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The Green Bay Packers will reportedly be without Christian Watson in Tampa Bay after he popped up on the injury report this past week with a hamstring injury.
Although Watson hasn’t played a major role in the passing game through two weeks, his presence, specifically his speed, is very much going to be missed by this Packers’ offense.
In two games, Watson has caught five of seven passes for 43 yards or just 8.6 yards per catch per PFF. With many of those touches coming on jet sweeps, his average yards per route run is only 1.19 yards, and his average depth of target is 6.7 yards, which is even a bit inflated by that deep ball attempt in Week 1, along with a 25-yard reception from Jordan Love when that game was out of hand.
With that said, while Watson is yet to light up the stat sheet, defenses have to account for him when he’s on the field because of his 4.3-speed, which benefits the rest of the offense.
The fact that the Packers are so willing to give Watson the ball on those jet motions means that the defense has to react any time he is sent in motion –which has been often. This helps create that illusion of complexity that we often hear Matt LaFleur discuss, with motion playing a key role in that by helping to keep defenses guessing.
Watson being sent in motion keeps the linebackers on their heels, can tip off Aaron Rodgers as to what the defense is doing based on their movements, and also open up running lanes. All of which takes place without Watson even touching the ball.
Unfortunately, Watson didn’t haul in that downfield pass from Aaron Rodgers against the Vikings, but he did put on tape what he’s capable of as a vertical threat, creating 3.5 yards of separation, according to Next Gen Stats.
That presence on the field not only brings big-play ability to the offense, but it helps create opportunities for other pass-catchers underneath, along with the attention that Watson draws from the defense, specifically the safeties.
Having this element is a must for the Packers’ offense. If we look back at their playoff loss to San Francisco in January when the offense was without Marquez Valdez-Scantling, it was quite evident how condensed – and more difficult – things became in the passing game for Rodgers when the 49ers’ defense didn’t fear getting beat over the top.
And it’s worth noting that Valdes-Scantling caught four passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Bucs in the 2020 NFC Championship Game.
Everything just described may not move the needle, especially for a second-round pick and on a team with questions at the receiver position, but Watson’s speed will be missed as the Packers offense faces a very difficult road test, traveling to Tampa Bay to take on one of the NFL’s top defenses. We do not know how many opportunities Watson would have had if healthy, but regardless of whether it was one target or 10, his presence alone with that speed of his would have benefited the Green Bay offense.
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