The Green Bay Packers have experienced a year full of growing pains, as they are the NFL’s youngest club. Despite the growing pains, the Packers are still in postseason contention with a 6-7 record and a favorable remaining schedule. Jordan Love, the team’s first-year starter, has been the main focus of those growing pains. Love has had ups and downs all season, but he has showed enough glimpses to keep Packers supporters ecstatic.
While everyone has been talking about Jordan Love, another player has been showing signs of stardom early in his career. That guy is at the position of wide receiver. Many people believe I’m referring to Christian Watson, a second-year North Dakota State player. While Watson had elite attributes early in his career, his ongoing difficulties to stay healthy prevents me from awarding him this distinction. Jayden Reed, the rookie, is the player I believe has the most potential to become the Packers’ next superstar receiver.
Possession of the Green Bay Packers’ Prize
Reed was a player who piqued my interest when the Packers selected him in the second round this past April. He was a terrific all-around athlete at Western Michigan and Michigan State and has brought those qualities to the Packer offense. Reed has demonstrated the ability to track the ball deep and make big plays in the open field with his shifty speed.
While Reed may appear to some to be a gadget player for the team, with many jet sweeps and run plays created for him, my point is that why wouldn’t you want to give the ball to your best playmakers as much as possible… And that is just what the Packers have done. Reed has done a little bit of everything this season and is developing into a game wrecker. In 13 games, the rookie receiver has 48 grabs on 74 targets for 540 yards and 5 receiving touchdowns. Reed has 11 rushing attempts for 119 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Is size important?
While Jayden Reed does not have the superstar “x” wide receiver position size of 6’2 to 6’3 in stature, many NFL superstars do not have these enormous alpha sized receivers. The NFL is beginning to favor smaller statured receivers as ideal stars in this league who may be dependable and powerful alternatives for NFL offenses. According to horton bar bell, the average size of NFL wide receivers is roughly the size of Jayden Reed.
Comparison
Stefon Diggs reminds me a lot of Jayden Reed from when Stefon’s career was just getting started in Minnesota. They both have that twitchy quickness in the open field as well as the desire to be great. Not to mention that they are the same size. Diggs received a comparison of collegiate output and stats from Player Profiler, a valuable resource for studying players entering the league. Click here for a more in-depth examination of the comparison from Player Profiler.
Support the Pack
While Jayden Reed may never live up to the great expectations I have for him, he will be an impact player for the Packers for quite some time. Reed and Love are growing together, which will be interesting to watch unfold. Many supporters have urged the Packers to focus on drafting young skill players early in the draft in recent years, and look at the roster of young talent Love is working with:
Christian Watson, 24 years old, is a wide receiver.
Jayden Reed, 23 years old, is a wide receiver.
WR Romeo Doubs, 23 years old
22-year-old Dontayvion Wicks WR
Tucker Kraft is a 23-year-old tight end.
TE Luke Musgrave (age 23)
Support the Pack and continue to have pleasure seeing a young group of players improve. Jayden Reed might be one of those players the Packers can groom into an incredible gem and the team’s next great second round wide receiver!
