During the first quarter of the Green Bay Packers’ 31-29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, wide receiver Christian Watson went down writhing in pain after getting his leg trapped underneath a defender while trying to make a contested catch. He would later be carted to the locker room and not return to the game. It turns out that Watson avoided a season-ending injury but appears to have suffered a “mild” high ankle sprain, which could have caused him to be out for at least the next week or two.
While Watson has only totaled five catches for 80 yards and a touchdown to start the season, losing him for any period is a significant blow to Green Bay’s depth at wide receiver and the offense. If Watson is out for a while, the Packers will likely miss him in the run and pass game, and they will likely need to replace them in the aggregate.
In the run game, Watson profiles as Green Bay’s best run-blocking wide receiver. He ranks sixth in the NFL in run-blocking among wide receivers with at least 50% of snaps played. Additionally, his mindset in blocking is to always look for work and stay involved in plays.
Here’s a great look at a moment where other wide receivers would have stopped trying to pursue the play, but Watson stays involved and looks for the opportunity to block:
Watson is also fast in the passing game that he makes an impact even when Jordan Love doesn’t target him. On one big pass play to Jayden Reed, Watson’s unique deep-threat level speed clears space in the middle of the field for the Packers to attack.
Earlier in the season, Matt LaFleur alluded to Watson’s value to the team.
“He is an important part of what we do,” he said. “He’s a big, physical, fast guy, and not many of those guys exist. So, we certainly are a better offense when he’s at full strength.”
Coming out of college, Watson had a 9.96 relative athletic score and profiled similarly to Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, and Javon Walker. Watson is an athletic freak who is intimidating on the field and hard to replace. However, as LaFleur has often said, “It’s a next-man-up mentality.”
If we break Watson’s contributions down to blocking, being a general down-field threat, and receiving, the Packers do have the depth to at least get close to replacing him in the aggregate.
As a run-blocker, Jayden Reed performs above his weight class, ranking 17th among wide receivers in the NFL this year. Dontayvion Wicks and Malik Heath also have had solid run-blocking track records, ranking in the top-25 of receivers in the league last year.
Given Watson’s deep-threat speed, the Packers may rely on Bo Melton and his 4.34-second 40-yard dash time to help bring the vertical stretch to Green Bay’s passing attack.
In the passing game, we saw flashes from Wicks getting separation and finding soft spots in zone coverage.
While Wicks put up five catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns in Week 4, he also had 13 total targets, and Pro Football Focus credited him with more drops.
After Watson exited in the first quarter against the Vikings, Melton, Wicks, and Heath logged their season-high snap totals. With Watson down, the trio of wide receivers will likely have more significant roles to play.
Overall, I’m confident that all three can perform admirably. However, the downside may be that what the Packers are doing may be a bit more predictable when each is on the field. On the other hand, Watson is a premier jack-of-all-trades wide receiver who is fast, physical, and unselfish in making a big play in the passing game or digging guys out in the run game. Regardless, the depth will be tested, and guys will have to step up.
