Tag: Bo Melton

One play after a defensive pass interference penalty gave the Green Bay Packers a chance inside the red zone, Jordan Love hit Bo Melton for a 19-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass with 9:27 left in the third quarter of Saturday night’s NFC Divisional Round showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.

The touchdown gave the Packers a 13-7 lead.

Melton drew the 41-yard pass interference penalty on 3rd-and-15 to set up the score. On the touchdown, the Packers drew up a fake bubble screen and Melton got behind the safety, who slipped down on the rain-soaked field.

The scoring drive went nine plays and covered 75 yards. The Packers got a first down on an overturned spot on third down and overcame an 11-yard loss on a botched pitch to Aaron Jones.

Here’s the touchdown from Love to Melton:

pic.twitter.com/WluLRmzU0V

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 21, 2024

The touchdown was the Packers’ first in four red zone trips on Saturday night.

Melton, a 2022 draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks, became a go-to target for Love down the stretch. He was the team’s first 100-yard receiver after going over the century mark as a practice squad callup in Week 17 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Coming off a demoralizing loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15, the Green Bay Packers needed three straight wins to have a shot at the playoffs. That was when they stumbled upon an unlikely player to help lift them to the postseason. That player was wide receiver Bo Melton.

Over the last three weeks, Melton has turned 15 receptions into 211 yards and a touchdown. Not to mention, 13 of those 15 catches have resulted in first downs. Green Bay, of course, ended up winning all three games and will now face the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wildcard Round. But it’s safe to say they couldn’t have done without Melton’s spark.

“It’s been pretty cool to see a guy like that, that probably most of you have never really heard of, to see him get an opportunity to go out there and perform at a high level,” head coach Matt LaFleur said after his team’s playoff-clinching win over the Chicago Bears. “And he continues to do it, and I think it goes back to his approach, his work ethic, mentality, attitude, all of that. The guy just works and gets better.”

A seventh-round pick in 2022, Melton faced a tough road before becoming a breakout player for the Packers. He spent most of that first year on the Seattle Seahawks practice squad before Green Bay signed him to their active roster at the tail end of the season.

Melton competed for a spot on this year’s 53-man roster but was released during final cutdowns. Fortunately, another team did not sign Melton, and he was brought back to the practice squad.

That’s where Melton stayed until he was called up to play in his first NFL game against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. Melton went on to play eight total snaps, but six of those were on special teams. A week later, he was back on the practice squad.

Rather than get discouraged, Melton stayed ready.

“I prepare myself during the week for the opportunity of playing on Sunday,” Melton told Larry McCarren of Packers.com in a one-on-one interview. “When the opportunity came, I treated it just like I was working in practice. So when I go out there, and my number is called, I already knew I was going to be ready for this because I already put in all the work in practice.”

He eventually got another opportunity when injuries became an issue in the receiver room. The Packers decided to elevate Melton against Tampa Bay, and he caught one pass for seven yards.

The following week, he did his part in Green Bay’s streak-starting win over the Carolina Panthers. Despite running just 14 routes, Melton offered a solid contribution, hauling in four catches for 44 yards.

Then, down to his final practice squad elevation, Melton provided an incredible performance on New Year’s Eve while visiting the Minnesota Vikings. He became the first Packers receiver to have 100 yards in a game this season, and he also scored his first career touchdown to make it an insurmountable lead. After that, Melton was here to stay.

Finally, to continue an impressive stretch, he added another five receptions for 62 yards in the finale against Chicago.

Over the past month, Melton has seemingly come out of nowhere. He has gone from being a practice squad player to propelling his team on a playoff push.

Green Bay likely wouldn’t be where they are without Melton, but he says it took a complete team buy-in to get to where they are now.

“We’re a whole team together,” he said. “These last three weeks were win and advance, and that’s what coach LaFleur was always saying to us. I think our team took that to heart. We wanted to win and advance to make it to the playoffs, and I think that our team bought in very well to that. We came out there and took that approach, so it was kind of like a team thing. I was just a part of it.”

Now, after proving himself, Melton will be a part of a potential playoff run.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Bo Melton has seemingly come out of nowhere in recent weeks, but he’s shown that this is more than just a hot streak. He has staying power.

It was Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers where we got our first true glimpse into what Melton can add to this offense. On the field for just 14 passing plays, Melton was targeted six times, catching four of those passes for 44 yards. An efficient performance.

Against the Minnesota Vikings the following week, Melton became the first Packers receiver in 2023 to eclipse 100 receiving yards in a single game while scoring a touchdown. Then, in Week 18, he totaled five more receptions for 62 yards.

“Bo made a bunch more plays,” said Matt LaFleur after the Bears game. “It’s been pretty cool to see a guy like that, that probably most of you have never really heard of, to see him get an opportunity to go out there and perform at a high level, and he continues to do it, and I think, again, it goes back to his approach, his work ethic, his mentality, attitude, all of that. The guy just works and gets better.”

Melton’s first real opportunity came, in part because of the injuries that the Packers have been navigating at the receiver position. Over the last month-plus the team has been without Christian Watson. On top of that, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks have missed time as well.

But these were also opportunities earned through what Melton had shown in practice, whether that be on special teams, working with the scout team offense, or when getting snaps with the starters. LaFleur has frequently praised Melton for his attitude and the approach he brings every day.

“He brings so much great energy to the room,” added LaFleur, “to practice every day, whether he’s on the show team or with the first team offense. He’s just always pushing people to be better, including himself. He gives great looks.

“We’ve mentioned it before, the level of excitement that guys have for him. Celebrating his success for what he’s been able to do the last couple of weeks. He’s just a well-respected and well-liked member of our football team.”

That in itself, how Melton goes about his business, could be enough to show us that he has staying power. But beyond the numbers he’s putting up on Sundays, it’s how he’s earning those yards that tells us he could be a factor not only in 2023.

Even without the ball in his hands, Melton can make an impact. He brings elite speed to the position, posting a 4.34-second 40-time coming out of Rutgers in 2022. We’ve seen the Packers use that to their advantage by utilizing him as the motion man pre-snap to stress defenses horizontally to create better spacing.

On a few instances, to keep defenses honest, Melton has gotten some designed touches out of the backfield to get him the ball in space where his speed can take over. And like the other receivers on the roster, LaFleur has the ability to move Melton around the formation, lining him up inside or out.

We’ve also seen Melton display really good feel, able to find the soft spot in defensive coverages along with making contested catches. In the last three games, he has caught 3-of-5 contested catch opportunities.

“First of all, he’s got a tremendous talent in the fact that he is really fast,” LaFleur said. “Obviously, you can’t coach that. It’s just good to see somebody go out there and do it in practice, then get opportunities and it translate over to the game. That’s what we are always trying to do. Take indy (individual work) to team, team to game day, and he’s been able to do that, but it’s a credit to all the work he’s put in.”

In a very short period of time, Melton has gone from being on the practice squad to playing a significant role in playoff-like matchups for the Packers, totaling 49 snaps and 45 snaps the past two weeks.

Even if the Packers receiver room were to get back to full health, Melton would likely still have a role on gamedays moving forward. He’s made that type of impact, and the process that has led to the level of production that we are seeing illustrates that this is more than just a hot streak.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Bo Melton, who was signed to the 53-man roster after producing a career-best 105 receiving yards on Sunday night in Minneapolis, has quickly become a go-to player in big spots for Jordan Love the Packers passing game.

Consider this: Melton’s 11 catches over the last three weeks have produced nine first downs and one touchdown, including five conversions on third down.

On Sunday night against the Vikings, Melton had four different conversions on third down, including a 9-yard touchdown catch that essentially put the game away in the third quarter.

Melton has played only 94 snaps and run 52 routes in 2023, but Love and coach Matt LaFleur clearly trust him in big spots.

In Carolina, Melton converted a 3rd-and-10 with an 11-yard catch and was targeted on two other third downs.

In Minnesota, Melton converted 3rd-and-1, 3rd-and-6, 3rd-and-3 and 3rd-and-7 with catches.

Melton has also converted a 2nd-and-10 with a 14-yard catch (in Carolina) and a 2nd-and-8 with a 28-yard catch (in Minnesota).

Jordan Love launching off his back foot 😱

📺: #GBvsMIN on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/cOt1Gy93Av pic.twitter.com/qMEEgGPz9Q

— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2024

Capping off a 91-yard drive!

BO MELTON WITH THE TD.#GBvsMIN | #GoPackGo

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/WFLmaTFDRD

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 1, 2024

If there’s one blemish for Melton, it came on Sunday night. The second-year receiver attempted to make a sliding catch on fourth down near the scoring area but couldn’t finish the catch. With a better throw, Melton might have scored, but he still should have made the play and the conversion. It was just another example of Love and the Packers trusting Melton in a big moment.

He might be needed in more big spots in the season finale. Jayden Reed is dealing with a chest injury and could be in danger of missing Sunday’s showdown with the Chicago Bears. If Reed can’t go, Melton will be on the field plenty in a game where the Packers can clinch a playoff spot with a win.