Draft Should Help, Not Hinder, Packers’ Jayden Reed

Drafting a player in the first round is a statement. Drafting two players in the top 100 at the same position is a clear message.

It appears that message has been noted by Green Bay Packers star receiver Jayden Reed.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Jayden Reed’s new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, met with Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst after the draft as a way to clarify his role with the team after it drafted Matthew Golden and Savion Williams in the first three rounds.

The concerns of Rosenhaus and, by extension, Reed are well placed.

Reed will play one more season before becoming eligible for a contract extension, and there are plenty of questions that have emerged in the aftermath of last month’s draft.

Most of those questions have surrounded the futures of Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson, both of whom will be free agents after the 2025 season.

As we know, the draft is not just about the present, but the future.

Gutekunst, according to ESPN’s report, reiterated that nothing has changed in regard to Reed’s role with the team, and they still view him as their “top receiver.”

Did Gutekunst say that word for word, or is this agent posturing? That’s up for debate.

What is not up for debate is that Reed, despite his inconsistencies, has been Green Bay’s most dynamic receiver since arriving in Green Bay in 2023.

Reed led the team in receptions and receiving yards each of his first two seasons. He caught 64 passes for 793 yards and eight touchdowns on 94 targets as a rookie as he blossomed into a star. He started strong in 2024 – he was on pace for 1,171 receiving yards through nine games – but finished with 55 receptions for 857 yards and six touchdowns on 75 targets.

Reed struggled down the stretch, with just 11 receptions in the final five games, including one catch for 6 yards in late-season losses at the Lions and Vikings. For all the discussion surrounding the drop issues of Dontayvion Wicks, who finished with the second-worst drop percentage in the NFL, Reed had the third-worst drop percentage and a team-high 10 drops.

He also finished the season with a shoulder injury that caused him to miss the rest of the team’s 22-10 loss in Philadelphia in the playoffs.

LaFleur would admit that Reed was banged up throughout the year.

“I think there was a point in time about midway through where he got a little bit banged up.” LaFleur said to the local media. “Nothing serious, just the overall pounding. And it definitely took a little bit of a toll.

“But I also think that we could have done a better job from a staff perspective of trying to put him in some more advantageous situations where he could have produced those numbers. Because he’s an explosive player and he’s one of those guys that you want to get the ball to, no doubt about it.”

Reed is a smaller player, measuring 5-foot-11 and 187 pounds. The Packers have asked him to play in the slot, but also handle a lot of the jet-motion duties in LaFleur’s offense, a role that has been asked of players like Deebo Samuel when he was with the 49ers. He’s also been the primary punt returner.

A season that ended on a sour note for Reed might have the organization rethinking his role.

Reed played the most snaps of any Packers receiver in 2024. Of his 721 snaps, 520 of them came in the slot, with 27 more coming in the backfield. Reed did not play much on the boundary, with only 163 snaps coming as a wide receiver. That likely has a lot to do with Reed’s size as much as it does his skill-set.

Reed playing in the middle of the field and taking handoffs from Jordan Love exposes his body to a lot of hits, which could lead to him being more banged up as the season goes along.

When he’s healthy, the evidence is overwhelming in the type of player he can be.

It’s only May, but Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich was excited talking about Reed’s return to the team this offseason.

“He looks great. He looks like the same Jayden, fast, explosive, smile on his face.”

The goal now that Reed is healthy is to keep him healthy.

Hello, Savion Williams.

Yes, Williams is going to do things as a receiver. The Packers do not view him simply as a gadget player, but that is a good way to serve two separate purposes.

One, it allows Williams to use the versatile skill-set and get the ball in his hands. Two, it takes some of the jet-sweep and return-game touches from Reed, allowing him to focus on being a receiver.

Williams was used all over the formation at TCU, including wildcat quarterback. Getting the ball in his hands and finding a seam in the defense is nothing he has not done before. If nothing else, Williams gives the Packers another option.

“I think both those guys can, for sure,” Stenavich said of the versatility of Golden and Williams. “Yeah, it’s kind of like with a running back, if you got two guys that can carry the load, it gives you more juice at the end.

“So, I think that’s definitely a case, hopefully, that we can get going as the season rolls on that these younger guys can get more touches and kind of spread it out.”

Williams being able to do those things could free up Reed to be more of a presence when the team puts two tight ends on the field.

One clear theme of the offseason is the Packers appear to be excited about the possibilities within their offense with Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave fully healthy to start the season. Playing with two tight ends leaves room for only two receivers on the field.

Typically, the Packers have leaned toward bigger players like Watson, Doubs and Wicks in those sets. All three players are bigger than Reed, and better as run blockers.

Apart from Watson, who will miss the start of the season with a knee injury, none of those players are explosive as Reed.

If the Packers view Reed as a big part of their future, they’ll need to find a way to get him on the field outside of situations where they have a slot receiver on the field.

Keeping him healthy will do that, which is a big reason for the selection of Williams.

While the Packers were clearly sending a message to their passing game, perhaps it got lost in translation.

Reed could soon find out that the additions were meant to augment his game, not subtract from it.