Packers By Position: Young Wide Receiver Group Exceeded All Expectations

This is the fourth in a nine-part series examining the Green Bay Packers’ strengths, weaknesses and offseason plan at each position. Today we look at the wide receivers.

The other positional overviews are listed below.

LOOKING BACK

Six months ago the wide receiver group was the greatest question mark on the team.

Today, the receiver position is one of the Packers’ greatest strengths.

Rookies Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks had tremendous first seasons. Second-year man Romeo Doubs was consistent throughout the year, then erupted in the playoffs, while first-year pro Bo Melton surged late.

If 2022 second-round draft pick Christian Watson — arguably the most talented player in the group — can remain healthy, this could become one of the NFL’s elite group of wideouts.

Green Bay may not have a true No. 1 receiver like it did with Davante Adams, Jordy Nelson or Antonio Freeman. Having a handful of No. 2 wideouts, though, could eventually prove to be a better situation for the entire passing offense.

“For the most part if you have a good collective group and the quarterback’s reading his progressions, he’ll find the open guy,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “I think that’s the biggest advantage is defenses can’t really game plan to take a guy away. And if they did, now we’ve got these other guys that can get open. So yeah, it’s been pretty cool to see.”

Doubs was second on the team in catches (59) and yards (674) during the regular season, and tied for the team lead with eight receiving touchdowns. Then he had a sensational postseason with 10 receptions, 234 yards and two TDs in two games.

“He’s got a great work ethic, a great approach,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said of Doubs. “I love his mentality when that ball is in the air. He is going to snatch that ball. We’ve seen it time after time, just the way that he attacks the football in the air.”

Reed, a second round draft pick last April, had a tremendous first year.

Reed led the Packers in catches (64), which also broke the single-season receptions record by a Packers rookie previously held by Sterling Sharpe (55). Reed also led Green Bay in receiving yards (793), tied for the team lead with eight TD catches and carried the ball for 119 yards and two TDs despite battling a bevy of injuries throughout the year.

“He’s just a heck of a competitor,” LaFleur said of Reed late in the season. “He’s helped us not only in the pass game obviously, but just getting the ball in his hands on reverses, arounds, whatever it may be, screens. I love how he competes, both in the run game and pass game. He’s made plays when given opportunities.”

Wicks (39-581-4) got progressively better throughout the year and could have the most upside in the group. Wicks averaged an impressive 14.9 yards per catch, but his three fumbles were the most in the receivers group and are a concern.

“He has a great mindset,” Green Bay receivers coach Jason Vrable said of Wicks. “But if you really watch him on contact, he kind of has a running back lower half where his whole foot gets in the ground on contact and his lower half is strong. He does a good job when the first guy touches him, that his pad level is low and he runs through it.”

Melton, who went undrafted in 2022, didn’t have a catch until Week 15, then had 15 receptions for 211 yards in the last three games.

Watson had a remarkably frustrating season playing in just nine games and taking the field for just 40.7% of the snaps. Watson had 28 receptions and five touchdowns in his limited time, but this marks the second straight year injuries have derailed his season.

Others such as Malik Heath (15-125-1) help give Green Bay one of the deeper — and tougher units to defend — in the league.

“You never really know who’s going to have the big game for us in the receiver room,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said. “You have plays dialed up for some guys and other times it’s just kind of the looks we get defensively, who might be catching the ball.

“But I think the mindset, they all want the ball, they all expect the ball on every play, and that’s what’s helping them be successful. Going out there and making plays when the ball is coming their way.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Amazingly, the Packers had a different leading receiver every month from September through January. And with so many players capable of playing a leading role, 2024 could be much of the same.

“I think it’s a very unselfish room and I think it’s the character of everybody in that room,” Love said. “It’s a great group and they’ve come together a lot throughout the season, just the bond.

“The routes the run they run, a lot of them, they might know they’re not getting the ball, but they’re clearing guys out, opening voids up for their brothers, and they do that in the run game as well, going out there and blocking for their brothers. It’s a very unselfish room and it’s helping guys be able to perform at high levels. Sometimes it might be one guy getting the ball, getting a lot of receptions, getting a lot of yards, and another guy next week. It’s just that whole mindset in that room is awesome.”

The Packers’ remarkably young receivers should be better in 2024 simply because they’ll all be far more experienced. The fastest way for the group to move from good to great, though, would be the emergence of Watson.

The 6-foot-4, 208-pound Watson is undoubtedly the most gifted of Green Bay’s current wideouts. He ran a blazing 4.32-second 40-yard dash at the 2022 NFL Combine, had terrific numbers in the vertical jump (38-1/2”) and the broad jump (11-4), and also has big hands (10 1/8”). In addition, he posted a terrific score of 38 on the 50-question Wonderlic test.

The problem is Watson has played just 43.5% of the snaps due to a variety of injuries. The most frequent roadblock has been hamstring injuries, which robbed Watson of eight games in 2023.

“That’s something that we need to figure out because … he’s an impact player,” LaFleur said of Watson. “We see his value when he’s going at full strength. His ability to make plays for us, explosive plays, and we’re better when he’s on the grass.”

OFFSEASON PLAN

Hall of Fame general manager Ron Wolf said one of greatest regrets was not giving Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre enough high-level wide receivers to work with.

Ted Thompson loaded up on wide receivers for Aaron Rodgers between 2006-14, then neglected the position later in his tenure.

Gutekunst selected three wideouts in the 2022 draft and three more in 2023, so in theory, the Packers appear in good shape. But as Wolf and Thompson learned, it would be foolish to ignore the position altogether.

It’s another strong wide receiver draft, where as many as six could go in the first round. The Packers won’t take one that high, but in a league where offenses win championships, you can never have enough receivers. So taking one in the second or third round might not be out of the question.

PREVIOUS STORIES

Part 1 — Quarterbacks

Part 2 — Running backs

Part 3 — Tight ends