Last spring, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur admitted the team didn’t have a true No. 1 wide receiver.
“I want to vomit every time I hear ‘No. 1 receiver,’ to be honest with you,” LaFleur said. “It drives me crazy. That’s something that you guys talk about. I feel like we’ve got a bunch of ’em.”
A bunch of “em” means the Packers had a ton of non-No. 1 receivers. The position is one that the Packers are expected to address in the upcoming draft.
The Green Bay Packers have questions at WR
With Christian Watson recovering from a torn ACL he sustained in Week 18, Green Bay is expected to be short at WR on a unit that underperformed in 2024. No WR hit the 1,000-yard receiving club, as Jayden Reed was the team’s leading pass catcher with 857 yards and six touchdowns on 55 receptions.
Many fans in Green Bay want the team to give quarterback Jordan Love something they refused Aaron Rodgers, a wide receiver in the first round.
Per an update Thursday on the Packers’ draft strategy, ESPN‘s Matt Miller and Rob Demovsky don’t believe Green Bay is considering adding a receiver in the first round.
“Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst made a point of saying this offseason that it has never been an organizational philosophy to skip receivers in the first round,” Demovsky wrote. “That said, it’s still hard to feel good about projecting a first-round receiver to the Packers until they actually do it.
“While Gutekunst said he hasn’t purposefully avoided taking a receiver on the first day, he did say it’s one of the more difficult positions for a rookie to make an immediate impact from, which could be why he has favored other spots in Round 1.”
The Packers are looking at defense
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Miller is hearing that Green Bay is likely to add defense with their first two picks.
“A rival scout told me that his team expects the Packers to focus on adding defensive players for Jeff Hafley’s scheme in the early rounds,” Miller wrote. “He predicted that Green Bay would draft a cornerback in Round 1 and a defensive tackle in the second round before shifting to a value receiver pick in Round 3.”
Related: Packers sign a local linebacker for 2025
The Packers need help at cornerback badly, given the likelihood that Jaire Alexander won’t be on the roster in September. The defensive line also needs help.
Still, the Packers invested heavily in Love by giving him a four-year extension worth $220 million in 2024. They need to ensure he can be efficient on that contract by giving him targets that can make plays.
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