Last year, the Green Bay Packers’ offense leaned into a run-first philosophy built around Josh Jacobs, who was arguably their best player in 2024. His production stabilized the offense and also helped take pressure off Jordan Love, who battled knee and groin injuries throughout the season. The approach paid off — Green Bay ranked eighth in EPA per rush, fifth in rushing yards, and fifth in rushing touchdowns.
Green Bay’s story in 2025 is completely different. The run blocking hasn’t held up, and not even Matt LaFleur’s deep play-calling toolbox has been able to jump-start the ground game. Meanwhile, Love has performed like one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
Among passers with at least 50 plays, he ranks second in total EPA, first in EPA per play, second in passing EPA, 10th in passing yards, and eighth in yards per attempt. Moreover, he leads the NFL in passing grade against the blitz and on intermediate throws between 10 and 15 yards.
The identity of Green Bay’s offense runs through Jordan Love’s arm, which only increases the value of the playmakers around him. He has one of the most explosive talents in the NFL at his disposal — someone who should be at the center of everything they do: Christian Watson.
Watson made his season debut in Week 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He caught all four of his targets for 85 yards. His best play came on a third-and-seven from Pittsburgh’s 41-yard line, when he hauled in a laser from Love that set Green Bay up inside the five. It was a perfect reminder of how valuable his deep threat ability can be.
Jordan Love goes DEEP to Christian Watson on 3rd down
GBvsPIT on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/WjFjHQ3HEy
— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2025
“It’s the same thing that we’ve been seeing in practice,” Matt LaFleur said on Monday after the game. “[Watson] brings an element to our offense and to our team, just the size, the speed, and I’ve talked about it many times, just his versatility.”
He followed that performance by catching eight of 13 targets over the next three weeks, including two touchdowns against the New York Giants in Week 11. He was clutch in the fourth quarter, especially in the red zone. Watson hauled in a dime from Love while being double-covered, and that touchdown ended up being the game-winning score.
A healthy Christian Watson is the most dangerous weapon the #Packers have on offense.
pic.twitter.com/yBPt64Icpf
— Felipe Reis Aceti (@Aceti_Felipe) November 16, 2025
Green Bay has plenty of diversity within its receiving corps, but Watson is the one defenses truly fear. It’s rare to find a 6’4” receiver who can move with the kind of velocity he has. Still, his physical traits are only part of the story.
Christian Watson will be missed while he's out with injury, look at how he clears space and pulls Vikings linebacker, Blake Cashman, making for an easy explosive play for Love to Reed. #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/19xeT2ixF7
— Garrison Anderson (@gentlemanTBD) October 1, 2024
Entering Week 12, Watson leads all Packers receivers in yards per catch at 19.5. No one else on the roster is even above 15. Furthermore, among the receivers with at least 100 routes traveled – Watson, Matthew Golden, Dontayvion Wicks, and Romeo Doubs – he leads the group in average depth of target, catch rate, and yards per route run. Furthermore, 97 wide receivers have seen at least 70 targets since the beginning of the 2024 season, and only 12 of them have two or fewer drops. Watson is one of those 12.
Watson has never been higher than fourth on the team in targets. He played only nine games in 2023, but even last season, when he appeared in 15 games, he still finished just fourth in targets despite ranking second on the team in contested catches and first in yards per route run. Green Bay often uses his speed to stretch defenses vertically and open underneath concepts — as shown in the clip against the Minnesota Vikings above — but his role needs to expand.
He saw only four targets on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles, the same number as Bo Melton, who transitioned from receiver to cornerback in the offseason. That simply can’t happen, especially considering Watson played 30 more offensive snaps.
Total offensive snaps played last night
Christian Watson: 56
Bo Melton: 26
Total targets
Christian Watson: 4
Bo Melton: 4
— Felipe Reis Aceti (@Aceti_Felipe) November 11, 2025
The Packers have shifted to a pass-first offense in 2025, and that philosophy needs to run through the Love–Watson connection. Love has a 127.7 passer rating when targeting No. 9, and there’s no reason to move away from something that efficient. Watson needs to keep getting targets — he’s too productive and too impactful to be anything other than a central piece of the passing game.