2 Packers who deserve presents and 2 who deserve coal on Christmas morning
By Josh Wilson
Christmas is here, and all the nice boys and girls should be waking up to find everything they hopefully put on their wishlist under the tree. Meanwhile, the naughty children will find just coal in their stockings.
Now is as good a time as ever to assess some good and bad in the Green Bay Packers organization, and playfully decide who deserves to get some gifts from Santa, and who deserves coal.
With the Packers exiting Week 16 7-8 after a win over the Carolina Panthers, it's still hard to see them getting into the playoffs. The Detroit Lions walled off one path to the postseason by clinching the NFC North for the first time in 30 years, and that leaves only one of three Wild Card spots for the Packers to get in.
Next Gen Stats models the Packers playoff chances at just 25 percent.
It's been an up and down year, with plenty of good and just as much bad to assess.
Christian Watson deserves presents... But only to keep his talent fed
As I was sketching out this article, I originally had Christian Watson in the "coal" section. He's not had a very good year relative to skill, and as one of the players that was expected to make Jordan Love's life easier as the full-time starter, I feel he hasn't been as helpful a weapon as advertised.
Watson is below-average in EPA among the receiving corps and has been a disappointing fixture in the yards-after-catch department.
Zooming out a bit, though, you have to appreciate that Watson has dealt with bumps and bruises along the way and it's been challenging to find a groove for that reason. As time has gone on, he's settled in and become a steady presence for Love, grabbing touchdowns in his last three appearances.
That alone wasn't enough to put him in the "gift" category for me, though, but Bill Huber made some good points in an article in November that have stuck with me. He wrote about how, yes, Watson has struggled, but for a receiver as talented as him, the worst thing you can do is pull back on targets and kill his confidence while slumping.
So, yes, to keep Watson motivated: Shower him with gifts and keep him hungry for 2024 and beyond. Once his health restores and his availability allows him to generate better chemistry with Love, he'll be rock solid. Coal isn't the right approach right now.