Packers Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Week 1 Outlook: Should You Start Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed?

The Green Bay Packers are gearing up to embark on a season with a quarterback other than Aaron Rodgers for the first time since 2008. The Jordan Love era begins Sunday on the road against the Chicago Bears, and the new QB could be in for a tough go of things considering how the first injury report of the week looked.

The injury report included six players, and three of them were receivers. Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs did not practice, while Dontayvion Wicks was a limited participant. Coach Matt LaFleur said the game-time status of Watson and Doubs might not be available until late in the week. 

All three wideouts are dealing with hamstring issues. Watson and Doubs were both starters on the depth chart the team just released, with Wicks serving as a backup option. That leaves Jayden Reed, Malik Heath, and Samori Toure as healthy options on the active roster at the position. 

Watson, Doubs, and Reed all were ranked in the top 70 of our Week 1 receiver projections. If Watson or Doubs miss the game, does Reed become a must-start in fantasy? Who else on the active roster might be worth a start?

Sync your league with the Fantasy Assistant to get rankings, waiver help, trade suggestions, optimal lineups, and more. Not sure Who You Should Start? We can help. Utilize our fantasy football trade analyzer for trades.

Christian Watson Week 1 Fantasy Football Outlook

Watson is locked-in as Green Bay’s No. 1 wideout heading into the season after a promising rookie season in 2022. Watson finished second on the team with 611 receiving yards after hauling in 41 of his 66 targets. He led the team with seven touchdown receptions, with most of that production obviously coming on passes from Rodgers.

But Watson's rookie season wasn't perfect. He had a memorable drop on the team’s first offensive play of the regular season, struggled over the next several weeks to produce a whole lot, and also missed a couple of games with injuries. His season turned around in Week 10 when he caught four passes for 107 yards and three scores against the Dallas Cowboys. He had five more touchdowns, including a rushing score, in the three games that followed, before being held out of the end zone in the final four games.

Starting with his Week 10 breakout games against the Cowboys, Watson was targeted at least five times in each game the rest of the season. While Love didn’t play a lot last season, he did throw his lone touchdown to Watson while trying to rally the Pack past the Philadelphia Eagles, a play that’s given the team’s fan base hope for the years to come.

Watson is the 19th-ranked receiver in our Week 1 projections, with four targets, 2.5 receptions, 39 yards and 0.5 touchdowns to his name.

Romeo Doubs Week 1 Fantasy Football Outlook

Doubs was another 2022 rookie playing big snaps for Green Bay last season. He finished with 42 catches, 425 yards, and three touchdowns across 13 games played. Doubs was targeted 67 times.

Doubs’ season was kind of the opposite of Watsons'; most of his production came early in the season before an injury slowed him down later on. In the team’s first six games, Doubs was targeted at least three times and caught two or more passes. He turned in a four-catch, 62-yard, one-touchdown performance against the Buffalo Bills in Week 8 before an injury in Week 9 knocked him out four weeks. He tallied 11 catches, 111 yards, and no scores in the final four games.

Doubs is the 55th-ranked receiver in our projections, with five targets, 3.2 catches, 39 yards, and 0.3 touchdowns.

Jayden Reed Week 1 Fantasy Football Outlook

Reed was the Pack’s second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Michigan State. He caught at least one pass in each preseason game, including a 19-yard touchdown from Love in a clash against the New England Patriots.

The rookie is the 69th-ranked wideout for Week 1, with a projection of four targets, 2.7 catches, 33 yards, and 0.2 touchdowns.

Dontayvion Wicks Week 1 Fantasy Football Outlook

The other three wideouts on the team weren’t expected to serve big roles this season, instead being in place to serve as depth. They all could play big snaps if either Watson or Doubs are out, or even limited, in terms of snap counts against the Bears.

Wicks was drafted in the fifth round of the most recent draft out of Virginia. He is currently projected at 0.8 receptions, 11.1 yards, and 0.1 touchdowns for Week 1.

Samori Toure Week 1 Outlook

Toure at least offers the Packers a little experience at the position after playing in 11 games with the team in 2022. He caught five of the 10 passes thrown his way, accumulating 82 yards and scoring one touchdown. Toure did not play over 40% of the team’s offensive snaps in any game.

He’s projected at 0.6 receptions, 7.5 yards, and 0.1 touchdowns for the opening game.

Malik Heath Week 1 Outlook

Heath was an undrafted free agent of the team this past offseason. He earned a roster spot after totaling 12 catches in the preseason. Those catches went for 146 yards.

While Heath did enough to earn a roster spot, it’s worth noting that just three of his 12 preseason catches came off Love passes, as he mostly played with the reserves.

Who Do I Start Week 1?

The Packers’ receiving room is simply a mess to try and figure out for fantasy managers in Week 1. Not only are multiple guys dealing with injuries, but with an afternoon game, the decision to start or bench them might not actually be makeable until after the first set of games has started.

If everyone was healthy, there’s an argument that you could start both Watson and Doubs pretty safely. With their injuries, I’d be hesitant to play either guy, even if they are cleared to play. The Packers won’t risk the health of their young receivers for a Week 1 contest, even with it being against a division rival. If either plays, their snaps are probably going to be down, and they likely would need to break off a big gain or score to offset the lack of touches. 

I’m usually not a fan of starting rookie receivers in Week 1, but if Watson or Doubs is ruled out, Reed becomes a serious option to utilize in a flex spot. He’d go from the third option to likely leading the team in targets, and that alone should keep him in the conversation of starting. There are other receivers available that I’d trust more, but he might be a player I’d take a gamble on.

Wicks, Toure, and Heath are likely not even rostered in your league, but if you roster Watson or Doubs and they are ruled out earlier in the week, adding one of them as a fill-in for the first week isn’t the worst idea. The question becomes, which of the three is going to produce the most, and there’s no sort of indication of which guy it might be. If in that situation, I’d lean toward Toure, simply because he has a bit of past experience, but you likely have better options available than any of the three.