GREEN BAY — The wide receiver position is unfilled by the Packers.
That could initially appear to be a barrier for an offense hoping to win the Super Bowl. The two men in charge are at odds.
“I personally don’t think it matters,” head coach Matt LaFleur said.
“I think you don’t have to have a No. 1 receiver,” quarterback Jordan Love added.
Despite playing in just 12 games in 2019, Davante Adams surpassed all other wide receivers on the team with 48 more catches, 520 more receiving yards, and two more touchdown catches. A first-team All-Pro in 2020, Adams recorded 1,374 receiving yards, 115 receptions, and 18 touchdowns. 33 catches, 690 receiving yards, and six touchdown catches were the team’s next-highest totals at receiver in those categories. Adams led Packers wide receivers in 2021—his second consecutive season on the first team—in catches (83), receiving yards (1,040), and touchdown catches (three).
Let us be clear about one thing. No one is arguing that they do not want Adams or a legitimate No. 1 receiver like him. That is advantageous. Though each of the five No. 2s and 3s may play like a real No. 1 on any given day, the Packers find value in having them all.
Jordan Love and Michael Pratt to Christian Watson and Jayden Reed pic.twitter.com/uLXI2vsc2a
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) June 4, 2024
With just 64 receptions as a rookie last season, Jayden Reed led the team, and Romeo Doubs had just five fewer. With just 793 receiving yards, Reed led the team, followed by Doubs (674). Love had 4,159 throwing yards, good for seventh place in the NFL, so it is not like those receiving yards came from a subpar quarterback. A team-high eight touchdowns were grabbed by Reed and Doubs combined.
Then there is Christian Watson, who, when healthy, is arguably the closest thing to a real No. 1. Despite missing eight games, Watson showed No. 1 potential during the Packers’ comeback against the Chiefs and Lions. As a rookie fifth-round pick, Dontayvion Wicks may not have lived up to that potential, but he is still a vital member of Green Bay’s offense that can dominate a game. Remember Bo Melton, the Packers’ nominal No. 5 wide receiver who caught a touchdown in the Divisional Round against the 49ers and set the team record for the first 100-yard receiving game in Week 17 of the previous year against the Vikings?
“I think if you just look at the course of a season ago — and every season’s going to be a little bit different — but all those guys had their moments where they were the leading receiver in a game,” LaFleur said. “I feel really good about the collective unit. The hardest part is we feel so good about them, it’s hard to get everybody the amount of touches that you’d like to get, but that’s a good problem to have.”
In an 11-on-11 drill on a brilliantly thrown bomb down the middle, speedster Melton hauled in a 75-yard touchdown catch from Love while running a post pattern past the whole defense. Tuesday’s practice acted as a microcosm for the Packers’ receiving depth.
“It’s a lot of guys making plays,” Melton said of Green Bay’s wide receiver group. “We have a great staff who can draw the best plays up. When you have a lot of guys who do different things — speed, route-runners, physical guys — it could be dangerous for sure.”
LaFleur on Bo Melton: “He’s got that dog mentality, whether it’s run game, pass game, whatever it may be. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get out there on the field and I think he’s embraced that. He’s embraced his role and he’s excelled in it.” pic.twitter.com/FSHiqMjiv4
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) June 4, 2024
“We’ve got so many guys in our room, man, you never know what could happen,” Reed added. “Somebody could go for a hundred every week, in my opinion.”
Only three teams from the previous campaign—the Broncos, Patriots, and Giants—had a top receiver with less receiving yards than Reed’s team-high 793. These teams finished 24th, 28th, and 31st in terms of passing yards per game, respectively. In contrast, the Packers were ranked 12th. Unlike those other three teams, they have depth at the position and do not have a guy like Adams, who you should definitely throw it to anytime you can, thus their lack of a dominant receiver is not due to a lack of passing game.
Some would argue that Aaron Rodgers locked in on Adams too much. For example, late in the fourth quarter in the 49ers’ 2021 Divisional Round loss, Rodgers aired it out to a closely covered Adams (and incomplete) on fourth down, even though Allen Lazard looked wide open underneath for a first down. Again, having a player like that—someone you naturally gravitate toward most of the time—is not inherently negative, but there may be merit in just calling the play and having equal faith in the person on the other end.
“I think that’s one thing that I’ve always tried to do is just play the play,” Love said. “Play the play, go through my reads and find who’s open. Don’t try and force it because I feel like once you try and lock in on a guy and force it, not great things happen and then you might miss somebody who might be open on the play … play dependent, if there’s a certain guy I might want to look at matchup-wise and things like that, I’ll go to him, but I just like to play it out.”
On a given play, three defenders might occasionally be committed to Adams. After a play against the Bears, he once counted them out using finger gestures. Though passing game coordinator Jason Vrable stated teams doubled Doubs in the red zone early in the previous season due to how many touchdowns he caught, and doubled Watson in 2022 following his consecutive multiple-touchdown games, there is nothing comparable to that against the Packers offense. The Packers stand to gain from it as there are five receivers who can take over if defenses decide to single up every player. The Packers can run the ball into a light box with a guy like Josh or toss it to other players who can look like a No. 1 for the duration of the game if defenses double someone.
“The receiving corps is crazy, man,” Jacobs said. “I’m so excited just watching them. Any one of them can go at any moment.”
This season, who will truly be the top wide receiver? That is undoubtedly conceivable. If Watson keeps healthy and Reed’s debut season is any guide to what is in store for him in Year 2, then perhaps. The Packers would also be happy to have that, but for the time being, they are content with their receiving corps functioning in relative anonymity and leaving opposition defenses wondering who they should be most concerned about each week.
“I think it works out well when you can spread the ball out and you got different guys making different plays and you can put ’em in different areas,” Love said. “I think it puts a lot more stress on the defense and the calls that they can get in, so I think in the long run it helps us not having a No. 1 guy, a true No. 1 guy, but I think all those guys can step up and be the one any given day.”
(Photo of Jordan Love, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
