The Green Bay Packers suffered a huge blow on Thursday night when wide receiver Jayden Reed, who had already been playing through a Jones fracture in his foot, went down on his shoulder and fractured his collarbone. Reed, who led the team with 857 yards last season, subsequently underwent surgery to repair both his collarbone and his foot injury, and he’s expected to miss at least six weeks of game action. In his absence, it was tight end Tucker Kraft who led the way for the receiving corps, amassing six catches, 124 yards, and a score.
Still, while Kraft is a critical asset, Reed’s injury leaves the Packers dangerously thin at wide receiver, at least until Christian Watson returns from the torn ACL he suffered in Week 18 last season. Green Bay used its first-round pick on a wideout in 2025 for the first time since taking Javon Walker in 2002, selecting Texas’ Matthew Golden 23rd overall in front of an adoring home crowd. Golden has been fairly disappointing so far, recording two catches for 16 yards in Week 1 and two carries for 15 yards in Week 2. He’s only appeared in just over half of the team’s snaps, though that number was 58.8% in Week 2.
Of the Packers’ other wideouts, I’m most confident in Romeo Doubs, who scored a touchdown in Week 2 to go along with three catches and 28 yards, and he played the most snaps of any Green Bay receiver. Last season, Doubs managed 601 yards in just 13 games, and the season before, he recorded 674 yards and eight touchdowns. The 25-year-old led the team in receiving yards in the Week 1 win over the Detroit Lions, turning his two catches into 68 yards. He also led all Packers wideouts in snaps in that game, and he ranks 25th among the 108 qualified wide receivers by Pro Football Focus’ grading standards. Golden ranks just 88th, while Dontayvion Wicks ranks fifth.
There won’t be enough production to go around to start multiple Green Bay players against the Cleveland Browns, who are so atrocious on offense that Jordan Love shouldn’t have to pass too much in order to lead his team to a win. Plus, the Browns have been solid in coverage this season, with the league’s eighth-best coverage grades through two weeks. That’s been attributable in large part to cornerback Greg Newsome II, who’s bounced back after a rough 2024, and a strong safety core. Since both safeties Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman Jr. have been excellent in coverage this season, that could hurt Kraft, which would force Love to turn to his second most-trusted target: Doubs. I like his chances of getting into the end zone: Cleveland has conceded four touchdowns to wide receivers this season, the second-most in football, and both Doubs and Kraft have received three of Love’s nine red-zone targets.
Start or Sit: Sit Matthew Golden, Start Romeo Doubs.
