Christian Watson, not Amari Rodgers, returning kicks for the Packers
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers made a change at kick returner against the New York Giants, with Christian Watson taking the opening kickoff.
As we all know, that role has belonged to Amari Rodgers, who hasnt’ had any egregious errors but has underwhelmed as well. Rodgers does look more decisive this season on both punt and kick return opportunities, but there still is some hesitancy and lack of playmaking potential.
In 2021, the Packers kick return duties primarily belong to running back Kylin Hill prior to his injury and then Malik Taylor, who is no longer on the team, and was limited as a returner.
This season, Rodgers is averaging 20.8 yards per kick return this season, which ranks 30th in the NFL, according to PFF ($$).
Christian Watson brings experience and playmaking to the Green Bay Packers kick return unit.
Watson doesn’t have any kick return attempts with the Packers but he is experienced from his time at North Dakota State, where he was an All-American kick returner. He finished his career with 26 attempts, averaging 26.4 yards per return with two touchdowns.
Watson, of course, possesses elite speed, running a 4.36-second 40-yard dash, which adds some much-needed playmaking ability to the Packers’ kick return unit.
On Watson’s first attempt, he returned the ball just 18 yards, although the blocking wasn’t all that great as he really had nowhere to go. In addition to Watson’s ability with the ball, a more fundamentally sound special teams unit under Rich Bisaccia will also hopefully help this kick return unit find a spark as well.
While Watson has assumed kick return duties, Rodgers is still the Green Bay Packers punt return man—for now. On his first attempt, he called for a fair catch, something he has done often this season, and then on his second attempt, he fumbled. Rodgers 8.0 yards per punt return in 2021 ranks 18th out of 35 players with at least one return attempt.