At this point it is well known that the Packers’ young wide receivers did not live up to expectations in 2024, after impressing in 2023.
Most people projected Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson to take a real step forward entering their second and third years in the NFL respectively. Almost across the board, Green Bay’s receivers were worse in 2024 than they were previously.
The most glaring issue was drops, with the quartet having 26 of them in 2024, averaging a drop rate of 12.1% between them.
It has been discussed plenty that Love’s 2024 season, and specifically his stat line, was significantly impacted by the plague of dropped passes by his receivers, but what does not get talked about enough is the flipside of that argument.
The context which must be added to the struggles Green Bay’s receivers had last year is that they played with a quarterback who was injured essentially from start to finish.
Love hurt his knee in week one, meaning Malik Willis then had to play the next two games. He then injured his groin in week eight, leaving the game and again forcing Willis into the lineup. Finally, Love suffered an elbow injury on his throwing arm in the regular season finale.
He was reluctant to admit it, but it sounds like the various ailments hampered Love all season. They cost him practice time, and he was never able to get truly into a rhythm at any point in the year.
This lack of time on the practice field, as well as missing time games or having to leave them early, very likely had an impact on Love’s cohesion with his pass catchers.
From their perspective, it cannot have been easy to play with different QBs with different skillsets, which meant the game plan changing, sometimes with no notice if Love had to exit mid-game.
It was a turbulent, disjointed season for the entire offense, and it is difficult to separate one position group from the collective group in terms of assigning blame.
The sour taste of how the receivers played in 2024 is what sticks in the memory of Packers fans as it is the most recent information they have, but it does not change the fact that Green Bay’s young group has also put some excellent tape out there.
Wicks was terrific as a rookie, ranking 26th among 128 qualified receivers in PFF grade at 77.8. He has the ability to become an elite route runner, and is already very good. The upside with Wicks is clear if he can simply catch the ball more consistently.
Reed ranked 20th when playing out of the slot out of 64 qualified players in 2023 with a 78.3 PFF grade, and only four of the players ranked ahead of him had as many or more targets in the slot: CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Keenan Allen and Rashee Rice.
He had his own issues with drops and dealt with injuries towards the end of the year. He can still be one of the top slot receivers in the league.
Doubs is not flashy, but is a reliable target for his quarterback and has excelled in the red zone, while Watson has been an extremely dangerous big play threat when healthy. Each receiver has given plenty of reason to believe in them.
It is no secret the group needs to play better this year, and adding two receivers in the draft will only make the competition stronger, but it is important to acknowledge there are explanations for last year’s underwhelming performances, and reason to believe they can rebound in 2025.