The Green Bay Packers are heading into the 2023 NFL Draft with several needs that need to be addressed. One of them is a familiar need: wide receiver. After Davante Adams was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders last offseason, the Packers used three draft picks on the wide receiver position. Now, Green Bay has already lost Allen Lazard to the New York Jets and Randall Cobb remains a free agent. Their current wide receiver room consists of four second-year players and Jeff Cotton. It is a pretty safe bet that they will use at least one of their draft picks on the wide receiver position.
In a recent article posted on Bleacher Report, Maurice Moton named Green Bay as the best landing spot for UNC wide receiver Josh Downs.
The Green Bay Packers Are Projected to Take Josh Downs in the Second Round
The Green Bay Packers used a second round pick on a wide receiver last offseason when they traded up to draft Christian Watson. Morton suggests that Green Bay could use their second round pick on a wide receiver again in the 2023 NFL Draft, this time on UNC’s Josh Downs:
“Josh Downs may go earlier than some draftniks expect in a few weeks. Though we graded him on the low end of our top wide receiver prospects, he may have a higher value for teams that want a pure slot receiver.
“Downs is a shifty wideout who’s going to put defenders in a blender. He’s a nuanced route-runner who can win one-on-one matchups against man coverage and find the shallow areas of coverage in zone schemes.
“On the collegiate level, Downs showed consistency with two years of high-end production. Since 2021, he’s caught 195 passes for 2,364 yards and 19 touchdowns. The North Carolina product could become a reliable No. 2 pass-catching option out of the slot in the upcoming season.”
Green Bay could certainly use a slot-type receiver. The aforementioned Cobb is a free agent and the Amari Rodgers experiment failed miserably. The question is whether or not a traditional slot receiver has a place in Matt LaFleur’s offense. For the last three years, Aaron Rodgers has dominated the offense. Many expect the 2023 offense to be a much more pure form of LaFleur’s playbook. It will be very interesting to see what kind of receiver the Packers look for in the draft.
If they are looking for a slot receiver, Downs could be their guy.
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