When people talk about the Green Bay Packers, especially the 2023 team, the conversation is typically about Jordan Love and how well he performed after taking over for Aaron Rodgers. The Packers, of course, traded Rodgers to the Jets to make way for Love. However, what often gets overlooked is the fact that Green Bay also got significantly younger at other key positions on offense.
Indeed, the decision to surround Love with inexperienced [and inexpensive] skill players on offense was one that was met with a great deal of criticism. After all, how could Green Bay expect Love to be successful if he did not have experienced players to throw to?
The plan, though, was for Love and his pass catchers to grow and gain experience together. And it worked out well. The Packers finished 9-8 following an impressive 10-game stretch that saw Green Bay go 7-3 to end the season.
As it turns out, those young pass catchers ended up being pretty good.
Green Bay Packers Wide Receivers [and Tight Ends] Got Younger in 2023
![Green Bay Packers: Tony Romo Compares 2024 Wide Receivers to Super Bowl XLV Group 1 Green Bay Packers, Jayden Reed](https://wisportsheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/USATSI_22243968_168400517_lowres-2-scaled-e1717885180861.jpg)
The actual start of the Packers’ youth movement at the wide receiver position started in 2022 when they traded Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders. In an effort to help replace him, they selected Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Samori Toure in the NFL Draft. They also signed Bo Melton off of the Seattle Seahawks practice squad during the season.
After the 2022 NFL season, Green Bay allowed all of their veteran pass catchers to depart in free agency. This meant the end of the line for players such as Marcedes Lewis, Robert Tonyan, Randall Cobb, and Allen Lazard.
In an effort to replace those players, the Packers took two tight ends (Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft) and three more wide receivers (Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and Grant DuBose) in the 2023 NFL Draft. They also signed undrafted free agent wide receiver Malik Heath.
The youth movement did not produce [yet] what one might consider a number one receiver. However, it did produce one of the most balanced pass catching groups in the NFL:
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 |
Not only that, but the rookies from the 2023 NFL Draft far outperformed the veterans they replaced last season:
Position | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends | ||
Players | Jayden Reed &Dontayvion Wicks | Allen Lazard & Randall Cobb | Luke Musgrave & Tucker Kraft | Robert Tonyan & Marcedes Lewis |
Receptions | 123 | 28 | 65 | 15 |
Yards | 1,374 | 350 | 707 | 141 |
Touchdowns | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Heading into the 2024 season, this young core of pass catchers has a year of NFL experience under their belts, as does quarterback Jordan Love.
Expectations are high, once again, in Green Bay, with one former NFL quarterback comparing their wide receivers to the group that helped the Packers win Super Bowl XLV.
Former NFL Pro Bowl Quarterback Tony Romo Compares the Green Bay Packers Wide Receivers to the Super Bowl XLV Team
![Green Bay Packers: Tony Romo Compares 2024 Wide Receivers to Super Bowl XLV Group 2 Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) is shown during organized team activities Wednesday, May 29, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. © Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK © Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK](https://wisportsheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/USATSI_23415068_168400517_lowres.jpg)
© Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
Earlier this week, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was in Wisconsin for a golf tournament. He was asked by reporters about Jordan Love’s contract situation, but also used the opportunity to praise what the Packers have done with their wide receivers:
“I remember I did the Packers-Bears game in (Week 18). I remember going into it, because I hadn’t done the Packers yet, and when I watched the tape, I remember going, ‘Wow. These wide receivers are incredible.’ I don’t think people realized that.
“When I watched the tape, I sat there and I said, ‘This is the beginning stages of ’09-’10,'” Romo said.
“If you remember, they went 15-1 in ’11, and not everyone remembers that there was a little guy that was like their fourth or fifth receiver named Jordy Nelson, who’d end up becoming an All-Pro. Well, they had Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, Randall Cobb. And then you had Jermichael Finley.
“Well, these guys are route runners and it reminded me (of the 2011 team). Christian Watson was hurt, he had a hamstring injury, and I’m sitting there going, ‘Wasn’t he supposed to be the top pick? Who am I watching? So then I start to get to know (the other receivers) and I’m like, ‘This is a really bad matchup for the Cowboys.'”
The Packers’ Super Bowl XLV winning team included wide receivers Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, and Donald Driver. In 2011, the Packers drafted Cobb as their slot receiver.
That group of pass catchers were incredibly successful. This year’s group has the potential to match that.
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