The Green Bay Packers are 8-8 and, for the second year in a row, need to win the final game of the season to advance into the NFL Playoffs. Last year, Aaron Rodgers and company lost at home to the Detroit Lions. This year, Jordan Love and the youngest offense in franchise history will play the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field in Week 18 to determine their postseason fate.
It has been quite the journey for the Packers and their offense. After starting the season 2-5, they have put together an amazing second half to put themselves in a position where they control their own destiny. In the past seven weeks, Love has a 68.2% completion percentage, 1,834 yards, 16 touchdowns, and one interception.
He is the only quarterback in the NFL this season to accomplish those numbers over a seven-game span. The last NFL quarterback to achieve them in any seven game stretch was Rodgers in 2021, the year he won his fourth NFL MVP Award (per the Packers dope sheet).
The rise of Love in the second half of the season has coincided with the rise of the young Packers skill players. Rookie wide receiver Jayden Reed, in particular, has been one of the best offensive players on the team down the stretch.
Jayden Reed Has Had One of the Best Rookie Seasons in Green Bay Packers History
When discussing rookie seasons by Packers wide receivers, the gold standard is Billy Howton’s 1952 campaign. In his first year with Green Bay, Howton had 53 receptions, 1,231 yards (which led the NFL that year), and 12 touchdowns. All three stats were franchise records for rookies at the time, and the yards and touchdown records still stand.
Sterling Sharpe broke Howton’s franchise record for receptions by a rookie when he had 55 in 1988. That season, Sharpe also had 791 receiving yards and one touchdown.
As many fans are aware, Reed broke the rookie receptions record in the Packers’ victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night. He now has 60 receptions for 681 yards and eight touchdowns on the season.
Even with one game remaining in the regular season, it could be argued that Reed’s rookie season is the already the second-best one in franchise history.
Green Bay Packers Wide Receiver Jayden Reed Has Achieved Something No Rookie in NFL History Has
In addition to his impressive receiving numbers, Reed has also added 119 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns this season. These numbers, along with his receiving achievements, have put him in a class all by himself in NFL history.
According to the Packers dope sheet, Reed is the first rookie in NFL history to have:
- 60+ receptions
- 650+ receiving yards
- Eight-plus receiving touchdowns
- 100+ receiving yards
- Two-plus rushing touchdowns
The Packers have had a tendency of finding great wide receivers in the second round of the draft in recent years. Players like Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, and Davante Adams are among them.
And Reed is having a better rookie season than each of them had. It is fairly possible that Green Bay has found their next great wide receiver.
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