In recent seasons, the Green Bay Packers have struggled to identify a clearcut top receiver, or at least one that would be WR1 on the average team. That’s been true since Davante Adams left for Las Vegas. The Packers haven’t had a 1,000-yard pass catcher since.
Of course, the 1K threshold is an arbitrary, simplistic cut-off, but comparing Green Bay receivers to that standard effectively encapsules the team’s state of affairs.
16 teams had at least one receiver reach 1,000 yards in 2025. That’s half the league. No Packer has clipped 900 since Adams four years ago. This season, Romeo Doubs paced the Pack with 724. While much of that has to do with injuries, it nonetheless captures the uncertain dynamic in the receiver room this year.
If the Packers finally break the trend in 2026, they have one man to count on above the rest and that is Christian Watson.
Watson most likely Packer to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards if healthy next season
Watson’s absence and return served as a clear divider in the receiver hierarchy this season. After coming back in Week 8, he easily made himself the Packers’ biggest threat on pass plays, compiling 611 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games on 17.5 yards per catch. His Week 17 game against the Ravens, with Malik Willis at quarterback, was the only 100-yard game by a Green Bay wideout in the regular season. In something of a breakout campaign, he was more consistent and looked closer to the elite weapon the Packers hoped he could be.
Average Watson’s production across a 17-game slate and he would end up with 59.5 catches for 1,039 yards. Bingo.
Obviously, it’s not as simple as extrapolating his numbers this season to a full year’s play in 2026. His previous career high was 620 yards in 2024, across 15 games. Chances are Watson will miss a week here and there. Head coach Matt LaFleur refuses to let Jordan Love and the passing game loose, naturally suppressing receiver yardage. The most likely outcome, simply from a personnel standpoint, is that the Packers’ four-year drought becomes five.
If Watson regresses, they do have other candidates. Jayden Reed was the ’25 roster’s de facto WR1 before going down in Week 2 with a broken collarbone. Each of the past two seasons, he led the team in receiving yards with 857 in ’24 and 793 in ’23. (Allen Lazard took first place with 788 in ’22, the team’s first post-Adams.) Collarbone and foot surgery limited Reed to seven games. Healthy next year, in a contract season, perhaps he finally takes his well-rounded skillset to the next level.
Matthew Golden should also take a sizable leap forward, though expecting him to take full flight in year two, following a lackluster rookie year, isn’t realistic. Doubs being back with the team would be a surprise. After making $3.6 million this year, he is expected to command significantly more in free agency.
In a compromised unit, Watson wasted little time establishing himself as lead receiver upon his return. Even with better team health, that shouldn’t change next year, making him the best bet to finally get the Packers over the 1K-yard hump.
That said, if Tucker Kraft returns healthy by Week 1 – no sure thing – he would certainly be in the running (albeit as a tight end rather than a wide receiver). In seven and a half games before tearing his ACL, Kraft racked up 32 catches, 489 yards, and six TDs. A similar pace would rather handily break the franchise record for tight end receiving yards in a single season. Paul Coffman went for 814 back in 1983.
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