Packers running back Josh Jacobs just finished his first season in Green Bay, and he already has ideas for improving the Packers. At the top of his wish list is a No. 1 wide receiver.
Jacobs spoke with Bill Schmid and Armen Saryan of 97.3 The Game at Super Bowl week in New Orleans and touched on some of the improvements Green Bay could make after missing the playoffs for just the second time since Matt LaFleur took over as coach. Jacobs highlighted the need at wide receiver, a position the team has consistently invested in over the last few years.
"We've got a really young group of receivers," Jacobs said. "All can be really, really, really special. But I think, personally, we need a guy that's proven to be a No. 1 already."
Green Bay has made a concerted effort to fill its receiver room with home-grown talent. From 2021 to 2023, the Packers spent a second- or third-round pick on a receiver in each draft. In 2022 and 2023, the Packers used three picks in each draft on receiving talent (Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure in 2022; Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks and Grant Dubose in 2023). The result has been a productive but streaky collection of receivers.
The formula worked in quarterback Jordan Love's first season as a starter in 2023, with the Packers passing for 3,968 yards and 32 touchdowns in a season, the 12th-most and third-most in the league. Production plateaued in 2024, however. Green Bay finished with 3,807 passing yards and 28 passing touchdowns for 12th and 10th in the league.
The Packers also slipped from fourth best to seventh best in EPA per dropback year over year. Only one receiver has broken 1,000 yards since the departure of Davante Adams following the 2021 season.
When Adams, a pending free agent and former Packers wide receiver, came up in the interview, Jacobs said, "If he comes at the right price, tell him to slide."
Jacobs added that he's worked on recruiting his former Las Vegas Raiders teammate back to Green Bay.
"I've had some talks with Tae," he said.
Adams and Jacobs were teammates together for two years in Las Vegas following Adams' trade from the Packers to the Raiders. In 2022, Adams (1,516 receiving yards) and Jacobs (1,653 rushing yards) became the first receiver-running back duo in Raiders history to put up 1,500 receiving yards and 1,500 rushing yards in the same season. That season saw Las Vegas record the fifth-most total yards (5,993) in franchise history.
Jacobs' receiver comments have already caught the attention of some Packers receivers, including Wicks, a 2023 fifth-round pick.
The truth can be uncomfortable at times. Jacobs is testing that theory on Radio Row in New Orleans before the Super Bowl. The biggest preseason storyline in Green Bay last summer was that, while the Packers didn't have a bona fide No. 1 wide receiver, they thought they had four guys in Watson, Reed, Doubs and Wicks who could play like one on any given day. That happened in spurts during the 2024 season, but it's clear now Green Bay's passing game would greatly benefit from -- and perhaps even needs -- a true alpha in the room. That might be the case even if the team's closest thing to a No. 1, Watson, wasn't set to miss the majority of the 2025 season recovering from a torn ACL.
Could a reunion with Adams be in the cards? What about a trade or signing of Tee Higgins? Perhaps even a trade for D.K. Metcalf? Here's what general manager Brian Gutekunst said about the situation in his wideout room during his season-ending news conference in January:
"Very rarely do teams that have one receiver that's super heavy with targets, that doesn't usually play out well for playoffs and success there," Gutekunst said. "But I think we're certainly looking for these guys that we have currently to take a step into that role where they are more consistent on the down-down basis.
"Certainly, if there's somebody outside of our building, whether it's the draft, free agency, that makes some sense for us, we'll certainly look to do that, but we're also looking for these guys to continue to grow and hopefully grow into that space."
In other words, it doesn't seem the Packers will make a big splash at wide receiver, but maybe their star running back's repeated pleas Wednesday for a bona fide No. 1 will change Gutekunst's thinking. Could Jacobs' comments hurt the feelings of Reed, Doubs and Wicks? Maybe, but they're grown men capable of acknowledging the truth and anyone denying the truth of what Jacobs said might want to reconsider their stance. -- Matt Schneidman, Packers beat writer