Undrafted rookie wide receiver Malik Heath had been a standout during OTAs and training camp. Matt LaFleur praised him but stressed that it was important to see the flashes in games.
“He is a talented young player,” LaFleur said, “a guy we look forward to putting in some situations and seeing how he responds in games.”
After two preseason contests, and especially after the second one against the New England Patriots, it’s safe to say that Heath has exceeded expectations. He has a good chance of making the 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie. At this point, he has been the Green Bay Packers’ fourth-best wide receiver after Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Jayden Reed.
“He’s a strong, strong football player,” LaFleur added.
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.
Age and projection were factors in the draft process, but Heath was more productive at Ole Miss than fellow wide receiver Jonathan Mingo. The Carolina Panthers made Mingo a top-40 pick in this year’s draft. Heath finished his final college season at Ole Miss with 60 receptions for 971 yards and five touchdowns after he had spent two seasons at Mississippi State. Mingo was in his fourth season at Ole Miss, where he had 51 receptions for 861 yards and five touchdowns.
So how did Heath go undrafted considering the impressive production?
“I got a lot of calls before the draft, but it didn’t work out because I had a lot of off-the-field issues. Which I take full responsibility for as a man,” Heath, now a father, admitted. “I’m a changed man, and I’m trying to build on that. Just keep building.”
Heath uses the fact that he went undrafted as motivation, though. Part of that motivation includes a list of the 33 wide receivers teams drafted ahead of him.
“I remember every receiver that got drafted before me,” Heath said before his preseason debut, “so I’m gonna make every organization pay for it, that’s my mindset.”
Heath looks incredibly polished, especially for an undrafted player. He ran a varied route tree at Ole Miss, which is helping his transition to the NFL.
“We were running all the different routes that we’re running right now in the league,” Heath mentioned. “Strikes, we called them glances at Ole Miss, but we have been running the same routes there.”
Heath had three catches for 36 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. But he was even more impressive against the Patriots. He had five receptions for 75 yards — and the game was called off with 10:29 left in the fourth quarter because Isaiah Bolden suffered a head injury.
Not every team gives undrafted rookies a real opportunity to make the team. The Packers do. It’s almost a tradition at this point. At least one undrafted rookie has made the 53-man roster every year in Green Bay since 2005. Heath’s chances are particularly high because it’s such a young receiving group and offense in general.
Heath has also been more impressive than Dontayvion Wicks and Grant DuBose, the two wide receivers the Packers drafted on Day 3. If the idea is to test, experiment, and evaluate, Green Bay has no reason to keep Heath out of their plans.
“That’s a little bit of the idea, right? I think that’s important, for those guys to grow together,” general manager Brian Gutekunst stressed during the draft, when the Packers took five pass-catchers. “We took some guys last year that really did a nice job in their first year. We’re excited for their growth. So now, I think we have a good nucleus of guys, pass-catchers, to be able to grow with the quarterback. I think that’s important. And we’ll see how it goes.”
The Green Bay Packers haven’t shared their plans for Week 3 of the preseason. But Malik Heath will see the field a lot against the Seattle Seahawks. The question now is if it will be with Jordan Love or just a combination of backups Sean Clifford and Alex McGough. What Heath can do on special teams might also dictate his fate. NFL teams love and need their bottom-of-the-roster players to contribute in any significant way. However, Heath has shown a real ability to be an offensive contributor, and that talent can’t be overlooked.
It’s almost impossible to find good and polished players after seven rounds of the draft. But Malik Heath has a unique background, and his path might make him a pleasant exception for the Packers.
