Green Bay Packers rookie wide receiver Christian Watson has come alive in the last few weeks. After battling some effectiveness and injuries early on in the 2022 season, he has become a big play threat for the Packers as they try and keep their season afloat.
The North Dakota State product, who was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, was considered a raw prospect. He played in a run-heavy scheme in college but possessed the kind of size and athleticism that teams are looking for in a No. 1 receiver. The Packers knew that he wouldn’t be able to replicate the dominance of Davante Adams, at least not right away, but he is assuming the role of the team’s go-to receiver and thriving.
Drops are sometimes an issue for him still, which he will have to work on. The first pass of the season went to him and would have gone for a 75-yard touchdown had he been able to reel it in. That got him in the dog house a little bit, but injuries to other players presented him with another chance to get on the field and he has taken full advantage.
In the last four games, Watson has been on a touchdown tear. He scored three times against the Dallas Cowboys in a miraculous comeback in Week 10 and followed that up with a two-touchdown performance against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football.
After scoring once against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12 on Sunday Night Football, Watson followed it up with another score against the Chicago Bears this past weekend. Against Chicago, Watson added a 46-yard rushing touchdown showcasing his elite athleticism and ability to make a play with the ball in his hands.
That puts him in some rarified air when it comes to touchdowns by a rookie wide receiver. The only other player to score eight touchdowns in a four-game span as a rookie was Randy Moss in 1998.
Moss had two three-touchdown games, highlighted by his famous Thanksgiving Day performance against the Cowboys when he caught three passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns. He ended the season scoring at least one touchdown in seven straight games, a streak that Watson has the chance to break with the Packers having four games remaining.
Any time that you are mentioned in the same sentence as Moss, a Hall of Famer, you are doing something right. While not much has gone correctly for the Packers this season, Christian Watson’s emergence is one of the positives, giving Green Bay a foundation to build their passing attack around with fellow rookie, Romeo Doubs.
