Finding Upside Among The Packers WRs For 2026 Using The Utilization Report Player Comparison Tool

The Fantasy Life Utilization Report?

Still the greatest tool in all of fantasy football.

We continue our series highlighting the utilization tool with a look at another feature at your disposal—The Player Comparison Tool. You can use this feature to get a detailed, side-by-side look at a multitude of players at any position during any point in the season. It’s an ideal way to settle a debate between two closely ranked players, but I thought we’d utilize it to break down a handful of teammates.

Using The Utilization Report Player Comparison Tool For The Packers WRs

The Green Bay Packers wide receiver room is one of the more interesting position groups in fantasy football ahead of the 2026 season. With Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks gone, fewer receivers stand in the way of Matt LaFleur’s committee approach. It raises plenty of excitement surrounding Christian Watson and Jayden Reed, while Matthew Golden will have every opportunity to bounce back from an underwhelming rookie season. A 2024 late-season ACL tear sidelined Watson for the first seven games of last season, but once he made his debut in Week 8, the Packers receiver rotation began to take shape.

Christian Watson’s Upside

There are a lot of moving parts when analyzing Green Bay’s pass catchers during the second half of the season. Again, Watson debuted in Week 8, and from that point on, he really showcased his fantasy potential. From Weeks 8-18, his advanced metrics were very, very impressive:

Watson Weeks 8-18:

17.5 Yd/Rec (2nd)
2.54 YPRR (8th)
11 plays of 20-plus yards (10th)
6 TDs (5th)

During that stretch, Watson paced Green Bay receivers in TPRR (23%) and target share (20%), while his 71% route participation was second on the team. Of course, we have to point out that Jayden Reed was recovering from a broken collarbone that sidelined him from Weeks 3-14. Meanwhile, tight end Tucker Kraft tore his ACL in Week 9, ending his season. Watson ultimately ran just 95 total routes with Reed and Kraft on the field last season, drawing a target on 20% of routes. With both players off the field, that TPRR climbed to about 23%. Looking ahead to 2026, Kraft and Reed should be a lot healthier, but the subtractions from this passing game could help Watson make up for it.

Romeo Doubs has been a trustworthy and reliable player for the Packers for years, so his departure cannot be overlooked.

Especially in the red zone.

Get this. Since Watson entered the NFL back in 2022, he and Doubs are tied with 32 end zone targets apiece. And during the second half of last season, Watson and Doubs were once again at a stalemate, each accounting for 33% of Green Bay’s end zone targets. Yet, despite missing time due to injury and essentially splitting red zone work with Doubs, Watson has still scored 20 touchdowns on 133 career receptions (15%). With Doubs (and Wicks) now gone, Watson has legitimate double-digit touchdown upside this season, especially if we see an uptick in passing from the Packers.

I also think we could see an uptick in designed targets for Watson, which can help him set a career-best in targets per game. A huge part of Green Bay’s offense is the RPO game. Last year, the Packers utilized it 14% of the time, the fourth-highest rate in football. And since LaFleur took over in 2019, only the Chiefs have more total RPO targets than the Packers. Look for Watson to see those predetermined, quick RPO looks, especially out of 12 personnel.

Jayden Reed vs Matthew Golden

On top of showing insane upside, there’s a reason Watson projects as the safest Packers receiver. When Green Bay deploys 12 personnel, Watson isn’t coming off the field. And this is significant because the Packers utilized two-wide sets 20 times per game last year, the sixth-most in the league, accounting for 34% of their plays. There’s no debating whether Watson will be on the field in 12-personnel.

The question is, who will join him?

If his career is any indication, Reed wouldn’t be the best bet. Since entering the league in 2023, Reed has logged only 31 total snaps and run seven routes out of 12-personnel, which is why his route rate during that span is an underwhelming 69%. When he returned in Week 14 of last year, Reed didn’t play in two-wide sets, even with Golden and Wicks missing some time during those games. Instead, it was Watson and Doubs, but the opportunity is there for Reed to see more playing time in that personnel. And because wideouts see a boost in fantasy points and target upside in multiple tight end sets, Reed getting more run in 12-personnel is paramount.

Having said all of that, Golden is likely to enter training camp as the favorite to join Watson in 12-personnel sets. But as long as that job isn’t exclusively his, Reed is still the more enticing fantasy option. He can simply earn targets at a higher rate and is a much better fit for the offense LaFleur wants to run. The Packers used shift-motion 59% of the time last season (8th), and when he’s on the field, Reed usually benefits. Over the last three seasons, Reed has been targeted on 29.6% of his routes from motion, while about 25% of his routes have been alongside motion.

Golden is a perfectly fine late-round target in drafts. But following a contract extension, the Packers should have relatively large plans for a healthy Jayden Reed.

Could Green Bay Throw More?

Of course, if the Packers air it out more often this season, who knows? Maybe all three wideouts can be fantasy relevant.

OK, it’s probably unlikely. But it is entirely possible that we see more pass attempts from Jordan Love, which certainly wouldn’t hurt. To open last season, Green Bay sported one of the top defenses in football, allowing LaFleur and company to run the ball and let Love feast off play-action. But once Micah Parsons went down in Week 15, everything changed.

During the final four weeks of the year (including the playoffs), Green Bay’s defense fell apart. With Parsons off the field, the Packers posted a 3.7% sack rate, compared to 7.3% with Parsons on the field. And with Parsons sidelined for the final four weeks of the season, Green Bay allowed over 28 points per game. That resulted in the Packers' pass rate when leading by four-plus points climbing to 62%, the fifth-highest rate in football. For reference, from Weeks 1-15 with Parsons healthy, that pass rate was down at 52% (18th). With Parsons expected to miss around half of the 2026 campaign, look for the Packers to rely more on the right arm of Jordan Love.

Players Mentioned in this Article

ChristianWatson
WRGB
PPG
11.3
Proj
170.2
JaydenReed
WRGB
PPG
7.5
Proj
156.3
MatthewGolden
WRGB
PPG
4.8
Proj
117.5
RomeoDoubs
WRNE
PPG
9.2
Proj
138.1

Published Jul 17, 2026, 4:00 AM ETUpdated Jul 17, 2026, 9:10 AM ET