Three Concerning Questions at Receiver for Packers Begin, End With Depth Chart

Last season, Romeo Doubs led the Green Bay Packers in receptions and receiving yards and tied for first in receiving touchdowns. Dontayvion Wicks was fifth in catches, fifth in yards and practically carried the offense to a big win at Detroit.

Doubs and Wicks, of course, are no longer with the team. Between them, they caught 85 passes for 1,056 yards and eight touchdowns last season. They were targeted 131 times.

That’s a lot of production that went out the door. And while it’s chic to say the Packers will adapt with a less-is-more approach to the passing game in which the remaining receivers flourish with expanded roles and a greater workload, the opposite just as easily could be true. Maybe less really is just less.

Here are the three big questions about the Packers’ receivers with the start of training camp approaching.

Can Christian Watson Be a Star?

Armed with an extra second-round pick from the Davante Adams trade, the Packers in 2022 moved up toward the top of the second round and selected Christian Watson. Green Bay had hit home runs with Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams in the second round. Surely, Watson – with his incredible combination of size and speed – would do the same.

Not so much.

As the 34th overall selection, Watson was the seventh receiver off the board. He is 10th among receivers in the draft class in catches and yards and fourth in touchdowns. There have been 13 individual 1,000-yard seasons produced by the draft class; Watson hasn’t surpassed 620 yards.

He’s had his moments of dominance but not enough of them due in part to probably an equal combination of Green Bay’s receiver depth chart and the fact he’s missed 20 games in four seasons.

Now, of course, is the time for Watson to turn potential into consistent production. On the heels of catching 35 passes for 611 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games last season following a torn ACL – a 17-game projection of about 60 receptions for 1,040 yards and 10 touchdowns – the Packers gave him a big contract extension that puts him almost in the top 20 at the position in terms of annual salary.

Without Doubs and Wicks to command opportunities, Watson doesn’t just have a chance to reach 1,000 yards. He has a chance to blow past it. He has a chance to become the star that everyone projected.

If he stays healthy.

But can he? Will talent, opportunity and mindset align with health?

“I think that’s the main thing,” he acknowledged. “I feel like that’s the main thing everyone wants to see – obviously, including myself – is just a full season of it. So, that’s my goal going forward is to put myself in the best position to, obviously, stay healthy throughout the entire season. Get a full season of that across 17 games-plus.”

What Does Year 2 Mean for Matthew Golden?

There was no way Matthew Golden was going to live up to the first-round hype last year. Not in a jam-packed receiver corps. So, that the fourth receiver off the board wound up ninth in catches, eighth in yards and failed to score a touchdown wasn’t a tremendous surprise.

This offseason, general manager Brian Gutekunst parted ways with Doubs and Wicks to clear the path to playing time for Golden. It’s time for Golden to not only live up to the expectations that come with being a first-round pick but that come with the cliched second-year jump.

“Year 1 as a rookie, there’s just so much on your plate – trying to learn a whole new scheme, trying to go play at the highest level there is,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “It takes time. I know for me it definitely did, and it wasn’t all clicking my rookie year.

“It takes time and reps. I think the more reps you get under your belt, the more comfortable you get. For a receiver, the more different looks you’re able to see (that) defenses are giving you, and you understand how to run routes a certain way, the timing of routes, where to be in certain windows. Then you just start going out there making plays and stop thinking as much. I think for guys like that, it’s inevitable they make that Year 2 stride.”

Golden was sensational during the playoff game. The drafted rookie receivers combined for 56 touchdown catches last season. Golden, however, had the only one during the playoffs.

“That’s just scratching the surface of what I can do,” Golden said. “I know there’s a lot in there and I know it. I’m excited for the opportunities that’s going to come this year and I’m going to make the most of it.”

Golden has elite speed. He’s got improved strength. He obviously knows the playbook better so can play faster. The route-running ability and hands that he flashed from the moment he arrived in Green Bay following the draft carried forward through the offseason program.

Now, he has to put it all together. The Packers know what they have in Christian Watson and Jayden Reed. The offense might go as Golden goes.

“A lot of opportunities. A lot of balls thrown to those two guys, obviously,” Golden said of Doubs and Wicks. “My mindset going into Year 2 is make the most plays that I can. With the confidence I have now, I have no doubt whenever I step on the field, I’m going to be in attack mode.”

Do the Packers Have More Than Three Receivers?

Here’s where the less-is-more assumption at receiver could go up in smoke.

What if Watson, Reed or Golden are injured?

That’s not much of a hypothetical. All three have been injured. Watson has played in 48 of a possible 68 games in four seasons. Reed missed only one game his first two seasons but 10 last year, meaning he’s played in 40 of a possible 51. Golden played in 14 as a rookie. Added together in their eight total seasons, they’ve played in 102 of a possible 136 games.

Combined, they played 1,040 snaps last season. Fifteen individual receivers played more snaps the last five seasons.

So, yes, the Packers’ depth chart will be tested.

Will they find the answers? Or, on third-and-long, will the Packers essentially be playing 10 against 11?

Savion Williams caught all 10 targets as a rookie before missing the final six games (and the playoff game) with a foot injury. He had a 33-yard catch at the Giants on a critical downfield strike. Otherwise, the other nine passes were caught a combined 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage.That’s not any way, shape or form the life of a real NFL receiver.

“He’s a big guy who’s powerful and fast,” passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable said at the start of the offseason program. “He had the foot injury, and it’s never an excuse, but I think to get better, you have to practice and you have to practice hard.

“And you have to do some stuff that maybe you’re not good at, over and over and over again, to get out of your comfort zone. And when you’re injured on and off throughout the year and you don’t get to practice enough, I think maybe that set him back a little bit for maybe where he probably wanted to be at the end of the year.”

Skyy Moore, who was signed in free agency, has five catches (and two drops) the last two seasons. Bo Melton focused on cornerback last season and caught four passes (with two drops).

And that’s it. The rest of Green Bay’s receivers have zero career catches. Isaiah Neyor and Will Sheppard spent their rookie seasons on the practice squad. Brenden Rice was a seventh-round pick by the Chargers in 2024. J. Michael Sturdivant is an undrafted rookie.

As much as it will be important for Love to build chemistry with the three receivers who will carry the passing game, it will be critical for Love and the coaches to figure out who else can be relied upon.

“I love having as many options as possible,” Love said. “I loved having all those guys in the room. Obviously, for them, everybody wants the ball and it is hard to feed everybody. But at receiver, you don’t play every play. Guys get tired, they’re rotating in and out, so you always want to have the best out there.

“So, now, it’s about finding those next guys – finding those next guys to take that step. We’ve got guys. We’ve got Savion, we’ve got Bo – guys that are going to build up and hopefully be able to be there to take the load off when Christian, J-Reed and M.G. when they need a break. So, it’s about building that foundation and getting those next guys who are going to be the next playmakers for us.”

Related: Here are three questions about the offensive line, tight ends, running backs and quarterbacks.

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