Green Bay Packers DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (knee) had his ACL surgery and is expected to be back around the midway point of the 2025 season, according to The Athletic's Matt Schneidman. "Doing well. He's got a lot in front of him, but I expect him to attack it like he does everything else everything so far's been really good. He's been through this before, so he knows what to expect. It's a big injury. It may take some time, but he's got the right mindset, positive attitude toward it," general manager Brian Gutekunst said. The 25-year-old wideout tore his ACL in Week 18 against the Bears and finished his third year in the NFL with 29 catches (53 targets) for a career-high 620 receiving yards and a career-low two touchdowns in 15 starts. Known as a slow healer, it wouldn't be a surprise if Watson's recovery lingers into the second half. In standard 12-team leagues this fall, Watson will most likely go undrafted.

ESPN's Rob Demovsky puts Green Bay Packers impending free-agent kicker Brandon McManus in the must-sign group for the team this offseason. McManus' arrival in October turned around the team's dreadful kicking game after Anders Carlson and Brayden Narveson missed 18 field goals and extra points in 25 games, including the playoffs, in 2023 and early 2024. McManus, meanwhile, made 50 of 51 field goals and extra points in 11 regular-season games last year. He doesn't look like he's lost much at age 33 and was on the veteran's minimum last year because he was coming off an investigation by the league for the personal-conduct policy. "If we were able to get Brandon back, I think certainly that would make me feel very, very, very good about that [specialist] group," general manager Brian Gutekunst said. If McManus returns, he could be a nice fantasy streamer.

Per Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com, Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs told 97.3 The Game that he thinks his team should invest in a true standout WR1 moving forward. "We've got a really young group of receivers. All can be really, really, really special," said Jacobs. "But I think personally we need a guy...that we know is going to be a little bit more consistent." Green Bay enjoyed much success this season -- finishing 11-6 -- but could not gain any traction in the playoffs. Despite the Packers bolstering four wideouts aged 25 or younger that eclipsed 400 receiving yards in 2024, none of them reached the 1,000-yard mark. However, Green Bay did rank eighth in the league with 26.1 points per game and lost their best deep threat (WR Christian Watson) to a late-season ACL injury. We'll see if the Pack move to secure a new alpha with a few big-name free-agent wideouts available in 2025, such as Tee Higgins, Cooper Kupp, and Amari Cooper.

Based on Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur's comments at the end of the regular season, tight end Tucker Kraft and the rest of the team's TEs could see more involvement on offense in 2025. "I think that's on us to make sure we find him and feature him because when he gets the ball in his hands, you feel him," LaFleur said. "So if there's an area that we gotta do a better job on, I would say featuring the tight end." Musgrave only played in seven games due to injury, while Ben Sims and John FitzPatrick aren't traditional pass-catching TEs. Kraft, 24, broke out in his second season with 50 catches on 70 targets for 707 yards and seven touchdowns. Even if Musgrave is a bigger part of the passing offense in 2025, Kraft could have an even bigger role as Green Bay looks to replace targets lost to receiver Christian Watson's (knee) torn ACL.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said on Wednesday that wide receiver Mecole Hardman (knee) will remain on Injured Reserve, which means he won't play again this season, even if the Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship this Sunday to advance to a third straight Super Bowl appearance. The Chiefs opened Hardman's 21-day practice window to return from IR before the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Denver Broncos, but the team never felt comfortable putting him out there on game day. The 26-year-old will now begin his offseason early and make sure that his knee is fully ready for the start of the 2025 regular season this fall. Hardman was mostly valuable to the Chiefs this year before his knee injury as a return man on special teams, as he caught only 12 of 14 targets for 90 yards and no touchdowns in 12 games played in 2024.