I'm struggling with how to order Green Bay's wideouts for next year. There seem to be three different plausible possibilities for how they should slot 1-2-3. And even that's assuming it's not a 1-2-3-4 situation.
For now, I'm assuming Romeo Doubs will leave in free agency. He's had some attitude the last couple of years anyway, griping about his role. (And it's easy to sympathize with; as a fantasy coach I'd also like to see Matt LaFleur actually feature one of his wide receivers, rather than spreading it around to five or six different targets.)
Davante Adams has been gone for four years, and Green Bay in that time hasn't had a 1,000-yard wide receiver. Or a 900-yard receiver. But they've had nine different 600-yard receivers, plus a 10th who just missed. It's a great team to find a guy who will put up No. 3 production.
In PPR leagues they haven't had a wideout finish in the top 20, but they've had seven finish in the top 50, and nine more showing up as factors in the passing game (25-plus receptions. A frustrating group to tap into. (Table sorted by ranking in PPR leagues.)
| GREEN BAY WIDE RECEIVERS, 2022-2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | No | Rec | TD | Rk |
| 2023 | Jayden Reed | 16 | 64 | 793 | 10 | 25 |
| 2024 | Jayden Reed | 17 | 55 | 857 | 7 | 29 |
| 2022 | Allen Lazard | 15 | 60 | 788 | 6 | 34 |
| 2025 | Romeo Doubs | 16 | 55 | 724 | 6 | 37 |
| 2023 | Romeo Doubs | 17 | 59 | 674 | 8 | 37 |
| 2022 | Christian Watson | 14 | 41 | 611 | 9 | 42 |
| 2025 | Christian Watson | 10 | 35 | 611 | 6 | 46 |
| 2024 | Romeo Doubs | 13 | 46 | 601 | 4 | 56 |
| 2023 | Dontayvion Wicks | 15 | 39 | 581 | 4 | 57 |
| 2023 | Christian Watson | 9 | 28 | 422 | 5 | 69 |
| 2022 | Romeo Doubs | 13 | 42 | 425 | 3 | 70 |
| 2024 | Dontayvion Wicks | 17 | 39 | 415 | 5 | 72 |
| 2024 | Christian Watson | 15 | 29 | 620 | 2 | 75 |
| 2025 | Dontayvion Wicks | 14 | 30 | 332 | 2 | 83 |
| 2025 | Matthew Golden | 14 | 29 | 361 | 0 | 89 |
| 2022 | Randall Cobb | 13 | 34 | 417 | 1 | 91 |
Fast forward to the 2026 season, and I see three viable candidates to be the No. 1 wideout.
Christian Watson was the most impressive last season. Including the playoffs, he caught 7 touchdowns in his 11 games. I'm guessing he'll be the first Green Bay wideout selected in most leagues. He's averaged 19 yards per catch the last two seasons, better than everyone but Alec Pierce. Negative: he's missed 20 games due to injuries in four seasons, and at times plays limited snaps (perhaps to keep him healthy). He's averages 2.8 receptions per game for his career.
Jayden Reed has been an Index favorite in the past. He's a playmaker: in 2023-2024 he scored 17 total touchdowns, a top-8 number for wideouts those years. But he was hurt most of last year, and also sees his snaps limited.
Matthew Golden was a first-round selection last year, Green Bay's first since Javon Walker. He didn't do much; they brought him along slowly, and after a busy four-game stretch he picked up a shoulder injury, ultimately missing three games. Just 11 receptions in his last eight regular-season games. So naturally, Golden came out of nowhere to catch 4 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown in the playoff loss at Chicago.
All three of these wideouts, and Doubs for that matter, caught touchdowns in that playoff game.
Force to rank them right now, I think it'd be Watson-Golden-Reed. I've been burned by Reed before, they don't seem to fully trust him, and his injury concerns seem most troubling (Watson was healthy last season, once he was back on the field from the previous year's torn ACL). I'm putting Golden ahead of Reed because of that late performance, and the fact they selected him in the first round -- surely they have big plans for the guy.
But I don't think I'll really be targeting any of them. Interesting fliers in best-ball drafts, but not one at this point I'm willing to draft with much confidence he'll be the No. 1. Or 2.
--Andy Richardson
