Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson finished among the NFL’s best in two important aspects of playing the position during his impressive rookie season.
According to data from Pro Football Focus, Watson ranked fourth among qualifying receivers in average yards after the catch (YAC) and tied for first among qualifying receivers in contested catch percentage. Watson averaged 6.4 yards after the catch per reception and completed nine of 12 contested catch opportunities (75 percent) during the 2022 season.
It’s a small sample size, to be sure. Watson caught only 41 passes total, and 12 contested catch opportunities isn’t a lot. Still, the two numbers help highlight the incredible promise Watson showed as a rookie because winning after the catch (using his speed/athleticism) and winning at the catch point against tight coverage (using his size/athleticism) are two areas that can separate the good from the great at the position.
It will be interesting to see if Watson, with a bigger workload expected and defenses primed to stop him in 2023, can continue excelling in both areas.
Getting open consistently is also very important. Watson, who had only 65 targets in 2022, didn’t qualify for PFF’s open-target percentage (needed 75 targets), but we reached out to the site to see where Watson would haveranked in the stat if the qualifiers were lower. Considering only 12 of his 65 targets were considered contested, it’s a good bet that Watson was considered open on a high percentage of his overall targets.
In less-specific PFF stats, Watson ranked 11th among qualifying wide receivers in yards per route run (2.26), a strong metric that weighs production against opportunity, and third in passer rating when targeted (123.3). Again, it will be fascinating to see if Watson can continue being hyper-efficient as the clear-cut No. 1 target in a passing game run by Jordan Love and not Aaron Rodgers.
