I get questions about Romeo Doubs every once in a while. Should I start him, he's a Jordan Love favorite, the Packers put him on the field the most, etc. More often than not, I say no.
The Packers have hit on a lot of wide receiver picks the last few years. Doubs is seemingly one of them, catching 8 touchdowns last year. The thing that keeps me away from him is he's never really done a lot with the bulk of his catches.
Simply being on the field all the time and seeing a decent amount of targets only requires you to be more available or perhaps reliable than the other options. The Packers don't sign free agents, they just throw the guys they draft into the lineup. Eventually, they'll find three guys who are more talented and can also stay healthy, and that should keep Doubs off the field. They've got Jayden Reed, they may eventually decide to make Dontayvion Wicks one of those guys, and perhaps Christian Watson will stay healthy for a month in a row.
Using the search tools at pro-football-reference.com, I looked for all the wide receivers who have seen at least 50 targets in the past two years, but averaged under 7 yards per target. There are 34 such players, including Doubs. Most of them aren't going to be helping people win fantasy leagues.
| WRS UNDER 7 YARDS PER TARGET, 2022-2023 (50+) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Y/Tgt |
| Curtis Samuel | 183 | 126 | 1269 | 10.1 | 8 | 6.9 |
| Wan'Dale Robinson | 109 | 83 | 752 | 9.1 | 2 | 6.9 |
| Quez Watkins | 72 | 48 | 496 | 10.3 | 4 | 6.9 |
| Trent Sherfield | 73 | 41 | 503 | 12.3 | 3 | 6.9 |
| Garrett Wilson | 315 | 178 | 2145 | 12.1 | 7 | 6.8 |
| Diontae Johnson | 234 | 137 | 1599 | 11.7 | 5 | 6.8 |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 93 | 63 | 628 | 10.0 | 4 | 6.8 |
| Randall Cobb | 67 | 39 | 456 | 11.7 | 2 | 6.8 |
| Romeo Doubs | 163 | 101 | 1099 | 10.9 | 11 | 6.7 |
| Hunter Renfrow | 87 | 61 | 585 | 9.6 | 2 | 6.7 |
| Van Jefferson | 87 | 44 | 578 | 13.1 | 3 | 6.6 |
| David Bell | 58 | 38 | 381 | 10.0 | 3 | 6.6 |
| Rondale Moore | 118 | 81 | 766 | 9.5 | 2 | 6.5 |
| Elijah Moore | 169 | 96 | 1086 | 11.3 | 3 | 6.4 |
| Michael Gallup | 131 | 73 | 842 | 11.5 | 6 | 6.4 |
| Isaiah McKenzie | 79 | 53 | 505 | 9.5 | 4 | 6.4 |
| Quentin Johnston | 67 | 38 | 431 | 11.3 | 2 | 6.4 |
| Brandon Powell | 76 | 53 | 480 | 9.1 | 1 | 6.3 |
| Marquise Brown | 208 | 118 | 1283 | 10.9 | 7 | 6.2 |
| Zay Jones | 185 | 116 | 1144 | 9.9 | 7 | 6.2 |
| Parris Campbell | 118 | 83 | 727 | 8.8 | 3 | 6.2 |
| Marvin Jones | 91 | 51 | 564 | 11.1 | 3 | 6.2 |
| Scott Miller | 56 | 34 | 346 | 10.2 | 2 | 6.2 |
| Allen Robinson | 101 | 67 | 619 | 9.2 | 3 | 6.1 |
| Russell Gage | 70 | 51 | 426 | 8.4 | 5 | 6.1 |
| Ben Skowronek | 73 | 47 | 442 | 9.4 | 1 | 6.1 |
| Julio Jones | 62 | 35 | 373 | 10.7 | 5 | 6.0 |
| Braxton Berrios | 65 | 45 | 383 | 8.5 | 1 | 5.9 |
| Kadarius Toney | 58 | 43 | 340 | 7.9 | 3 | 5.9 |
| Robert Woods | 166 | 93 | 953 | 10.2 | 3 | 5.7 |
| Trey Palmer | 68 | 39 | 385 | 9.9 | 3 | 5.7 |
| Chase Claypool | 100 | 54 | 528 | 9.8 | 2 | 5.3 |
| Tyquan Thornton | 68 | 35 | 338 | 9.7 | 2 | 5.0 |
| Jonathan Mingo | 85 | 43 | 418 | 9.7 | 0 | 4.9 |
Some of the players in the table stand out as elite talents just stuck in bad situations. Garrett Wilson, for sure, is one of those guys, working with Zach Wilson in those years. We can find other talents either limited by their quarterbacks or perhaps misused by the offenses -- Diontae Johnson, Marquise Brown.
But most of the rest are either washed-up or never-will-be types of wide receivers. Doubs isn't that; he's 24 years old, and at some point he'll get a decent second contract from someone. Allen Lazard parlayed some production working with a very good quarterback into a nice deal.
Anyway, I don't care that Doubs is on the field more than Jayden Reed. Once Love is back in the lineup, Reed will be the much better choice in fantasy lineups. I don't know if Watson will do enough or Wicks will get the opportunities, but I think both also have more potential the rest of the season. (All three of those players, incidentally, averaged 8-10 yards per target last season.) Doubs may be a reliable low-level target in the offense, but not a guy I'd want to have in my lineup.
--Andy Richardson
