The Green Bay Packers are excited about the play of rookie wide receiver Romeo Doubs. The fourth round pick out of Nevada has been the team’s best wideout through three games and currently leads the team with 14 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown.
Doubs leads the team in catches and yards despite starting only one of the team’s first three games and playing in just 60 percent of the team’s offensive snaps.
While Doubs played well in the first two regular season games, he got his chance to start after veteran Sammy Watkins was injured and placed on injured reserve.
Week 3 against the Bucs was Doubs’ first NFL start and he broke out in a big way, catching eight passes for 73 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
Dobbs was excited about his first NFL score. “It was a great moment to be in with me being the first in my family to play at this level,” Doubs told reporters after the game. “It’s big not just for myself but I like to think outside myself and see maybe the kids that are inspired by me watching or my family watching. So, it’s I mean it’s bigger than just playing football for me.”
He became the first Packers wide receiver not named Davante Adams to catch eight or more passes in a game since Randall Cobb did it in the season opener in 2018 against the Bears.
Doubs has made an impression on the coaching staff since OTAs. Throughout minicamp, training camp and the preseason, he continued to make “wow” plays on a consistent basis. Nearly every day, he made a catch that turned heads and reminded the coaching staff of his potential.
While the strong training camp and preseason solidified Doubs’ spot on the roster, the way he’s played early in the season has further impressed the coaching staff.
“He made the most of his snaps yesterday,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said. “He did an outstanding job. He was a guy who showed up consistently being able to separate versus man coverage that we were getting.”
Some of Doubs’ numbers are very impressive. For example, he has 14 catches on 16 targets which gives him an outstanding catch percentage of 87.5.
When reporters asked Doubs about gaining the trust of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, something that has been discussed throughout training camp. Doubs was typically low key. “I would say so, yeah, but I mean just one game at a time, one practice at a time. Like I said before as far as with 12 as long as I feel the trust going up about a percent a day then only good things can happen.”
Rodgers indicated he is gaining confidence in his young receiver. “We called some plays for him and he made nice catches,” Rodgers said. “The thing about Romeo that gives you confidence is the majority of the time he catches the ball with his hands. I was teasing him in practice on Friday because he had the ball on the left sideline short and he kind of bodied it, and I was calling him a body catcher because he has such great hands. And then two plays later, I threw him this over-the-shoulder corner route and he just went [and got it with his hands]. He just has such great hands. A couple balls were off the frame today that he caught very nicely. He’s learning. I feel like his route runner seemed like it was pretty solid today, but we’ll go back and look at the tape and see if there were some more opportunities I could have given him.”
Doubs remains level-headed and determined to keep improving.
“The game is certainly not too big for him,” LaFleur said. “You feel it every time we go out there, he’s a guy who is showing more and more confidence. That’s a big part of playing up to your potential, and this is a kid that’s got a ton of potential. We’re excited about him.”
The potential is clearly there for Doubs to take his game to the next level. With Watkins set to miss at least three more games, that will give the former Nevada star more chances to establish himself as one of the team’s top pass catchers. He’s already off to a good start and the future looks very bright for Doubs.
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