Remember that scene in “Good Will Hunting” where Robin Williams keeps telling Matt Damon that it’s not his fault? Well, that’s sort of how I’m looking at Jayden Reed’s fantasy value in a world without Jordan Love, who continues to deal with a knee injury.
Reed was incredible in Week 1 against the Eagles. The wideout hauled in four of his six targets for 138 yards and a touchdown, while also scampering into the end zone on a 33-yard carry.
However, things cooled off significantly in Week 2. With Malik Willis under center and the Packers in control the whole game, Green Bay ran the ball on a staggering 79.1% of its 70 offensive snaps. That meant Willis attempted just 14 passes and Reed finished the game with a mere two targets. Reed was also only on the field for 39 total snaps, which ranked behind both Romeo Doubs (55) and Christian Watson (41).
I think we all understood coming into the season that investing in any Packers’ wide receiver was a bit of a risk. With so many talents at the position and Matt LaFleur’s willingness to cede them all playing time, volume was never going to be assumed with this position group. Yet that was an acceptable outcome with the ceiling that Love provided all his weapons. That’s not the case with Willis. Even in a more neutral game-script against the Titans, I don’t envision any scenario where Willis is asked to drop back more than 25 times. As such, it’s difficult to trust any Green Bay WR if they’re limited to the 15 routes that Reed saw versus Indianapolis.
Reed’s involvement in the running game does provide a little floor, but he’ll be difficult to trust until Love is back taking snaps — and he was practicing on Wednesday, so keep an eye. In Week 3, Reed is a back-end WR3 at best.
Start or Sit Jayden Reed? Sit.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
