Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Jayden Reed is one of the Green Bay Packers’ most dynamic offensive players. Last season, he tied Romeo Doubs for the most receiving touchdowns and led the team in receiving yards. He also added 119 rushing yards and two touchdowns. For context, Reed matched Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon in rushing touchdowns despite being Green Bay’s top two running backs.
Reed started 2024 with a 70-yard receiving touchdown and a 33-yard rushing touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil. He leads Green Bay in targets, receptions, receiving yards, and explosive receptions this season.
However, his production has dipped recently.
Reed is averaging three catches per game over the last four weeks. He has surpassed 55 receiving yards in a game only once over the past two months and has had at least four catches in seven games this season.
In Week 14 against the Detroit Lions, he finished with zero receiving yards for the first time in his career and played only 50% of the offensive snaps. Reed had only 10% of the first-read target share, while Dontayvion Wicks and Christian Watson had 40% and 30%, respectively.
Matt LaFleur addressed Reed’s limited production against the Lions and suggested that a particular stat line helps explain Reed’s role in Thursday night’s matchup in Detroit.
First of all, we only had 44 snaps. That obviously impacts your ability to get somebody the ball. We tried to go to him early in the game. As a matter of fact, the first play was kind of designed to either go to him or (Dontayvion) Wicks. We got sacked on that play. The first third down, we threw him the ball, he drew a DPI. And then, early on, I think it was second-and-5, we had the ball at midfield, and we threw him an out route. We didn’t complete that.
After the first quarter against Detroit, Green Bay used 12 personnel on 44% of their snaps. In those formations, Watson and Wicks were typically the receivers on the field. LaFleur explained that the Lions’ defensive approach pushed the Packers to rely on heavier personnel, limiting Reed to just half of the offensive snaps.
What they did to us is, we’re putting 11 personnel out on the field, and they kept playing what we were deeming like a base defense, with (Jamal) Adams in these. And they were playing a 3-4 structure. So they were inviting you to throw the football.
And we didn’t want to get into a game. We knew it was important to continue to run the ball, there just wasn’t a lot of runs that dropped very nicely versus that configuration. That’s part of the reason we did a little bit more, I would say, we were trying to get more bigger people, 12 personnel.
Reed has played 373 snaps in the slot, but that doesn’t mean he can’t contribute elsewhere in the offense. LaFleur believes getting Reed involved in packages where he plays as a wideout is key to boosting his production.
Now, where we can be better, and I talked to Jayden about this, is just making sure that we have some of those plays for him in the game plan where he’s tagged to go in there and play wideout. Because he’s certainly a very impactful player. It wasn’t by design that we didn’t want to throw the ball to him that day. That’s never the case.
One benefit of not having an established No. 1 receiver is the flexibility it gives the offense. Reed’s lack of production in Detroit didn’t hinder Green Bay, which still scored 31 points against the second-best defense in the league in EPA/play.
There’s no reason to worry about Reed or the offense. The Packers have a top-10 offense in EPA per play, EPA per pass, and EPA per rush. Matt LaFleur is a great offensive mind, and his group has scored at least 29 points against the three best teams in the NFC. He will find more dynamic ways to get Reed involved.
