Can the Packers make the whole plane out of Jayden Reeds?
Over the next week or so, we’re going to look at wide receivers who make sense for what the Green Bay Packers both want and need at the position. You’re reading the third installment of the series. If you want to read more of these reports, check out the Green Bay Packers Draft subgroup to find more draft coverage.
What do the Packers want and need at receiver?
What do the Packers want? Since 2019, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur’s receivers have averaged 207.6 pounds per play. For reference, only four other teams in the league drafted players with that average weight over a 13-year span. Of the seven receivers who have seen the most playing time under LaFleur, only one — Jayden Reed, a full-time slot receiver — has weighed less than 204 pounds. All of those receivers who weighed at least 204 pounds were also at least 6’0”, too.
Like it or not, LaFleur’s offense is a run-first scheme, which means that his receivers are going to need a certain size due to how often they’re asked to make key blocks in the ground game. With the NFL’s formations becoming more condensed, as outside receivers start creeping in closer and closer to the offensive line, the Packers aren’t the only offense structured this way, either.
And what do the Packers need? Well, the loss of Christian Watson to a late 2024 ACL tear means that the club will need to add speed at the position this offseason. The fear of defenses congesting the lower zones, where Reed, Tucker Kraft, and Romeo Doubs typically make their biggest impact, should be a top concern of the front office going into 2025.
So in this series, we’re going to look at receivers who are 6’0” and 200 pounds, think of that as “Packer-type bodies,” who also were able to record at least a 4.4-second 40-yard dash at the combine in Indianapolis this year. Now that we’ve published reports on Missouri’s Luther Burden III and Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor, the third-ranked player to hit these thresholds on the consensus draft board is Utah State’s Jalen Royals, who is currently considered the 70th-ranked player in the 2025 draft class.
Jalen Royals scouting report
Coming out of high school, Jalen Royals was an under-recruited player out of the state of Georgia. Due to the lack of interest from Division I schools, he spent his freshman season at Georgia Military College, a junior college, before enrolling at Utah State.
With the Aggies, Royals was eventually named a two-time All-Moutain West receiver, despite only playing seven games in 2024 due to a season-ending foot injury. Royals recovered enough from the injury to suit up for the Senior Bowl, where he was one of the top performers during the week of practices. While admittedly not 100 percent, Royal was able to post a 4.42-second 40-yard at the NFL Scouting Combine, too.
If you’re a Packers fan, a lot of his scouting report is going to ring a bell. Royals plays like Jayden Reed, only 20 pounds heavier.
Royals has good wiggle and catch-and-run ability that was highlighted in 2024 when Utah State decided to call more screens for him. He also creates solid separation out of his breaks once his speed builds up, but he doesn’t have explosive releases off of the line of scrimmage that blow you away. Because of this, he’s likely to make a bigger impact versus zone than press man coverage, a scheme that Green Bay’s non-Christian Watson receivers have struggled against.
His deep speed, after building up, does give him a chance to win on the perimeter, which is why I would bet there are some teams who will consider him to be an inside-outside receiver compared to Reed, who was considered by most as a slot-only pass-catcher due to his height and weight. That’s the added benefit of an extra inch or so and 20 pounds.
Royals only returned nine kickoffs in his college career, but his game translates well to kickoff returns, because of his size and speed combination, and punt returns, because of his wiggle. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if he’s a quality returner early on in his career before his team eventually makes the call that he’s too valuable to be playing special teams snaps.
The big question is just how redundant playing Royals and Reed with each other would be for the Packers. Reed is great, but do you want to make the whole plane out of Reed? That’s something for general manager Brian Gutekunst to consider, as the team lacks a healthy blue-chip field-stretcher going into the 2025 season.
At some point, you’re building a team instead of collecting talent. Royals is a promising talent, maybe for another club in another circumstance than the one Green Bay finds themselves in. But maybe not.