Green Bay’s receivers can’t hang onto the ball, and the numbers back it
The Green Bay Packers aren’t doing a good job of evaluating receivers who can hang onto the football. That’s a problem when you want to build around a 26-year-old, $220 million quarterback in Jordan Love who wants to throw contested passes down the field.
According to Pro Football Focus (h/t Ian Hartitz), Packers outside receiver Dontayvion Wicks leads the NFL in drop rate among qualifiers. Slot receiver Jayden Reed ranks third in the league in drop rate. Even worse? The entire top four is made up of current or former Packers, as Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling also round out the top of the list.
Dontavion Wicks with the drop but a nice effort from Christian Watson to ensure this isn’t intercepted pic.twitter.com/thf0OafaGL
— Christian D’Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 29, 2024
While Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs haven’t registered as high of a drop rate as these players this season, they aren’t immune from criticism either. Watson has done a better job of bringing in deep passes this year, but it’s been a problem for him throughout his career — dating back to the first play of his first game as a pro when he dropped a would-be touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings.
YIKES pic.twitter.com/7y58rfgent
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 11, 2022
Doubs, who the coaching staff has heralded for his strong hands, makes tough grabs but is inconsistent. ESPN analyst Benjamin Solak tweeted the following during a Packers game earlier this year: “I like how whether or not Romeo Doubs catches a pass has absolutely no correlation with how easy it is to catch that pass.”
Christian Watson may never beat the Marquez Valdes-Scantling allegations pic.twitter.com/p4XLVmqC5N
— Christian D’Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 24, 2024
Last week, the Packers struggled mightily against the Vikings’ man coverage schemes, but an underrated part of their failure versus man was Reed dropping two crucial passes. One was an uncontested slant on fourth down at the 23-yard-line, which our Dusty Evely broke down in detail.
Who knows who it will be next week, but drops are becoming a reoccurring issue for the Packers under general manager Brian Gutekunst. Maybe hands just aren’t something that the front office values as much as other franchises, as they believe it’s a trait that can be coached. Maybe the team has too much faith in passing game coordinator Jason Vrable, who held the title of receivers coach with the team from 2020 to 2023, and receivers coach Ryan Mahaffey, who was an assistant offensive line coach from 2022 to 2023, in being able to coach drops out of pass-catchers.
Whatever the root of the issue is, though, it’s apparent on Sundays. The numbers back it, too.