The Green Bay Packers have an incredibly young wide receiver room. Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Samori Toure from last year’s draft class were joined by 2023 NFL Draft picks Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and Grant DuBose. Additionally, Bo Melton and Malik Heath represent undrafted free agents that are trying to make the 53-man roster.
Aside from Watson, Doubs, Toure, and Reed, there are questions surrounding which pass catchers will end up making the team. On one hand, Wicks is a fifth round draft pick; on the other hand, Heath has been turning heads so far in training camp. So much so that head coach Matt LaFleur made special mention of him earlier this week.
Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur Has High Praise for Malik Heath
Last season, Heath had 60 receptions for 971 yards and five touchdowns for Ole Miss. These stats were actually better than his teammate Jonathan Mingo’s, who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the second round (39th overall pick) this past year.
So far, Heath has impressed his head coach during the offseason and in training camp. According to Zach Kruse of PackersWire, LaFleur said the following about the undrafted wide receiver out of Ole Miss:
“I think he is a talented young player, a guy we look forward to putting in some situations and seeing how he responds in games.
“Malik has done a lot of great things. He’s a strong, strong football player. He can run through contact, he does a good job releasing off the line of scrimmage, widening corners when he gets press coverage, ripping through, he’s got really good ball skills and he’s a bigger guy.
“Malik has shown us what he can do, now it’s about the consistency of which he does it. Like all young players, it’s all about that, just how consistent can you do it down in and down out.”
It is certainly going to be interesting to see how the battle for the fifth/sixth wide receiver spots play out. Heath has an edge over DuBose in that he has actually been able to participate on the field in offseason and training camp practices.
The question, of course, is can he play special teams? For any fifth or sixth wide receiver, they are going to have to be able to play special teams well. If Heath can do that, he may convince the team to carve a place for him on the final 53-man roster.
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