The Green Bay Packers finally drafted an offensive player, and it required a trade with a division rival.
Green Bay sent two second-round picks (Nos. 53, 59) to Minnesota to move up to No. 34 overall and spent it on North Dakota State receiver Christian Watson on Friday in Las Vegas.
Watson shined as a superior player in comparison to his Football Championship Subdivision competition, earning first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selections in 2020 and 2021, and second-team FCS All-American honors in 2021. He led the Bison in receptions and receiving yards for three straight seasons from 2019-2021 and projects as a field-stretching receiver who could use a few more pounds on his frame but certainly has the skills and has demonstrated an ability to improve from year to year.
Watson comes to Green Bay with immediate expectations and big shoes to fill following the offseason departures of Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The Packers certainly have a type, as NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah noted when he listed Valdes-Scantling as his pro comparison for Watson.
The Packers' latest pick will be expected to learn quickly, as he'll likely fill a significant role in a receiving cupboard that was largely left bare by roster turnover this offseason. And finally, Packers fans can lay down their torches and pitchforks and turn their attention away from Aaron Rodgers, who gets a new weapon to work with after watching his team spend the entirety of the 2021 draft and both 2022 first-round picks on defensive players.
Watson is the highest-drafted WR by the Packers in the Aaron Rodgers era (since 2008, Rodgers' first season as starter), per NFL Research.
Green Bay later selected UCLA offensive lineman Sean Rhyan with the No. 92 pick in the third round.
