The Christian Watson experience has been nothing short of a roller coaster in Green Bay. From dropping the first pass in a disappointing 2022 team campaign to looking like a breakout star a few months later to appearing like a bust part way through 2023, it’s hard to assess exactly what the Packers have in the former North Dakota State University product.
One thing is for certain, some of the numbers are less than ideal. After the loss to the Steelers there is a particularly brutal stat hovering over the young receiver’s sophomore campaign.
Christian Watson now ranks 121 of 121 WR/TE/RB on catch rate per Next Gen Stats! Yikes.
He has caught just 42.42% of the passes thrown to him this season.
To make things worse 5 of Jordan Love’s 9 interceptions this season have come when targeting Watson. That would be a difficult rate for a quarterback targeting a number 1 receiver for a whole season.
I’m his Tuesday press conference Head Coach Matt LaFluer had a brutal assessment of what Watson needed to do to improve.
“If guys are gonna get up in your face and wanna bump you, you gotta be in attack mode, Lafluer said. “And you gotta come off the line of scrimmage with a great stance and start and try to work people’s edges and get on top of them that way.”
There is a lot of football left to be played, and it’s important to give young players time to grow, but in an NFL where wide receivers are adapting to the professional level faster than ever before, Watson’s lack of route tree and his inability to attack the ball in the air is not only hurting his evolution but it’s creating a liability every time Love puts a pass in the air. Green Bay is going to need more from their young receiver and soon or next season he might find himself battling for opportunity.
