What a difference a week makes! Last week, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did not hid his frustration with the team’s rookie wide receivers. He cited controllable mental mistakes as things that could limit their playing time. When asked who the top wide receivers were, Rodgers said Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Sammy Watkins. Today, though, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic posted a video of Rodgers praising rookie wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson.
Aaron Rodgers goes in depth on rookie WRs Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs.
Some good stuff in here: pic.twitter.com/MhR23DTdgn
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 22, 2022
Of Christian Watson, Rodgers was highly complimentary of his intangibles. What this means is that Rodgers loves the things Watson does that cannot be coached. In his interview, Rodgers recounted a play in practice where the offense “changed things up.” According to Rodgers, “I told him what to do in the huddle, and it was something he had never done before. And he did it perfectly.”
Rodgers had especially high praise for Romeo Doubs. Of the fourth round pick, Rodgers said that the Packers need to hold him to a higher standard than other rookie wide receivers “that we’ve had over the last four or five years.” Rodgers cited Doubs’ performance in training camp and in preseason games as reasons why Doubs will be expected to play, and play well.
The Packers’ second round pick was just recently activated off of the PUP list. While Watson took part in pre-game warm-ups against the New Orleans Saints, he did not play in the game. It appears that he does have some things to work on, though. Aaron Rodgers pointed out: “We have to get him a little bit more consistent at tracking the ball down the field, but he made a nice play today.”
At six foot five, Christian Watson is certainly a tall target. His speed makes him a possibly lethal downfield threat. However, he played his college ball at North Dakota State University, which is a runs a run-first offense. It stands to reason that Watson will need to adjust to an offense that is more balanced and willing to take deep shots down the field.
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