The kids in Green Bay are starting to put things together.
Building upon an “encouraging loss” in Pittsburgh last week, the Green Bay Packers’ young wide receivers put together an impressive performance to overcome the self-defeating Los Angeles Chargers. Jordan Love‘s supporting cast all had big moments, including Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Luke Musgrave, and Tucker Kraft.
But while we expected the Year 2 players to become the offense’s focal point, the rookie wideouts are really gaining steam. The game is slowing down for Reed and Wicks, and they are contributing increasingly more every week. Reed is arguably the best receiver on the team right now, and he looks like he can be the focal point this offense has been lacking.
Would anyone have expected the second-round rookie to be Green Bay’s leading receiver at this point in the season? Rookie receivers have been more successful immediately than other positions in recent years. However, it’s surprising to see Reed lead the pack on a team with Watson and Doubs.
The former Spartan may be small by Green Bay’s usual standards, but he’s proven his ability to do it all for the Packers offense. Reed is 32/51 receptions for 463 yards and four touchdowns on the season. He’s also had five rushing attempts for 65 yards and a touchdown. He leads the team in yards and is second on receiving touchdowns and first downs (20).
Against the Chargers, Reed led the team with 92 total yards, including a 32-yard rushing touchdown that set the momentum for the rest of the game. Reed led the team in rushing yards, with 46 yards and an average of 15.3 yards per attempt. Reed’s touchdown run was his eighth play over 30 yards this season and his 10th over 20 yards. He also had 26 yards after the catch. While Wicks led the offense in receiving yards, with 91, Reed showcased his speed, big-play ability, and versatility.
Reed is getting some of the Tyler Ervin-esque touches with more designed handoffs created to take advantage of his burst and shiftiness. And he’s become more comfortable as a blocker, which is evident in the following clip:
Reed commented on his growth in that area. “I can go out there and play fast without hesitation,” said via PackersNews’ Pete Dougherty. “Two months ago, I’d probably have been hesitant about going and getting the nickel on a block, taking the leverage of a DB. It’s night and day from two months ago to now.”
Blocking ability and versatility are crucial for Matt LaFleur’s offense. Thanks to the struggling offense and growing pains of the rookies, we haven’t seen much of his patented illusion of complexity. However, Reed has brought more life into that area.
LaFleur called Reed a “war dog” following Sunday’s victory, a term he’d previously used for Allen Lazard. It’s a major compliment for the rookie. Lazard was always willing to do the dirty work in the passing game.
Jordan Love and the offense haven’t had a true go-to guy this season. While it’s clear Love has a good connection with Doubs, the second-year pass catcher hasn’t been able to take over games completely. Reed is starting to become that guy.
Despite having the opposite body type of Watson, the Packers can similarly use Reed in a versatile way. They can get him more designed handoffs and jet sweeps. Green Bay can keep coordinators guessing, relying on his speed rather than size to bust out of the slot and into the middle of the field. With Wicks emerging as a separation threat and Doubs as a major red-zone weapon, Reed can be a focal point to create opportunities for the rest of his peers.
Reed hasn’t broken 100 receiving yards in a game yet, and we aren’t at a point where it would be fair to expect that every game. And he still has a few things to clean up — as do most of the skill-position players on this offense. Regardless, Reed is quickly emerging as the team’s WR1 (with Wicks as WR2), and the offense should reflect that more each week. As Reed gets increasingly comfortable, he’s looking like a future star for the Packers.
We’re finally seeing the growth we were hoping for from the offense, and a large part of that is Reed improving every week. The young receiver is showing he can be the difference maker in games, and more opportunities should come his way as the season continues.
