Jordan Reed’s return was the story ahead of the Packers‘ Week 14 game against Chicago, but Christian Watson continued his own comeback campaign with another exclamation point: four catches, 89 yards, and two touchdowns. Both of his scores came on 20-plus yard throws, including a third-quarter bomb for 41.
Despite the fact that Watson did not return from last season’s knee injury until Week 8 in Pittsburgh, he has already caught nearly as many passes as he did in 2024. In fact, based on his per game production, 2025 is quietly on pace to be a career year.
Watson enjoying improbable best season despite missing first half with injury
Over all, Watson has 25 catches for 452 yards and five touchdowns in seven games. He’s already averaging more yards per contest than in any other season. With four games left, he is easily on track to set a career high in receiving yards as well as touchdowns.
Watson is as much a big-play threat as ever. Averaging 18.1 per reception, now has eight of 20-plus yards this season, nearly one-third of his total catches That includes three of 40 or more.
From the moment he returned, he has also been extremely consistent; he doesn’t have a game with fewer than 45 receiving yards. At the same time, Watson has also turned a career-best 66% of his targets into catches. Especially with Reed giving Jordan Love another short-yardage option, high-percentage opportunities may tick down for Watson, but still, he has impressed with his combined efficiency and big-play explosion. Although he averaged 21 yards per catch in ’24, he only hauled in 29 total, or 56% of his targets. In ’25, he has nearly three-quarters last season’s yards in less than half the games.
In the absence of key names like Reed and Tucker Kraft, Watson has stepped up in more of a true WR1 role. Now that Reed is back, fans will have to wait to see if that continues.
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