The Green Bay Packers made 11 picks during the 2022 NFL draft: six offensive players and five defensive players. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be going through and reviewing the 2022 season for all of the Packers’ rookies.
Next up: wide receiver Romeo Doubs, the 132nd overall pick and the Packers’ first of two fourth-round draft picks in 2022:
Snap counts
Doubs played the most offensive snaps among Green Bay’s rookies despite missing four games due to injury. His 529 snaps (48.4%) were spread across 13 games, including seven starts. Unlike most rookie receivers for the Packers, Doubs was thrust into a prominent role early on thanks to a productive training camp and preseason. In his first regular-season game, he played 57 percent of the offensive snaps. In Weeks 3-8, Doubs went through a six-game stretch where he was on the field for at least 82 percent of the snaps. Unfortunately, an injury in Week 9 caused Doubs’ snap counts to dwindle for the rest of the season. He also played three snaps on special teams, which included two kick returns.
Season stats
Doubs finished his rookie season catching 42 of his 67 targets (62.7%) for 425 yards and three touchdowns. Twenty of those catches resulted in first downs, and he also had one rushing attempt for 11 yards. According to Pro Football Focus, only nine rookie receivers were targeted at least 50 times. Doubs finished fifth in receptions among all rookie receivers and 10th in receiving yards. His passer rating when targeted was 100.1, which ranked sixth among rookie receivers with at least 20 targets. PFF credited Doubs with five drops for a drop percentage of 10.6%. Among rookie receivers with at least 20 targets, it ranked third behind teammate Christian Watson and New England’s Tyquan Thornton. Also, his two fumbles tied for the second most among rookie receivers.
PFF grade
62.6. Coincidentally, Doubs’ grade was the same as former Green Bay receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and 70th among all receivers with at least 50 targets. Compared to other rookie receivers, his offensive grade ranked 16th, as did his receiving grade of 62.0. Doubs had two games where his offensive grade was above 80.0, and one of those was the game he got injured and played only one snap.
Best game
There were a couple of candidates for this one. Doubs had a really nice day down in Tampa in Week 3 when he caught all eight of his targets for 73 yards and a touchdown. There was also the Buffalo game in Week 8 when he made a nice adjustment on a 19-yard touchdown catch en route to a 62-yard performance. But I am going to go with his first game back from injury in Week 15. The Packers were in a must-win matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, and Doubs led the team with five catches for 55 yards in only 23 snaps. That game really underlined the polished route running the offense was missing without Doubs. Four of his grabs went for first downs, and he received his highest PFF grade of the season.
Season recap, future outlook
Overall, I think it’s safe to say Doubs’ rookie season was a bit of a rollercoaster. There was so much hype surrounding him out of training camp that the expectations rose to a nearly impossible level. We forget how hard it is for a rookie receiver to transition to the NFL, especially in Green Bay, where you must earn the trust of Aaron Rodgers first and foremost. However, Doubs caught on about as well as you can for a first-year receiver on the Packers. He led the team in receiving for the first five weeks before his play tapered off, as it does for most rookies. Not to mention, he battled back from a tough injury and answered with a solid performance against the Rams. Unfortunately, the year didn’t end on a high note as Doubs dropped a pair of passes in the season finale against the Detroit Lions to make the playoffs. Still, I think there’s a lot to like about what Doubs can do in Green Bay moving forward. He’s already a pretty good route runner with a chance to be great if he works on his craft. Plus, as Rodgers pointed out, he has shown he is a reliable hands catcher but needs to clean up some of the drops. I think it’s safe to say Doubs has a high ceiling, and between him and Watson, the Packers have two young receivers with complementary skill sets they can build around.
Season grade
I think Green Bay got great value in Doubs. He came in as a fourth-rounder and immediately started making noise in an offense that isn’t easy to adjust to. The season started off well until Doubs realized how hard it is to stay consistent in the NFL. He showed plenty of flashes but never really took that next step to becoming an impact player on a weekly basis. Obviously, the injury didn’t help, but everyone should feel encouraged by what Doubs did in his rookie season and what lies ahead.
Grade: B
