The return on investment from the 2022 NFL Draft wide receiver class was strong. Chris Olave, Drake London and Garrett Wilson all recorded receiving grades above 80.0 this past season, with Wilson winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. But it was someone else who tied legendary Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss for an NFL rookie record.
The record was the most touchdowns scored in a four-game span for a rookie wide receiver, and the someone else who accomplished it was Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson.
Watson didn’t finish the year with a season-long receiving grade as high as that of Olave, London or Wilson, but from Week 10 on no rookie receiver recorded a higher receiving grade than Watson (83.4). He also led all rookie receivers in receiving touchdowns (seven), explosive plays (13) and trailed only Garrett Wilson in receiving yards (523 to Wilson’s 582) during that span.
Watson ended his season on a high note, but with the way it started, there was no guarantee that would be the case. He suffered a minor knee injury that required surgery and forced him to miss most of training camp. He was able to practice for only a few weeks with the first-team offense before Week 1 rolled around, but injuries on the depth chart thrust him into the starting lineup right away.
The Packers drafted the dynamic North Dakota State receiver at the top of the second round for a reason: They expected big things from him. They knew Watson’s athleticism could unlock a new level for their downfield passing attack. That’s why, on the first play of the season, they dialed up a deep ball to him. Right from the pre-snap, the play looked like a hit. As the ball was snapped, Watson ran past Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson to get behind the defense with nothing but green in front of him. Then-Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers saw that, too, and let it fly perfectly in sync with where Watson was running for a sure-fire touchdown.
“I knew we were going to call that play,” Watson said in an exclusive interview with PFF. “Throughout the week we called it on multiple occasions at practice, and we were hitting on it, so the coaches told me we were going to start with that. I was hyped up. We got the perfect coverage for it seeing inside leverage. In my mind, right away I was thinking, ‘This is it, this is the start of my career.’”
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