Christian Watson gets his first chance to prove he's truly the Packers WR1 in the playoffs

Since Jordan Love took over as the quarterback, questions about WR1 have been hanging over the Green Bay Packers. Matt LaFleur wants them to go away. Christian Watson can make that happen.

When Christian Watson broke out as a rookie, the Green Bay Packers never got the chance to feature him in a playoff game. In the final game of the 2022 season, though, Matt LaFleur’s team had a win-and-in game against the Detroit Lions in the final week of the season. It was a de facto playoff game. Watson finished with 102 yards on five catches and was clearly the best receiver on the same field with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.

The question for the Packers in the playoffs has been, “Do they have that one guy who can take over a game for you?”

Watson would like to provide an emphatic “yes!”

When the Packers made the playoffs in 2023, Watson battled injuries all season, ultimately ending in a trip to see biomechanical specialists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That evaluation uncovered an asymmetry in Watson’s leg muscles that he worked to fix, resulting in a run of good health for 2024.

That is, until the final week of the season when Watson tore his ACL in what turned out to be a meaningless game against the Chicago Bears that kept him out of the postseason.

Saturday night will be anything but meaningless, but Watson will be there, having reemerged as the preeminent passing game option for the Packers. Returning early from that ACL injury, Watson immediately grabbed the top spot in the best passing offense in the NFL when Jordan Love was under center.

Watson finished the year with 35 catches for 611 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games. Projected out over a 17-game season, that’s a 60-catch, 1,039-yard, and 10 touchdown pace. He finished sixth in Pro Football Focus’ receiving grade, and fifth in yards per route run among receivers with at least as many targets (55).