The Green Bay Packers are well-known throughout the NFL for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most importantly, their 13 Champions are the most in league history. Because Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers spent decades leading high-scoring offenses, they have recently become known for Hall of Fame quarterback play. The history and prestige surrounding the team, as well as being associated with it as a player or coach, are unparalleled.
The Packers have also become known in recent decades for their refusal to draft wide receivers in the first round of the NFL Draft. Fans will recall that the last time they did so was in 2002, when they selected Javon Walker in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Instead, Green Bay has become skilled at finding good-to-great wide receivers in the subsequent rounds, particularly the second. Many fan favorites and Packers Hall of Famers were found in the second round at wide receiver. Davante Adams, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, and Randall Cobb were all drafted in the second round.
Jayden Reed was selected by the Packers with the 50th overall pick in the NFL Draft this year, and he may end up having the best rookie season of any of the great second round wide receivers before him.
Jayden Reed is having an outstanding season for the Green Bay Packers.
Reed has 36 receptions for 497 yards and five touchdowns in 11 games for the Packers this season. These are good numbers for any rookie wide receiver, but they are significant in terms of what they mean in Packers history. Reed is on pace to break Sterling Sharpe’s franchise rookie record for most receptions in a season (55), which he set in 2007.
If he maintains his current pace, he will end the season with 56 receptions, 768 yards, and eight touchdowns. If he ends up with these numbers or better, he will have had a better rookie season than any of the previous second-round wide receivers. In fact, his season is currently better than half of the other second-round wide receivers mentioned.
Christian Watson
While Christian Watson was not previously mentioned, it makes sense to include him here given that he was drafted in the second round. Furthermore, he had the best rookie wide receiver season in Aaron Rodgers’ tenure.
Watson had 41 receptions for 611 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Furthermore, he had seven carries for 80 yards and two more touchdowns.
The difference with Watson’s numbers is that he accomplished them in only 14 games. They would have been even better if he had played the entire 17-game season. Based on his per-game averages, he could have finished with 50 receptions for 741 yards and nine touchdowns if he had played 17 games.
Reed’s current per-game production would have already surpassed Watson’s season.
Adams, Davante
Of course, discussing second-round wide receivers in Packers history would be incomplete without mentioning one of the three best wide receivers in franchise history. Adams was a two-time First-Team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler when the Packers traded him to the Las Vegas Raiders.
It took him a while to reach that level, though. Adams had 38 receptions for 446 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games as a rookie.
Through 11 games, Reed has already surpassed all of those totals.
Cobb, Randall
Few Packers players have been as popular with fans over the last decade and a half as Randall Cobb. And quite rightly so. During his first stint with the team, his production was among the most productive in team history.
Cobb, however, was not the type of receiver he would become as a rookie. He had 25 receptions for 375 yards and one touchdown that year. He also performed admirably as the team’s returner. He had 295 return yards and a touchdown, as well as 941 punt return yards, including a 108-yard touchdown return.
Reed, on the other hand, has already outperformed Cobb’s rookie season as a wide receiver.
Mr. Jordy Nelson
Jordy Nelson, another immensely popular player, had one of the most successful careers of any Packers wide receiver in recent memory. His bond with Aaron Rodgers was nothing short of extraordinary.
However, it took him a few years to establish himself as one of the team’s best pass catchers. Rodgers had 33 receptions for 366 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie in 2008, his first season as a starter.
Again, these are figures Reed has already surpassed.
Jennings, Greg
The Packers’ recent success with second-round wide receivers began with Greg Jennings, who was named to two Pro Bowls with the team. Unlike Cobb, Nelson, and Adams, however, Jennings made an immediate impact with a stellar rookie season.
Jennings had 45 receptions for 632 yards and three touchdowns in 2006 (while Favre was still quarterback). He appeared in 14 of the possible 16 games.
The NFL regular season is now 17 games long, rather than 16. So, if Jennings’ per-game averages were applied over a 17-game season, he would have finished with 55 receptions (tying Sharpe’s record), 767 yards, and four touchdowns.
These figures are very close to what Reed is expected to finish the 2023 season with if he continues at his current rate.
