Packers Training Camp Preview: Receivers

With an abundance of young talent, the Green Bay Packers will take one of the NFL’s best receiver corps onto the practice field for the first practice of training camp on July 22.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed (11) scores a touchdown while Malik Heath reacts in the background at the Vikings. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The depth and talent of the Green Bay Packers’ receiver corps is real. And it’s spectacular.

The Packers don’t have Justin Jefferson, who is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career. They don’t have Amon-Ra St. Brown, a bulldog who is practically unguardable in the slot. They don’t have anyone with the pedigree of Rome Odunze, the ninth pick of this year’s draft.

What they do have is Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea depth. Here is a look at the receivers in our latest Packers training camp preview.

Packers Receiver Depth Chart

Christian Watson: Injuries have been a chronic issue through two seasons. Due to hamstring issues, Watson last year missed the first three games and the final five games. In between, he caught 28 passes for 422 yards and five touchdowns. Among the seven receivers who played last year, he was first with 15.1 yards per reception but sixth with a 52.8 percent catch rate, sixth with a passer rating when targeted of 71.4 and fourth with 1.56 yards per route. Including playoffs, Jordan Love threw 12 interceptions. Six were directed to Watson.

Romeo Doubs: A talented fourth-round pick with route-running skills and strong hands, Doubs always left you wanting just a little more. In 30 career regular-season games, Doubs not only didn’t have a 100-yard game but his only game of 80-plus yards came in last year’s blowout loss to Detroit. Then the playoffs started, and Doubs became a flat-out stud. With defenders falling all over themselves, he decimated the Cowboys’ secondary for six receptions for 151 yards and one touchdown and added four catches for 83 yards against the 49ers.

Jayden Reed: Well, the Packers finally have a slot receiver. Randall Cobb got old and Amari Rodgers was a bust but Reed has star potential. The second-round rookie delivered team-leading totals of 64 receptions, 793 yards and 10 total touchdowns. He broke Sterling Sharpe’s franchise rookie record for receptions, and he became the first rookie in NFL history with at least 60 receptions, 750 receiving yards, eight receiving touchdowns, 100 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Among all rookies, he ranked fourth with 2.05 yards per route. Said cornerback Jaire Alexander, whispering the last word for emphasis: “He reminds me of a young Randall Cobb but he’s, I think, better.”

Dontayvion Wicks: The comparisons to Davante Adams are silly. Adams might be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But then, late last season, passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable had this to say about his fifth-round pick: “There’s a couple reps that he had throughout training camp and even in the spring where everybody was like, ‘Whoa. That’s like the old 17 stuff. That other Tae,’ the way he can cross a guy over and create separation. I think there’s certain guys that have it.” Wicks caught 39 passes for 580 yards and four touchdowns. Among all rookies, he ranked fifth with 2.04 yards per route. He led the team’s receivers in YAC per catch and broken tackles.

Bo Melton: A seventh-round pick by the Seahawks in 2022, Melton made his first NFL catch in the December loss to Tampa Bay. Who would have thought he’d be the first Packers player to have a 100-yard game? Or that he’d score a touchdown against the 49ers in the playoffs? In just five regular-season games, Melton caught 16 passes for 218 yards. How about this: Of the 127 receivers who were targeted 23 times (Melton’s number), he ranked fifth with 2.83 yards per route.

Malik Heath: An undrafted free agent, Heath made the opening roster and ranked third among undrafted rookie receivers with 15 catches. He had four catches in just 11 snaps in the win at Detroit and delivered a key touchdown against the Giants). Plus, he played with impressive physicality and tenacity. “He had some really big moments for us last year, making some tough catches, doing some dirty work, some key blocks,” coach Matt LaFleur said during minicamp. “I think physically he’s in a much better place.”

Samori Toure: Toure was a seventh-round pick in 2022 who made the roster both seasons but hasn’t made much of an impact. In 22 career games, Toure has 13 receptions for 160 yards and one touchdown. He was one of the most-hyped players last offseason but caught 8-of-18 passes and saw action in just three of the final 10 games. “it’s frustrating but, at the end of the day, it’s just about never get too high, never get too low and just be a pro about everything,” he said late last season. “At the end of the day, just support your team, you know?”

Grant DuBose: DuBose, a seventh-round pick last year with a rags-to-riches sort of story, spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad and didn’t get any regular-season action. As a rookie, he missed the entire offseason program and the start of training camp with a back injury, which put him hopelessly behind. A huge training camp awaits. “You just got to go out there and execute and play at a high level. If that’s what you call pressure, I guess so, but it’s not anything I’m not new to.”

Alex McGough: After winning USFL MVP in 2023, McGough signed with the Packers and spent the season on the practice squad as the No. 3 quarterback and a part-time receiver and tight end. This offseason, even before the Packers drafted Michael Pratt, McGough was moved to receiver. As he explained to Packer Central: “They called me and asked me and I said, ‘Yeah, whatever I can do to help the team, if they think that’s the best move for me,’ which everyone did. So, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”

Julian Hicks: As a graduate student at Albany in 2023, Hicks caught 50 passes for 820 yards (16.4 average) and 11 touchdowns to help the team reach the FCS semifinals. After a meandering career filled with losing and injuries, Hicks being signed after a tryout at rookie camp was a triumph. A promising size-speed prospect, Hicks measured 6-foot-1 7/8 and ran his 40 in 4.53.

Dimitri Stanley: In six seasons (four at Colorado, two at Iowa State), Stanley caught 118 passes for 1,379 yards and five touchdowns. He added an 8.7-yard average on punt returns. After going undrafted, the Packers signed him after he tried out at rookie camp. While he doesn’t have great production or testing numbers (5-foot-10 7/8, 4.55 in the 40), he does have great pedigree as the son of former Packers standout Walter Stanley.

Biggest Strength: The Depth

Let’s say coach Matt LaFleur rolls out a personnel grouping with four receivers and one running back. Or even dusts off Mike McCarthy’s old “Big Five.” What defense has enough quality defensive backs to match up? If a defense puts its fourth corner on Wicks, for instance, it’s going to get torched.

“Whoever is out there, if they decide to make one of us the priority, then someone else is going to get fed,” Watson said. “That’s exactly how we like it and that’s exactly how we’re going to be successful is to be able to spread the ball around and everyone’s going to be able to make plays.”

That’s why the No. 1 receiver conversation was little more than kill-time-during-the-offseason fodder. The Vikings with Jefferson fell short of the playoffs. The Chiefs with an aging tight end and a rookie receiver won the Super Bowl.

“I really try to grow and groom the room so they become complete receivers,” passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable said before OTAs. “For some guys, that’s in Year 4; some guys in Year 2 and 3. It’s a process, it’s a growth.

“We’re going to be better off if those guys are playing at that level like Romeo in the playoffs throughout the entire year next year, and when you have multiple guys on that level, where you can say, ‘He can start and you can win with him,’ then we’re going to be better off. So, our goal is to train and groom guys to all be on that level, where they can start and we can go out and win a game, week in and week out.”

Biggest Question: The Ceiling

What is the ceiling of Green Bay’s receivers? The flashes have been intriguing. Doubs dominated the playoffs. Watson scored seven touchdowns in a four-game stretch in 2022. Wicks had a pair of 90-yard games during the second half of the season. Melton’s aforementioned yards per route lagged behind only four established stars.

Reed’s rookie season was consistently strong. Is it possible that he can become great? He’s got the skill and mentality.

“You get complacent, you lose your job,” Reed said. “That’s just the life of the league, and I think we’ve got everybody in the locker room that push each other, that don’t let each other get complacent. We just have that brotherhood, that bond that, thank God that he put us all together that we don’t have that kind of problem here. So, if we see a person slacking, we tell them and we have each other build and not break.”

Biggest Battle: The Pecking Order

Everybody is going to play. Some will play more than others. Some will be targeted more than others. It will be fascinating to see how the Packers come out of camp from those perspectives.

For instance, if Wicks takes a big Year 2 jump, whose snaps and targets will he take? Given how Melton finished the season, he probably needs to be on the field more often. Melton and Heath got more opportunities because of Watson’s injuries; how will that change if Watson is healthy and productive?

Biggest Key: Christian Watson’s Hamstring

Watson is the game-changing weapon. If you’re an opposing defensive coordinator, he’s the player you’re going to lose sleep thinking about at midnight because he’s a touchdown waiting to happen.

If Watson can stay healthy and stack days in training camp so he can hit the ground running for Week 1, it would make a dramatic impact.

“He’s incredibly bright, which allows us to move him all over the place,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Certainly, he brings the sheer size and physicality and speed that he possesses. You better know where he’s at at all times because all it takes is one play. If he gets a sliver of light, he’s able to outrun everybody on the defense. So, yeah, he definitely changes and tilts the field in our favor when he’s out there.”

The Packers are 6-3 in games in which Watson scores but 5-9 otherwise. Watson’s best games last season came in the enormous upset wins over the Lions and Chiefs. For all his injury issues, he’s still No. 1 in the 2022 draft class with 12 touchdown receptions. 

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Part 2 of our #Packers training camp preview focuses on the running backs, where Josh Jacobs won the NFL rushing crown in 2022 but wasn't as good as Aaron Jones in 2023. ⬇️https://t.co/oInDa30v6r

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 10, 2024

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