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For all of the press that Romeo Doubs received during the summer, the wide receiver from the Green Bay Packers 2022 draft class who they had their hopes set on the most was Christian Watson. This FCS star put an exclamation point on his evaluation at the draft combine.
Watson, who is listed at 6-foot-4, 208 pounds, ran a 4.36 in the 40-yard-dash. He registered a 38.5 inch vertical jump, and his hands measured at 10 ⅛ inches. That type of draft combine profile would entice an NFL team, especially a franchise that recently lost one of the NFL’s best wide receivers, and convince them to select him with one of the first picks of the second round.
Against one of the NFL’s best defenses on Sunday, Watson put the Dallas Cowboys in the smoker until they fell apart in his hand. His previous high total in receptions this season was three. Watson topped it by one on Sunday, but those four catches resulted in far more than nine yards. He totaled 107 yards receiving, and also hauled in three touchdowns. If not for Watson misplaying a ball, he could’ve had four touchdown catches on the day.
Even though Watson was the first offensive player who the Packers selected in the 2022 draft, much of the offseason hype went to Doubs. Watson underwent knee surgery during the summer and it cost him time during training camp. Doubs, an FBS player at Nevada, was one of the best performers at the 2022 Senior Bowl. Only one person clocked a faster MPH during a single play.
Watson’s injuries continued as the season began with a hamstring issue that kept him out, and he was in concussion protocol during Week 9. When he was on the field, Aaron Rodgers wasn’t impressed. Watson last played during the Packers’ Week 8 loss to the Washington Commanders. It was after that loss when, during Rodgers’ weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, he suggested that players who make too many mistakes need to be benched.
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Without Watson’s dynamic plays against the Cowboys, the Packers’ don’t pull out their first victory since Oct. 2. In recent weeks, their offense has been as tight as traffic around a presidential motorcade. The Rodgers that the football fans are accustomed to, who can place 30-yard passes in a pass catcher’s side pocket, wasn’t performing that way.
Maybe he had become too dependent on current Las Vegas Raider Davante Adams, maybe the new receiving corps was poorly adjusting to the offense, or perhaps the 38-year-old Rodgers was running out of juice and this contract extension was a bad move by the Packers.
That is all still on the table, and at 4-6 the Packers have a long way to go to snag a wild-card spot with both the Cowboys and New York Giants well over .500, and the last NFC playoff spot being held by the new and improved San Francisco 49ers with Christian McCaffrey.
Maybe 2022 isn’t salvageable, but if Watson starts to perform on the field like he did at the scouting combine, the future Packers’ offense will look more like the unit that led the way to the NFC’s best record in 2020 and 2021.
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