself for the camps and the preseason and the long NFL season, your body starts to break down. We wanted to put about 10 pounds on him going into OTAs and camp.

“He’s going to be running a lot more and training a lot more, so you’re going to lose 5 pounds, easy. We want to keep him at that 192-ish level. And then we wanted to instill good habits. Wake up, get a good breakfast in you. Eat your lunch, make sure you get an ample amount of protein, take your vitamins, take your supplements, recover.

“I tell guys the lifting weights, that breaks your body down. It’s the recovery that builds your muscle. It’s getting 8 hours of sleep, hydrating, doing all the little things — massage, chiropractor, cold tub — to prepare yourself for the next day.”

Toure had received the nickname “Captain Casual” from then-Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers during 2022 training camp as a way to get the rookie to improve his practice habits. He began to shake off that moniker as he played in the final 11 games of the season after being a healthy scratch in the first six games of the year.

“I feel like I’ve made a big jump,” Toure said following OTAs on May 31 in a locker room interview video posted on the Packers' website. “I feel like that’s been something that’s been consistent with me, even throughout college. I’ve been able to make a lot of progress throughout each year.

“It’s just a matter of being comfortable with the system, the playbook and the speed of play, all that. It’s really just about learning from your mistakes and from the previous year. I feel like I can build on what I did last year.”

Toure played in 11 games and made two starts this past fall in his first season with Green Bay. He caught five of the 10 passes targeted for him, totaling 82 yards and one touchdown. He made explosive plays as he averaged 16.4 yards per catch with a long reception of 37 yards.

“I’m grateful for being able to see the field at all last year and for the opportunities that I did have,” Toure added. “Obviously, I would have liked more, but that’s my chance this year to build on that and be more involved.”

Toure appears to have every opportunity to earn increased playing time as the Packers' wide receiver room is considerably young. His 11 games played are the third most among the 10 receivers on the team. Only Christian Watson (14) and Romeo Doubs (13) have played more.

Toure, Watson and Doubs were all drafted in 2022, with the former Griz getting selected in the seventh round after being an All-American at Montana in 2019 and playing his final season in the Big Ten Conference at Nebraska in 2021. The three of them will be counted on to fill a bigger leadership role going into their second seasons, LaFleur noted.

“I think they kind of do that naturally,” the head coach said May 6 in a press conference video posted on the Packers’ website. “It’s fun to watch the jump that a lot of these guys make from Year 1 to Year 2 in terms of just how they mature as men. They (Watson and Doubs) are going to be two of the guys that we’re going to be leaning on, especially in that room. I think Samori is another one that kind of knows the standards and expectations for that position room.

“I’ve said it prior, in terms of what the guys that had been here before kind of set those standards and those expectations. All three of those guys are really smart dudes, and they understand what it takes. They are going to have to take on a bigger leadership role whether they want to or not.”

Toure will be catching passes from a new quarterback this season as fourth-year signal caller Jordan Love takes over for Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP who is now with the New York Jets. The Packers, who are 47-19 in four seasons under LaFleur, also lost veteran receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb to the Jets.

Gutekunst brought up Toure unprompted when asked about Watson and Doubs on Dec. 5, saying he was high on the potential for all three players. He was again optimistic about that trio when discussing the wideouts, saying he thought those three could anchor the receiver room this coming season.

“I think they could,” Gutekunst said Jan. 13 in a press conference video posted on the Packers’ website. “At the same time, they’re going to be second-year players, right, and so I think if there was a veteran in that room that does things the right way and can help lead that room, that would be good. But I’m very excited about those guys and their ability, what they can do in the future, not only as players but in leading that room.

“Whenever you have the guys like Randall Cobb or Allen Lazard, guys that have been there and done that, it’s very helpful to those young players and allows them to play freer. Certainly, that would be more ideal. As far as what they need to do, I think the NFL game is different and I think all of them need to kind of continue to get better at learning how to get off press and then just play where they’re not thinking. That’s not just them, it’s all young players.”