With the 2023 NFL draft just two weeks out, one thing is unquestionable: the Green Bay Packers need pass-catchers, or wide receivers and tight ends.
This is a deep and multi-layered need that extends past just the depth chart. From the top down, the Packers must find quality pass-catchers in this draft or within the trade market or free agency before Week 1 of 2023.
Here are the biggest reasons why acquiring pass-catchers is so important for the Packers:
Departures
The Packers have either lost or not re-signed Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, Randall Cobb and Marcedes Lewis this offseason. The four combined to catch 153 passes for 1,741 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022, or roughly the same production provided by Davante Adams (123 catches, 1,553 yards, 11 touchdowns) during his final season in Green Bay in 2021. The Packers traded away Adams and lost Marquez Valdes-Scantling last offseason. That’s a lot of pass-catching production that has walked out the door in the last year. While the Packers are clearly entering a new era at receiver and tight end, the investments made during last year’s draft aren’t nearly enough to replace the departures, increasing the immediate need for additions.
The current roster
The Packers have only five wide receivers on the current 90-man roster, but the team usually brings 9-10 to training camp and has, during some years, kept as many as six or seven on the 53-man roster. The quick math tells you the Packers will eventually add between 4-5 receivers between now and the start of training camp, and a player or two not currently on the roster will likely end up on the Week 1 roster. The need here is exacerbated by the inexperience: of the five on the current roster, only three have legitimate NFL experience, and all three – Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure – were rookies last season. Jeff Cotton, an undrafted free agent, has played in one game and played one offensive snap. Bo Melton, a seventh-round pick of the Seahawks last year, didn’t play as a rookie.
Similar things can be said about the tight end position. Only Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis return from last year’s 53-man roster, and Deguara is more of an H-back type and Davis has all of eight catches over 335 offensive snaps. Austin Allen and Nick Guggemos, two undrafted practice squad players with no experience, are the only other tight ends on the roster.
As of April 12, the Packers have what can easily be considered the worst collection of wide receivers and tight ends in the NFL.
Jordan Love
Jordan Love will be a first-year starter in 2023. While Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs provide a decent foundation at receiver, the Packers simply need more weapons and talent around a young quarterback. Think back to 2008. Aaron Rodgers was a first-year starter, and he had Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones and Jordy Nelson (rookie) at receiver and Donald Lee and Jermichael Finley (rookie) at tight end. Driver and Jennings both went over 1,000 receiving yards in 2008, and Jones, Nelson and Finley would eventually develop into go-to targets. Now compare Love to the rest of the 2020 quarterbacks. Joe Burrow has Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Tua has Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Justin Herbert has Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Jalen Hurts has A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith. Watson might be a No. 1, but the Packers are still in the process of finding the Robin to Watson’s Batman. And it’s not about just finding a No. 2: the Packers don’t have great current options in terms of a No. 3 or No. 4, either, and that includes the tight end position.
Organizational pressure
The Packers are transitioning from Aaron Rodgers, a future Hall of Famer, to Jordan Love, who has thrown 83 career passes and started one career game. The team is confident in Love’s progression, but you can bet there’s huge organizational pressure centered on the young quarterback being good. He was hand-picked in the 2020 draft to eventually replace Rodgers, and that time is now here. The Packers need him to be good. More specifically, Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur need him to be good. There’s no quicker way to the unemployment line as a general manager or coach than picking a first-round quarterback who doesn’t pan out, so Gutekunst and LaFleur are under massive pressure to put the best supporting cast around Love and maximize his potential as a young player. The current collection of pass-catchers in Green Bay will make it very difficult for Love to be a good player out of the gates as a first-year starter.
Opening a new window
Adding pass-catchers in Green Bay isn’t about becoming contenders in 2023; the Packers need to find receivers and tight ends that can grow with Jordan Love and help open up a new contending window down the road. To use 2008 as an example again: the Packers finished 6-10 and missed the playoffs, but Aaron Rodgers and the offense finished fifth in points scored and laid the foundation for what would turn into an eight-year streak of making the postseason beginning in 2009 and including the Super Bowl run in 2010. If Love is good, the Packers can put the track on repeat. But it’s time to invest in the passing game, especially with so many resources already poured into the defense (and even the special teams!) and the running back and offensive line position groups in a solid place.
