When you have a roster as youthful as the Green Bay Packers, there are a lot of questions that will need to be answered during the season. Green Bay has only three players on their roster that are 30 years old, making them amongst the youngest and least experienced in the NFL.
While general manager Brian Gutekunst said that wasn’t by design, it was a by-product of how they wanted to build the roster. They wanted to get athletic and fast, which they accomplished; it just so happens that it included a lot of players lacking service time in the league.
But, there is certainly a lot of talent to get excited about. Plenty of players on the roster who the casual fan may not know heading into Week 1 will become household names should things go according to plan.
There will assuredly be some bumps in the road given how many young players the Packers will be relying upon this season in prominent positions. All eyes will be on quarterback Jordan Love, who is taking over the job from Aaron Rodgers.
While it would be easy to name him as the biggest question facing the team in 2023, he did a great job of turning some doubters into believers during training camp and the preseason. Instead, in the opinion of Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report, the biggest question surrounding the Packers is who will Love rely on as his go-to target?
“Dodging the completely obvious regarding Love’s viability in general (which the Packers can hardly control now anyway), it’s important for Green Bay to determine who will be the most useful to the third-year quarterback in his debut season as a starter. With Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb gone, it could be a free-for-all including youngsters Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed.”
Rookie tight end Luke Musgrave should also be included on that list as the Packers showed this offseason they want to put the ball in his hands. Whether it was traditional passing plays or jet sweeps, the team has big plans for the Oregon State product.
There isn’t a single pass catcher on the roster with more than one season of NFL experience, so the opportunity is there for a player to seize. Heading into the season, Watson likely sits atop the pecking order followed by Doubs, with Reed and Musgrave sliding in next.
But, with hamstring injuries already keeping Watson out of the Week 1 lineup and limiting Doubs, opportunity knocks for others on the team. It would not be surprising if the Packers have a different go-to receiver every week until someone separates from the pack as Love’s go-to guy.
