One of the hottest topics regarding the Green Bay Packers that is heavily discussed and written about outside of its own fanbase and local/team-focused media outlets is their lack of a bonified number one wide receiver. Davante Adams, of course, was the last obvious top-tier NFL wide receiver the Packers had, and they traded him to the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft.
With Adams gone, the 2022 Packers struggled mightily in the passing game for a variety of reasons. Free agent pickup Sammy Watkins simply did not work out and he was released before the season ended. Allen Lazard, who was supposed to take over as “wide receiver one” simply could not fill the immense hole that was left by Adams’ departure. Randall Cobb was hurt for a good portion of the season.
And then there were the Packers’ three rookie wide receivers that year: Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Samori Toure. While Watson and Doubs were fine as rookies, it was clear all season long that they lacked chemistry with then quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Young Green Bay Packers Wide Receivers Struggled to Get on the Same Page with Aaron Rodgers
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In 2024, with Rodgers’ favor among Packers fans less than spectacular, it is easy to point to his skipping OTA’s and his demeanor towards his rookie wide receivers as reasons why the offense, as a whole, struggled that year. Indeed, it is a fair argument that has a great deal of truth to it. Rodgers himself expressed his regret (well, as best as he could) about how he acted towards the younger players after he was traded to the Jets.
It is worth noting, though, that Watson had 41 receptions for 611 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. While those numbers may not mean much on the surface, they were the best ones put up by a rookie wide receiver in the Rodgers Era of Packers football.
And he put those numbers up despite missing three games with a hamstring injury.
Doubs, too, had a decent season as a rookie. Despite missing multiple games with a sprained ankle, he put up 42 receptions for 425 yards and three touchdowns.
Toure, a seventh-round pick, did not play much.
While the rookie campaigns put together by Watson and Doubs were not bad, there were certainly multiple instances where it was obvious that they and Rodgers were not on the same page.
What a difference a year makes.
Green Bay Packers Wide Receivers Flourished with Jordan Love as Their Quarterback
After Rodgers was traded to the Jets, Jordan Love and his wide receivers got to work. Doubs, Watson, and many other Packers players flew out to California to work out with their new starter. Love also attended OTA’s and every offseason activity in order to build rapport with rookies Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and Malik Heath (Grant DeBose was injured).
While the results of this hard work were not immediate, Love and his young group of pass catchers were a vast improvement over the 2022 Packers’ offense:
| Player | Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns |
| Romeo Doubs | 59 | 674 | 8 |
| Christian Watson | 28 | 422 | 5 |
| Jayden Reed | 64 | 793 | 8 |
| Dontayvion Wicks | 39 | 581 | 4 |
| Malik Heath | 15 | 125 | 1 |
| Bo Melton | 16 | 218 | 1 |
| Luke Musgrave | 34 | 352 | 1 |
| Tucker Kraft | 31 | 355 | 2 |
| Ben Sims | 4 | 21 | 1 |
As one can see, no one player put up monster numbers, but multiple players proved that they were bonified NFL wide receivers.
NFL Legend Chad Johnson Goes Off on Fan Who Disrespected the Green Bay Packers Wide Receivers
NFL legendary wide receiver Chad Johnson has high praise for the Packers wide receivers this offseason. He recently stated that he thinks that they are one of the top-five wide receiving rooms in the NFC. When one fan said that the Packers had no proven wide receivers, Johnson responded:
“Did you watch f—ing football last year, the Packers entire receiving corp is the s—, Watson, Doubs, Wicks & Melton are proven tf are you talking about.”
In a later post, Johnson also identified the Packers receiver he thinks will become the next big name on a national level:
“Jayden Reed b—-, learn the f—ing name now got d— casual fans.”
Colorful language, for sure, but one cannot help but feel even more excited about Green Bay’s wide receivers after reading those posts.
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