The Green Bay Packers are 3-6 and, as of right now, do not show any real signs of improving enough this season to be considered a factor in the NFL playoffs. While the players and coaches may have said that getting to the postseason was their goal before the season, everyone knows the real goal of the season was to evaluate quarterback Jordan Love and the young offensive playmakers around him.
There have certainly been plenty of learning moments this season and there are definitely players that have already established themselves as future stars for the Packers and others that, well, may not be around for much longer after the season ends.
On player, however, that has largely gone overlooked, especially on the national stage, is wide receiver Jayden Reed. A rookie out of Michigan State, Reed is projected to have the best season for a Packers first-year wide receiver since before the Brett Favre era.
Green Bay Packers Rookie Wide Receiver Jayden Reed Is Having the Team’s Best First-Year Campaign in Over 30 Years
In nine games played this season, Reed has accumulated 28 catches for 417 yards and four touchdowns. Roughly half of this production has come over the team’s last four games. In these games, Reed has 15 receptions for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
What has changed since the first five games is that Reed is catching more of his targets. As Love has gotten more accurate with his deep passes, Reed has been more lethal in the passing game. He has only two drops on the season, so much of the incompletions thrown his way were poor throws.
Still, Love has a 112.9 passer rating when targeting Reed, a stat that is on the rise.
If Reed were to stay on his current pace, he would finish 2023 with 52 catches for 787 yards and eight touchdowns.
The last Packers rookie to put up similar numbers: Sterling Sharpe in 1988.
Sterling Sharpe’s 1988 Season with the Green Bay Packers
As far as rookie seasons go for Packers wide receivers, none of them come close to the absolute dominance of Billy Howton’s in 1952. That year, Howton had 53 receptions for 1,231 yards and 13 touchdowns. His 1,231 yards and 13 touchdowns remain franchise records for rookie pass catchers.
But Sterling Sharpe had himself a fine rookie season in 1988, breaking Howton’s record for receptions by a rookie. That year, Sharpe had 55 receptions for 791 yards and a single touchdown.
Compared to what Reed is doing now, the numbers are very similar. Interestingly, both Reed and fellow rookie Luke Musgrave are on pace to perhaps challenge that reception record of 55.
Other Notable Green Bay Packers Wide Receivers’ Rookie Seasons
While the Packers have a long and storied history, the most recent 30 years of it has been highlighted by Hall of Fame quarterback play. And while there have been a number of Pro Bowl and All-Pro wide receivers on the team during that span, none of them really lit the world on fire in their first season:
- Robert Brooks: 12 receptions, 126 yards, one touchdown
- Antonio Freeman: eight receptions, 106 yards, one touchdown
- Donald Driver: three receptions, 31 yards, one touchdown
- Greg Jennings: 45 receptions, 632 yards, three touchdowns
- James Jones: 47 receptions, 676 yards, two touchdowns
- Jordy Nelson: 33 receptions, 366 yards, two touchdowns
- Randall Cobb: 25 receptions, 375 yards, one touchdown
- Davante Adams: 38 receptions, 446 yards, three touchdowns
There are certainly some good seasons in there (namely Jennings and Jones), but Reed is on pace to blow by all of them.
Of course, over the past 30 years, the Packers have been able to bring their wide receivers along slowly due to having an abundance of capable veterans entrenched at the position. This season, the front office decided not to give Love that luxury, so it is no surprise, really, that Reed is marching towards the best season a rookie wide receiver has had for the Packers in 35 years.
Still, his play has been a rare bright spot and his chemistry with Love is improving with each passing week. It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers he puts up in the final eight games of the season.
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