Matt LaFleur’s answer about Packers wideouts proves they don’t have enough ammo

The Green Bay Packers finished the 2023 season with plenty to be optimistic about. The Packers entered the season with plenty of uncertainty surrounding the team, particularly since they moved on from future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

With quarterback Jordan Love, Green Bay began their quest to prove that their streak of Hall of Fame quarterbacks has to do with development rather than luck.

Love's first season as the starting quarterback got off to a rocky start. The Packers fell into a 3-6 hole heading into Week 11, but Green Bay managed to win six of their remaining eight games to finish with a 9-8 record. The stellar performance in the latter half of the season earned Green Bay a playoff berth, and they trounced the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card Round before losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.

Green Bay found success by embracing diversity, but head coach Matt LaFleur seems to have forgotten all of the years his offense spent feeding targets to one elite weapon.

Matt LaFleur comments signal that Packers need a star WR to emerge

Following the Packers preseason opener, LaFleur suggested that the idea of a No. 1 wide receiver makes him want to vomit. The Packers coach posited that the team's top four wideouts are all "capable of being a No. 1 in some capacity."

It's hard to imagine LaFleur would feel the same way if he still had wide receiver Davante Adams in his wide receiver room.

LaFleur's comments are a far cry from his philosophy through his first three seasons as the Packers head coach. From 2019 to 2021, there was no doubt that LaFleur's offense was going to feed targets to Adams. In LaFleur's first season as head coach, the All-Pro wideout finished with 127 targets through 12 games. During the 2021 season, wide receiver Davante Adams had the second-most targets (169) and the second-highest target share (31.6 percent) among all wide receivers in the NFL.

The days of Rodgers forcing the ball to Adams and running back Aaron Jones are long gone, but LaFleur is not far enough removed from those times to find it vomit-inducing. Instead, his comments are likely a result of the fact that none of Green Bay's young playmakers have separated themselves as legitimate No. 1 wideouts the way Adams did.

Green Bay has plenty of young playmakers at wide receiver. The Packers were host to four receivers under the age of 25 who all finished with at least 400 receiving yards and four or more receiving touchdowns in 2023. While a diverse attack certainly has its benefits, Green Bay's wideouts still have not established themselves as consistently reliable options.

A group of good-but-not-great receivers can leave a young quarterback puzzled in the biggest moments. If Love had a trustworthy top target in the postseason loss against San Francisco, perhaps it would've been easier to dial up a quick throw for the young quarterback. Instead, Love couldn't find anyone open with the game on the line and threw a head-scratching interception to 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw.

The diversity and flexibility is a better approach than forcing the ball to a top target, but that doesn't negate the need for a clearly-defined top option. In 2024, one of Green Bay's young wideouts will have to emerge as a reliable option that Love can trust on critical plays.

Christian Watson, a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, was expected to lead the group, but he finished fourth in receiving yards on the team after being limited to just nine games last season. Dontayvion Wicks, a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, emerged to reel in 581 receiving yards through 15 games. The team's most reliable targets were Jayden Reed, a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and Romeo Doubs, a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Reed led the team with 64 receptions for 793 yards and 8 touchdowns, while Reed finished with 59 receptions for 674 yards and 8 touchdowns.

There's an adage in the NFL that states, "If you have two quarterbacks, you have none." Any team that's claiming to have four No. 1 wide receivers can likely apply that statement to themselves as well.