The Green Bay Packers may have found a gem in the fourth round of this year’s draft class. First things first, Romeo Doubs isn’t pronounced “dubs” though I can foresee a nickname coming on. Pronounced “dobbs” he may have been misnamed sometimes during his time at Nevada, but only while torching Mountain West secondaries.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers went out of his way to praise the new addition to the Packers roster during an NFL Network training camp interview.
“It’s surprising how many teams passed on him,” Rodgers said. “Whatever reason it was, we all feel really good about Romeo and the start he’s gotten off to.”
Doubs Has Been Turning Heads
Doubs seemed like a fairly unknown entity entering the NFL draft out of the University of Nevada. Some college football fans may have remembered him for remaining humble after torching Fresno State and bringing in 19 of 20 targets for over 200 yards and a touchdown. Others may have remembered him from his 7 catch 219 yard game in a win over UNLV during that same year, but draft scouts had eyes on some other factors.
He was injured at the end of his college career which led to very little testing and pre-draft workouts, causing him to fall down some draft boards. Maybe Rodgers is right in questioning why Doubs fell as far as he did, and I’m sure that he hopes he is right. Doubs was an athletic receiver and a reliable deep threat in college, but his hot start in training camp is leading some to believe that an injury may have just caused some teams to be a little bit shy about taking a chance on him. Hype is building around the fact that Doubs may have been one of those coveted “overlooked prospects” in the draft.
It’s surely been a fast start to camp for Doubs, and we’ll know more once he gets a few more padded practices under his belt, but he can only play with the cards he’s dealt. For now, we see an unassuming rookie who’s making leaping back shoulder grabs and burning Eric stokes one on one; during one of the teams first padded practices, no less. Now it seems like every year the Packers have a training camp hero, I think some people even remain convinced that Juwann Winfree is the second coming of Davante Adams, but this could very well be different.
Romeo Doubs is already building rapport with Rodgers in an offense where essentially all wide receiver spots are up for grabs outside of Lazard’s likely role as the number one option. While it is likely that we see early production from veterans like Randall Cobb and Sammy Watkins, this may be the year we see a rookie wide receiver explode onto the scene with Rodgers under center, something many people — myself included — deemed unlikely to ever happen.
Opportunities For Young Receivers
Whether that standout rookie could be second round pick Christian Watson or fourth round pick Romeo Doubs is anyone’s guess, but it seems like a very real possibility for one of them to take this year by storm.
The Packers have as many opportunities for wideouts to make an impact as ever before. And with the departures of Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Davante Adams this offseason, impact from young players would be very welcome in the Packers offense.
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Zack is a college student and cheesehead from California. When he’s not in class or writing, you can find him talking about the Packers on Twitter at @Zack_Upchurch.
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