Adam WellsAugust 13, 2024
Perry Knotts/Getty Images
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur doesn’t want to hear any more debates about who his team’s go-to pass-catcher is.
LaFleur told reporters he wants “to vomit every time I hear ‘No. 1 receiver'” because he believes the Packers have “got a bunch of ’em.”
While expectations are skyrocketing for the Packers going into the 2024 season thanks largely to Jordan Love, any concerns about the offense tend to revolve around who will stand out among the receiving corps.
Love said earlier this offseason that a team doesn’t necessarily need a No. 1 pass-catcher if you have several players capable of making plays:
“I think you don’t have to have a No. 1 receiver. I think it works out well when you can spread the ball out and you got different guys making different plays and you can put ’em in different areas. I think it puts a lot more stress on the defense and the calls that they can get in, so I think in the long run it helps us not having a No. 1 guy, a true No. 1 guy, but I think all those guys can step up and be the one any given day.”
The Packers and Kansas City Chiefs were the only two playoff teams from last season not to have a 1,000-yard receiver. Kansas City did have two players with at least 900 yards in Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce.
Green Bay’s leading receiver was Jayden Reed with 793 yards. Romeo Doubs (674) and Dontayvion Wicks (581) were the only other players with at least 500 yards.
Having a No. 1 receiver who can make a play in key moments is nice, but the Packers did just fine without that type of go-to option in 2023. Love made it work by finishing second in the NFL with 32 touchdown passes and seventh with 4,159 passing yards.
It’s entirely possible that one player from the group of Reed, Doubs, Wicks and Christian Watson does emerge as Love’s favorite target. That group of player is so young, with Watson being the elder statesman at 25. Reed and Wicks were both rookies last year.
Reed, in particular, seems like a budding star. He racked up 560 yards from scrimmage and seven total touchdowns over his final eight games. That would translate to 1,190 yards from scrimmage and 15 total touchdowns in a 17-game season.
The Packers were the youngest team in the NFL last season by snap-adjusted age. All of those players got valuable experience and won a playoff game, so they could be in line for bigger and better things in 2024.
Whether or not that translates to one of their receivers emerging to be what Davante Adams was for so many years in Green Bay remains to be seen, but the upside for that group looks to be immense in LaFleur’s system with Love at quarterback.