Paul Bretl | 5/30/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — At a position group, wide receiver, where the Packers already had quite a few players that they could get involved on a weekly basis, the team went out and added two more players to that mix by taking Matthew Golden in the first round of this year’s NFL draft and Savion Williams in the third round, which only adds to the competition for targets that already existed.
The Packers’ offense would sputter late last season. In the game of football, whether it be good or bad, there are always a number of contributing factors to any result. But one of the bigger issues experienced on offense was the inconsistent play of the receiver position.
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For much of the year, this included dropped passes, which Green Bay had the third most of in all of the NFL. There was also a lack of detailed route running at times, something Matt LaFleur noted on two of the interceptions that took place during the playoff loss to Philadelphia, along with receivers simply not winning their routes often enough, as was the case in Week 17 against Minnesota.
So, in what could have already been considered a crowded receiver room with only so many targets and snaps to go around each week, it’s not a surprise–in fact, it was expected–that the Packers not only made additions, but spent premium draft capital to do so.
“I think they’re doing great right now,” said Jordan Love of the receiver room. “They’re all here, they’ve been working really hard. But I think anytime you draft guys in your room, that’s the nature of it, to feel that way, but at the end of the day, I think that’s every position group, every year. New guys get drafted in. It’s one of those things you’ve got to control what you can control, come to work, handle business, be the best player you can be, find ways to get better.
“At the end of the day, there’s always going to be competition. I don’t think any of those guys are shying away from competition. They all want to be the best and be out there on the field. The vibes are good right now.”
With the addition of Golden, as well as Williams, there is now greater uncertainty for the Packers’ receivers who were already on the roster. There are now fewer roster spots, snaps, and targets available than what there was presumed to be at this time a season ago. One would assume that the hope internally for Green Bay is that added competition raises the level of urgency and therefore the level of play within that room.
However, while competition is always a good thing and having a variety of skill sets for Matt LaFleur to build the weekly game plans around is a good thing for the team, there is also a human element to this as well that still exists.
Following the NFL draft, it was reported by ESPN that Jayden Reed’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, had reached out to GM Brian Gutekunst to see where Reed’s standing was within the offense. But as Reed described following last Wednesday’s OTA practice, that report was misinterpreted. In fact, Reed said that even before the draft, he knew the team was going to take a wide receiver early on.
“A lot of people misinterpreted that,” Reed said of the report. “I hired a new agent and we talked about it before even the draft, really, that he said he was going to talk to the front office and everybody here to just catch up and make sure everybody’s on the same page. As a new client, he told me that’s the way he was going to do it, and he did it.”
While the competition element is ever-present in the wide receiver room, Reed, along with Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Bo Melton, and Malik Heath–the experienced players at this position–have further embraced a leadership role this season. On a young team, one of the points of emphasis this offseason for LaFleur was ensuring that, throughout the roster, the Packers are developing leaders.
One way in which this has manifested in the wide receiver room is the help that the veterans are providing Golden and Williams, both on the practice field and off. Vrable recently mentioned that during practices, Reed can often be found behind Golden as he goes through his reps, providing pointers along the way. LaFleur also described that during one practice, he was going to discuss something that he saw with one of Golden’s reps, but Doubs had already approached the rookie and was having that conversation.
“He’s been outstanding,” LaFleur said of Reed. “I’ll tell you what, it’s a special group. Not only the rooks that we have coming in here, just being around them now for a couple of weeks, I think it’s a high-character group, which is always important to us. And they approach it the right way. But I’ve been really impressed with our veterans taking these guys under their wings and kind of showing them the way and really helping them, coaching them.”
Although we didn’t see the desired growth and development from the Packers’ wide receiver room as a whole last season, this is still a position with a lot of talent, depth, and a variety of skill sets–and with that, can be a group that is difficult to game plan for and defend.
On a weekly basis, LaFleur can really tailor the game plan to the opponent because of the depth the Packers have but also the different skill sets that are on the roster as well. For a defense, during the week, there is a lot to prepare for with the number of looks the Packers can throw at opponents and a litany of pass-catching options they have.
In game, knowing the ball could go to any player at really any time, the defense cannot hone in on one or even two receivers, which forces them to spread out, defend the entire field, which creates more space for the offense to operate in. Schematically, this can give the Packers an edge, but for a handful of receivers who are eyeing their second contract, it can lead to inconsistent targets over the course of the season.
“That’s always the tricky part, trying to get everybody involved,” said Love. “But like I said, we’ve got a great group of guys. They all know what the main objective is that we’re trying to get done here, and they know they’re going to get those opps that are going to come their way. Some days, some guys might catch more passes than the other guys. That just might be the way it is. It’s all at the end of the day predicated on what the defense is doing, trying to stop our offense. I always tell guys I’m going to throw it to the guy who’s open. I’m going to try to find the guy who’s open. They all know that.”
This is a Packers team that has Super Bowl aspirations, and rising to that level will have to include improved play from the wide receiver position. A catalyst behind accomplishing that will be the competition that is currently being cultivated.
Naturally, given how last season ended, there has been a lot of talk about ‘WR1,’ whether it be who that player is on the team currently or if Gutekunst should have made that type of addition this offseason. However, as has been the case the last two seasons, the strength of this unit still lies in its numbers.
“I just think we’ve got a lot of playmakers in the room and on any given day, anybody can go off,” Reed said. “All that wide receiver one stuff, I don’t look at it as that. It’s like we’ve got a lot of different playmakers in the room that can make plays and at the end of the day, it’s about a team coming together and getting a job done and winning. So all that stuff, I don’t take that stuff too much seriously, I just think we’ve got a lot of young guys in the room that can ball. That’s what we’re going to try to continue to do and try to continue to get better.”