How do the Packers' young wide receivers stack up historically?

Throughout the Aaron Rodgers era, the Packers boasted quite a bit of wide receiver talent. Five different receivers who played the bulk of their career with Rodgers as their quarterback compiled more than 5,000 receiving yards, each in his own unique way. 

Greg Jennings, who started his career paired with Brett Favre, was a silky smooth slot receiver. James Jones was a consistent grinder, and probably the most physical presence among the great receivers of the Rodgers era. Jordy Nelson was without peer as a deep threat in the 21st century to date. Randall Cobb, at his peak, might be even better as a slot receiver than Jennings. And Davante Adams was the ultimate route-running technician.

Four of those five — Jennings, Jones, Nelson, and Cobb — were members of the Packers at the same time, giving Rodgers an unprecedented (and to this point unmatched) level of receiver talent with which to work. But could the Packers have something similar in the works now?

There are five (or more, depending who you want to include) promising young receivers on the Packers right now: Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and Bo Melton. Depending how many reps he gets, Malik Heath may end up included in that group as well. Could they climb to the same heights as those that came before them?

Spurred in part by Jaire Alexander’s recent assertion that Jayden Reed might be better than Cobb, I felt compelled to take a look at how the Packers’ young receiver talent stacks up against their predecessors from the Rodgers era.

Using data from Pro Football Reference, I charted out the career receiving totals for the five great receivers of the Rodgers era on a game-by-game basis, giving us a chance to compare where the Packers’ current youngsters stand. For symmetry’s sake, I only did the Packers’ top five receivers, but if Malik Heath starts making some noise this season, I’ll add him in later.

First and foremost, we see how great the Packers’ recent greats really are. As exciting as the young players are, you can clearly see they’ve got a long way to go to catch even James Jones from a career-long standpoint. 

But dropping down to the level of the Packers’ current receivers, we can see a lot to be excited about, too. For starters, among these ten receivers, Jayden Reed stands alone. Through 16 career games, nobody else put up as many receiving yards as Reed’s 793. He’s truly off to a great start.

Zooming down the timeline a little further, some numbers might surprise you. For one, Christian Watson, even through two at-times frustrating seasons, still has put up more receiving yards than anybody but Greg Jennings. Romeo Doubs, for another, has put up more yards through 29 career games than everybody but Jennings and Randall Cobb.

I think that’s really worth remembering. Even if Watson couldn’t come in and be a one-for-one replacement for Davante Adams (who could?), he’s still produced fairly well. And even if Doubs has been inconsistent and inefficient, his volume stacks up against any of the recent great receivers who came before him.

Jordy Nelson, robbed on the back end of his career by injuries to both himself and Aaron Rodgers, might be the most instructive player on this chart. At the same point in his career, Nelson had only about half as many receiving yards as Christian Watson does now, and that’s where the context for both Nelson and Watson matters.

Watson, as previously mentioned, was thrown in the fire from the start. As a rookie, his fellow receivers were Allen Lazard (injured at the start of the season), Sammy Watkins (injured at all points of the season, basically), Randall Cobb (old as the hills), and Romeo Doubs (a fellow rookie). He had to carry a disproportionate amount of the receiving load early, and has suffered under the weight of those expectations since then.

Nelson, though, came in behind Greg Jennings, James Jones, and Donald Driver, giving him plenty of time to find his footing. Patience is always required for young players, but Nelson had more room for patience than just about any young receiver in recent memory, with the possible exception of Randall Cobb.

But Nelson blossomed, really taking off statistically around game 50 of his career, going on to be one of the most productive receivers in Packers history. If Nelson can still take off, there’s no reason Watson can’t. He’s every bit as talented as any receiver you can name, he still stacks up well statistically, and he still has a lot of chances ahead of him to produce.

All of the Packers’ young receivers compare well to their historical peers. Nothing is guaranteed and a lot can change, but there’s a good chance we see one — and perhaps more — receivers from the Packers’ current group climbing up the all-time leaderboard in the near future.