Wednesday Cheese Curds: Setting expectations for 2023 rookies

Christian Watson lit up the league after a slow start. Can another rookie do the same?

Setting appropriate expectations is a huge part of a good evaluation process. As far as the Packers are concerned, appropriate expectations are a concern for both their second-year wide receivers and whatever picks they make at that position this spring.

After a slow start, Christian Watson ended the year about as strongly as anybody in Green Bay could reasonably have hoped. But lighting up the league for seven touchdowns in a four-week span is obviously an exception rather than the rule as far as overall performance, and expectations should accordingly be tempered for his second year. The same is true for Romeo Doubs, who flashed at times in 2022 but struggled with some of the more physical aspects of playing receiver in the NFL. While it’s normal to expect some steps forward in year two, we should remember that Doubs is going to be a work in progress.

And in light of what both Watson and Doubs accomplished last season, we should temper our expectations for whichever pass catchers the Packers end up drafting in a couple of weeks. Watson and Doubs were probably about as good as they could have been in 2022, and expecting the same kind of impact from this year’s rookie receivers might be setting too high of a bar.

Maybe the Packers have another rookie receiver that lights up the league. That would be great! But it’s important to keep expectations in check either way.

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At some point, you might as well look at all the wide receivers.

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I like mock drafts with trades because they’re simultaneously the most and least realistic.

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This seems like the kind of thing that’d pop up in the backstory of a character in a superhero movie.