The Green Bay Packers made waves in the NFL when they traded future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets to allow Jordan Love to take over as starter. While last year’s focus was primarily on the quarterback position, it’s also worth noting that the Packers also gave their wide receiver room a major facelift.
In 2023, the Packers had the youngest offense in the NFL, largely due to the fact that every single one of their wide receivers and tight ends were either rookies or second-year players. Due to the team’s lack of NFL experience, many did not predict the Packers would go very far in 2023.
However, Love and his young offense overcame a slow start to the season, winning seven of their final ten games and finishing the season with a record of 9-8. They defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round and had a thrilling battle with the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round before ultimately losing.
The Green Bay Packers had a balanced wide receiver group in 2023
In addition to trading Rodgers ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Packers also allowed veteran wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb to leave as free agents. The year before, they traded Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders after he informed the team he would not play under the franchise tag.
Instead of following the advice of the national media and signing a veteran wide receiver, the Packers used a total of six NFL draft picks in two years to bolster their depth at the position. In 2022, they selected Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure. Last year, they selected Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks and Grant DuBose.
DuBose did not play in 2023 due to an injury sustained during training camp, but the Packers drafted the rest of their young wide receivers (and rookie tight ends) as Love’s primary weapons in his first year as a starter.
And to the shock of many people, it worked:
| player | Receptions | Shipyards | Touchdowns |
| Romeo Doubs | 59 | 674 | 8 |
| Christian Watson | 28 | 422 | 5 |
| Jayden Reed | 64 | 793 | 8 |
| Dontayvion Wicks | 39 | 581 | 4 |
| Malik Heath | 15 | 125 | 1 |
| Bo Melton | 16 | 218 | 1 |
| Luke Musgrave | 34 | 352 | 1 |
| Tucker Kraft | 31 | 355 | 2 |
| Ben Sims | 4 | 21 | 1 |
As seen above, Jayden Reed led the team in receptions and receiving yards as a rookie last season. He was also tied with sophomore wide receiver Romeo Doubs in touchdowns.
Christian Watson scored five touchdowns, the second-highest total on the team, despite only appearing in nine games. Dontayvion Wicks had a solid rookie season and was compared to Davante Adams for his route running.
Matt LaFleur, head coach of the Green Bay Packers, has had enough of the debate about Wide Receiver One
The big question on many fans and analysts’ minds is which of the Packers’ young wide receivers will emerge as the traditional wide receiver on the roster. Throughout the offseason, Love and head coach Matt LaFleur have stated that they feel they have several top-notch wide receivers on the team.
Today, LaFleur was asked again which player he thought could be the Packers’ best wide receiver. He replied, “Every time I hear No. 1 receiver, I puke. It drives me crazy. That’s what you guys always talk about. I think we have a lot of them.”
Matt LaFleur: “Every time I hear the first receiver, I puke. It drives me crazy. That’s what you all talk about. I think we have a lot of them.”
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) 12 August 2024
It’s great that Green Bay has so many talented wide receivers. What’s even better is that none of them have huge egos. They support each other, knowing that any one of them could be the top target on any given week.
For them, the team really comes first.
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