The route-running abilities of Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs will hopefully make things easier on Green Bay Packers’ first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love and allow Matt LaFleur as the play-caller the opportunity to keep opposing defenses off balance.
For a Packers team that is limited in what they can do in free agency, Green Bay’s biggest improvements in 2023 are going to have to come internally from players who are entering their second and third NFL seasons, where the largest leaps are often made.
Watson and Doubs, of course, fall into that category. Both were limited at various points during their rookie seasons due to injuries, which slowed their growth, but they were also learning a new offense and adjusting to the NFL as well.
Now entering Year 2, where Watson and Doubs are presumably healthy along with more comfortable with the playbook, each has the opportunity to take on larger roles within the offense, with both possessing the ability to run a variety of route concepts.
At the NFL Annual Meetings last week, LaFleur was very complimentary of his second-year pass-catchers, telling reporters that Watson will be asked to run more routes. LaFleur added that he doesn’t believe there is a route that Doubs can’t run and compared his movement skills to that of Davante Adams.
“He (Watson) is a guy who can handle a lot,” said LaFleur via Packers.com. “I haven’t been around too many rookies where you can move their position in game, and he wouldn’t even flinch. He is exceptionally intelligent and knows the plan inside and out, but there’s a level of detail that is going to get better with him. Quite frankly, we are going to ask him to run more routes than he did a year ago.
“He’s (Doubs) got a unique skill set,” LaFleur later mentioned. “I want to temper this comparison, but he’s got some Davante Adams-type movement skills. Now, he’s got to learn when to use it and how to harness that, but he’s got that twitch that you’re looking for. I don’t think there’s a route that he won’t be able to run; we’re just going to have to give him enough reps to where he can continue his progression.”
What this does is it allows LaFleur to get much more creative with his play designs. We hear LaFleur talk about the “illusion of complexity,” and what Watson and Doubs can do as route runners helps him achieve that by the offense being able to run similar plays from a variety of formations, along with different plays that begin similarly. The end result is that defenses will have a more difficult time deciphering what is coming, given that there is a variety of possibilities.
With Love at quarterback, at least early on in the season, it’s going to be important that the play designs cultivated from Watson and Doubs’ diverse route trees help shoulder some of the burden and create easier opportunities for him in the passing game.
To complement Watson and Doubs, the Packers could very much benefit from another deep threat at the receiver position. With opponents having to respect the downfield shot, that element will help create additional room underneath for Doubs and Watson. Perhaps this player is already on the roster in Samori Toure, or the Packers could look to the draft with players such as Jalin Hyatt, Marvin Mims, Dontayvion Wicks, Tyler Scott, Trey Palmer, and Quentin Johnston, to name a few.
To add to what the Packers already have, adding a wide receiver prospect who can win in a variety of ways and at all levels of the field would further complicate things for opposing defenses. Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cedric Tillman are two early-round options who could help in that capacity.
With all that said, Doubs and Watson still have to show that they can regularly take on those additional route running responsibilities, and if so, that alone doesn’t guarantee success for the offense either. But this development should help expand the offense and create some easier pitch-and-catch opportunities for Love.
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