Christian Watson is something of an anomaly in Packers history: he’s a highly drafted wide receiver.

The Packers just simply do not draft receivers as high as Watson. Selected 34th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, Watson is the highest-drafted Packers wide receiver since Javon Walker, whom the Packers selected 20th overall in 2002.

Walker, too, was an outlier. When they picked Walker, the Packers hadn’t drafted a receiver in the first round since 1988, when they took Sterling Sharpe seventh overall.

Sharpe is in a class of his own, but Walker’s circumstances actually represent a great comparison for Watson.

Walker joined a receiver room in transition

When Walker was drafted, the Packers’ wide receiver group was undergoing a bit of a makeover — and had needed one for some time. The weapons that had powered the Packers to appearances in Super Bowls XXXI and XXXII were long gone. Antonio Freeman would return for a curtain call in 2003, but by and large, Brett Favre’s once-great stable of pass catchers was gone.

But new general manager Mike Sherman was going to attempt to change that. Sherman had worked with outgoing general manager Ron Wolf to select tight end Bubba Franks and wide receiver Robert Ferguson in 2001, then added former Patriots wide receiver Terry Glenn via trade in 2002.

Sherman then selected Walker with the 20th pick in the draft that same offseason, and the rebuild was complete. Combined with ascending youngster Donald Driver, the Packers entered 2002 with a bunch of interesting pieces at receiver.

Glenn was an established veteran looking to get his once-promising career back on track. Driver was an internal prospect looking to take on a much bigger role than he had in his career to date. Ferguson was a recent draft pick whose first year hadn’t gone quite to plan. And Walker was an athletic marvel who figured to be the best of the bunch long term.

Watson fills a role much like Walker

Watson’s situation is virtually identical.

The era of wide receivers celebrated by the iconic Sports Illustrated cover is long gone, and after the Packers traded Davante Adams this offseason, the receiver room needed help in a big way.

Enter Sammy Watkins, an established veteran looking to get his once-promising career back on track. Watkins joins Allen Lazard, an ascending prospect taking on a a much bigger role than he has in his career to date. Elsewhere on the roster we have Amari Rodgers, a recent draft pick whose first year didn’t quite go to plan. And Watkins, a true athletic marvel, to all that, and you’ve got more or less a remix of the 2002 receiver room.

(Romeo Doubs and Randall Cobb are important pieces, too, but they mess up the tidy symmetry of this analogy. They’re much better options than Karsten Bailey and Eric Metcalf.)

On top of that, Watson is a virtual carbon copy of Walker athletically. Both offer track star speed, with Watson standing a bit taller and Walker weighing a bit more. Squint, though, and you’d have a hard time telling them apart.