Five Packers who need to have breakout seasons in 2023

Of all Packers players, Love will be the most scrutinized of all, taking over for a future Hall of Famer whose number will eventually be retired by the franchise. This is why Love leads the way on this list of five Green Bay players who must have a breakout season in 2023.

1. Jordan Love

Going into the 2023 season, Love has attempted 83 passes in two seasons as Rodgers’ backup. He has completed 60.2% of those passes for 606 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Last season, he appeared in four games, the most notable being when he came in late against the Philadelphia Eagles and impressed. Overall, Love completed 14 of his 21 passing attempts in 2022 (66.7%) for 195 yards and a touchdown, giving him a quarterback rating of 112.2.

Of course, this is a very small sample size. Love is going to be under a microscope all season due to the legacy of the player he is replacing. He can silence the doubters (and, more importantly, get Green Bay back to the playoffs) by having a breakout season in his first year as the starter.

2. Romeo Doubs

As far as rookie seasons go for Packers wide receivers, Romeo Doubs had a pretty solid 2022 campaign. He had 42 receptions for 425 yards and three touchdowns, but missed four games with an ankle injury during the season.

Doubs also had drop issues, dropping nine passes (more than Christian Watson) for a drop percentage of 13.7%. While it is not unusual for young wide receivers to struggle in this area, Doubs is now in an unusual situation for the Packers.

Along with Watson, Doubs is projected to be one of the starting wide receivers on offense, leading a group of pass catchers in which no one has played a full NFL season. If Love and the Packers are to be successful in 2023, Doubs needs to have a breakout season.

And “a breakout season” does not necessarily mean putting up 1,000 yards and 10+ touchdowns. However, if Doubs can establish himself as a sure-handed receiver that Love can count on in crunch time, he will have a very good year.

3. Christian Watson

With 41 receptions for 611 yards and seven receiving touchdowns in 2022, Christian Watson flashed the potential to be a WR1 in the NFL.

However, he had just three 100-yard games last season. Other than those three games, Watson failed to have more than 49 receiving yards in any given contest.

Consistency will be the key for Watson, and hopefully spending the entire offseason working with his quarterback instead of healing from a knee procedure will help him start off the season better than he did in 2022.

4. Quay Walker

The first of Green Bay’s first round picks in 2022, Quay Walker had a pretty good rookie season. He totaled 121 tackles, seven passes defensed, three forced fumbles and had 1.5 sacks. He also got ejected from two games for making contact with non-player personnel on opposing teams.

What the Packers and their fans saw last season was a great display of raw talent, but also raw emotion. Both need to be reined in so that Walker can reach his full potential.

Specifically, Walker was bad against the run last season (as was the entire Packers defense) with a PFF run defense grade of 35.1. His tackling numbers were good, but just imagine how great they will be when he finally has a breakout season. All he and the Packers need to do is channel that raw energy and emotion and he could very well be one of the best inside linebackers in the NFL.

5. Devonte Wyatt

Numerous writers have identified Devonte Wyatt as their breakout candidate for Green Bay. And rightly so. Of all Green Bay’s interior defensive linemen last season, Wyatt had the best overall PFF grade with 69.9. For some reason, Wyatt did not get very many opportunities until late in the season when Dean Lowry got injured.

Wyatt will not have the issue of being stuck behind sub-par defenders this year. Lowry and Jarran Reed are both gone, Lowry to the Minnesota Vikings and Reed back to the Seattle Seahawks. With increased snaps, Wyatt will be able to have a bigger impact on the game, and based on what we saw glimpses of last season, he could be a real game changer.