Grading the Green Bay Packers 2023 rookie class after first season
By all accounts, the Green Bay Packers' 2023 season was a roaring success that ended up a few points short of a trip to the NFC Championship. After being positioned for a top-five draft pick earlier in the season, initial questions about what the future might hold have been completely extinguished.
As a team entirely driven by a young roster, the last two drafts for Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst look like home runs, and his 2023 class may just be the best in team history. Certainly, no class has made the immediate impact as this group, and not at the volume of picks that significantly affected the team's success.
Led by star quarterback in the making Jordan Love, the future looks incredibly bright for the youngest team in the NFL. A future that was designed to lean heavily on the 2023 rookies.
Here's how this year's rookie class graded out and what it means for the future of the Packers.
Jayden Reed
Grade: A
Round 2 (50th overall)
After one of the most productive rookie seasons for a wide receiver in Packers history, Jayden Reed is positioned to be the team's next dominant second-round receiver and could very well lead all Packers in targets next season.
Leading Packers skill players in touchdowns this season (10) and registering the third-most rushing yards among all NFL receivers (119), Reed is already looking like a star for the team.
Reed was also Jordan Love's most reliable weapon throughout the season. He secured 11 of 17 targets (64.7) in the red zone, ranking ninth in the NFL for wide receivers with at least 15 red zone targets.
Six of his 10 total touchdowns came in the 20, but his dynamic play-making ability at all levels in the passing game has proven pivotal to Green Bay's offense exceeding expectations in 2023. Love's quarterback rating when targeting Reed finished at 117.9, good for the 10th-best mark for any receiver, largely due to Reed producing the 13th-highest win rate against man coverage (45.4%).
He is now the Packers' record holder for catches in a rookie season (64), and his 912 total yards and 10 total touchdowns rank second all-time among Packers rookie wide receivers.