Packers 2024 Report Card: Grading Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson and Receivers

There were high hopes for the Green Bay Packers’ receivers entering the 2024 season but they – and the rest of the offense – failed to take the next step.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed led the team in receptions and yards in 2024. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jordan Love wasn’t the only player on the Green Bay Packers’ offense to dominate down the stretch in 2023. So did the receivers, which led to high hopes that Green Bay in 2024 could field an elite receiver corps without having an elite receiver.

After all, Jayden Reed looked like a potential star and Romeo Doubs was practically unstoppable in the playoffs. Plus, there were high hopes for Dontayvion Wicks after a promising rookie season and Christian Watson after a specialist got to the root of his hamstring issues.

In the end, the potential shown in 2023 didn’t become consistent production in 2024.

With that as a backdrop, here is Part 3 of our annual series of player report cards. As we’ve done for about 15 seasons, the grades are viewed through the lens of the salary cap. Why? Because the financial component is so critical to building a team. A championship team needs its most-expensive players to be among its best players, and it needs young, inexpensive players to rise to prominent roles.

All cap figures are from OverTheCap.com. Analytical stats are from Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions.

Christian Watson

2024 salary cap: $2,520,280. Position rank: 65th.

Green Bay’s receivers might not have lived up to the hype, but that Watson was the most-expensive player on the depth chart shows the value.

After hamstring issues sidelined him for significant chunks of his first and second seasons, the Packers sent Watson to specialists at the University of Wisconsin. That was a success. Watson didn’t miss any time due to hamstrings.

Instead, he missed one game after his ankle got bent the wrong direction against Minnesota and another game when a Saints defender fell on his knee as he skidded out of bounds. After missing the Week 17 loss to the Vikings, he suffered a torn ACL early in the Week 18 loss to the Bears. The timing could hardly be worse, with Watson entering the final season of his rookie contract and probably going to miss most, if not all, of the first half of the season.

After catching 41 passes in 14 games as a rookie in 2022, Watson caught 28 passes in nine games last season and 29 passes in 15 games this year. He had the unit’s only fumble, a huge one at Detroit.

However, of 84 receivers who were targeted at least 50 times, his 21.4 yards per catch ranked second and his 2.26 yards per route ranked 14th. He dropped only two passes and caught 10-of-15 in contested-catch situations, a huge improvement over 6-of-18 in 2023.

Watson’s game-breaking speed must be taken into account on every play, which is why he’s irreplaceable, even if he caught only 7-of-19 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield (36.8 percent). He’ll always block and do the right thing.

Grade: C.

Jayden Reed

2024 salary cap: $1,631,995. Position rank: 88th.

Reed was No. 1 on the team with 55 receptions and 857 yards and No. 2 with 15.6 yards per catch and six touchdowns.

And yet, it was a disappointing season as Reed, for some inexplicable reason, went from looking like the best player in a talented bunch of receivers to simply just one member of the talented group.

Reed had three 100-yard games in the first nine games but hit 50 yards just once the rest of the season. In critical road losses to the Lions and Vikings, he caught 1-of-5 targets for just 6 yards.

Of 84 receivers who were targeted at least 50 times, Reed finished 17th with 2.20 yards per route and he caught 8-of-12 contested catches. Of 69 receivers who were targeted at least 10 times on passes 20-plus yards downfield, Reed’s 12-of-15 produced a league-best 80.0 percent catch rate.

Reed was first with a 137.5 passer rating when targeted and ninth with 7.2 YAC per catch. The Packers averaged 0.93 yards more per rushing play with Reed on the field than when he was on the sideline, the best mark on the team and a sign of the eyeballs he draws when he’s motioning all over the formation.

However, only one player had more drops than Reed (10), whose drop rate of 15.4 percent was third-worst in the league behind teammate Dontayvion Wicks and former Packers receiver Allen Lazard. He dropped only three passes with 64 catches as a rookie.

Grade: B-minus.

Romeo Doubs

2024 salary cap: $1,101,257. Position rank: 117th.

After looking borderline unstoppable in last year’s playoffs, Doubs finished third on the team with 46 receptions, fourth with 601 yards and fourth with four touchdowns in 13 games.

When Doubs is rolling, he is a menace. His routes are so sharp, which is why he’s a go-to player on third down, where he led the team with 17 receptions and 14 first downs. Overall, Jordan Love completed 52.7 percent of his passes on third down. When the ball went to Doubs, he caught 77.3 percent.

Doubs caught 5-of-15 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. He’s that odd-ball player with great hands (11-of-17 on contested catches) but too many drops (five; 9.8 percent, 19th-worst among 84 receivers who were targeted at least 50 times). He’s never been a YAC threat but did break a career-high four tackles.

Through three seasons, he has 147 receptions for 1,700 yards and 15 touchdowns. At this point, that breakout season might never happen. The numbers and a one-game suspension for skipping practices are the least of his worries, though.

After missing two games with a concussion, he suffered another in the playoffs. His walk to the locker room at Philadelphia was much more troubling than the fall itself. For the good of everyone, that has to – somehow – be addressed this offseason.

Grade: C.

Dontayvion Wicks

2024 salary cap: $990,636. Position rank: 134th.

Wicks caught 39 passes for 415 yards and five touchdowns. He shook off a dreadful first half of the season to show signs of the player who flashed such promise as a rookie.

Overall, Wicks caught 39-of-74 passes. This is an astounding stat: Wicks was targeted one fewer time than Reed but produced 442 fewer yards.

Of 84 receivers who were targeted at least 50 times, Wicks had the sixth-lowest catch rate overall (52.7 percent), third-lowest catch rate in contested-catch opportunities (3-of-14; 21.4 percent) and second-highest drop rate (eight drops, 17.0 percent, better than only Lazard).

However, after the bye, Wicks caught 18-of-26 passes (69.2 percent), had two drops (10.0 percent) and averaged 1.57 yards per route. It was a positive development after he caught 16-of-42 passes (38.1 percent), had six drops (27.3 percent) and averaged 1.21 yards per route before the bye.

Wicks caught just 3-of-15 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield during the regular season, then failed to make any sort of play on Jordan Love’s playoff interception at Philadelphia. On the bright side, he led the Packers’ receivers with 10 broken tackles; Reed (six), Doubs (four) and Watson (one) combined for 11. And he’s a tenacious blocker.

Grade: D-plus.

Malik Heath

2024 salary cap: $918,000. Position rank: 150th.

Heath caught 10-of-12 passes for 97 yards in 13 games, with touchdowns against San Francisco and Minnesota during the second half of the season. His 41-yard catch against Chicago gave the Packers a chance to win in Week 18.

He caught 4-of-5 in contested-catch situations and didn’t have any drops but, in limited playing time, tied Doubs for the most penalties (three). Love threw him four passes in the playoff game but he didn’t catch any.

Heath’s toughness and exuberance have made him a popular player but he’ll have to earn his roster spot next season.

Grade: C.

Bo Melton

2024 salary cap: $915,000. Position rank: 151st.

In 14 games, Melton caught 8-of-16 passes for 91 yards and zero touchdowns. Melton has big-time speed, and the Packers tried to tap into it with little success. He caught 1-of-6 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, but three of his eight carries produced gains of 14, 16 and 16 yards.

Just like Heath, he caught 4-of-5 contested catches and had zero drops. His 1.02 yards per route and 1.0 YAC per catch were the worst of the team’s receivers.

Melton is impossible not to like. Having made his way from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, he’s been a leader to that group. As is the case with Heath, he’ll have to fight like crazy to stick with the team.

Grade: D-plus.

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