When it comes to the Green Bay Packers' sputtering passing offense down the stretch of the 2024 season, the consensus online opinion is that Christian Watson's absence was the root cause of the issue. Watson's timetable for a return from a late-season ACL injury is TBD.
This led to an eagerness to see the Packers add what would be seen as a "true number one wide receiver" to the offense this offseason, or at least a player similar to Watson in terms of a deep threat with size.
Ultimately, Green Bay were not the ones to pull the trigger on the DK Metcalf trade, if they were even interested in the first place, and the only addition to the receiver room so far is Mecole Hardman, the former Kansas City Chief and Super Bowl hero.
Head coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst were quizzed on how they expect to replace Watson's impact on the offense at the NFL's Annual Meeting, and generally get more consistent play from their young group of receivers, whose progress somewhat stalled in 2024.
On Green Bay's situation at receiver, LaFleur said: "Ideally, they'll continue to work and push, and one of those guys will be that guy, but I feel good about our receiver room.
"It doesn't help when you lose a guy like Christian Watson, and who knows when we'll get him back. His physicality, his speed, he's an intelligent player. You could move him from position to position within a game and not everybody can handle that.
"That is a big loss for us, but those other guys are going to have to pick up the slack."
LaFleur's comments intimate the Packers are putting their faith in development from their existing receivers to take the offense to another level in 2025, rather than hoping for outside addition to make the difference. Meanwhile Gutekunst provided some insight as to how Green Bay might look to replicate Watson's deep threat.
He said: "We brought in Mecole and he’s got a lot of speed. Certainly Jayden fits that bill as well. Luke Musgrave is a guy if we can consistently keep out on the field, provides a speed element that can stretch the defense, so I think we have that ability even without Christian.
Christian’s a pretty dynamic guy, there’s not many guys like him in our league, so when he’s out there it certainly changes things. Getting him healthy down the stretch will be a really important part of that, but I do think we can handle that as we are”
While his Relative Athletic Score (RAS) card may say he runs a 4.45 40-yard dash, after drafting Reed, vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan told the media the Packers had him timed at a 4.37, which is just behind Watson's 4.36.
Reed has primarily operated in the slot for Green Bay in his two NFL seasons, and has therefore often come off the field in two-receiver sets.
He played on the perimeter extensively in college though, and the signing of Hardman, who could take over some slot snaps as well as the Packers' gadget plays, could allow Reed to kick out wide more and help provide a deep threat, at least while Watson is out.
Musgrave's ability to threaten deep is a valid point made by Gutekunst. He is something of a forgotten man due to the injuries he has dealt with, along with the emergence of Tucker Kraft, but Musgrave has unique speed at the tight end position, and could help open up underneath passing options by stretching the seam.
Help could still come via the draft, but from their comments this week, it seems the Packers are unlikely to go chasing specific types of receivers just to fix their short-term speed problem.
This article originally appeared on Packers ...