Is this the week the Packers have both Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson?

It’s been a rarity this season that the Green Bay Packers have had both Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs available and on the field. Could that change this week against the Los Angeles Rams?

Doubs left very early on in the Detroit game back in Week 9 with a high-ankle sprain and has been sidelined ever since. He did, however, return to practice prior to the Chicago game and was even listed as questionable–although, as we know, he didn’t play.

But this looks like the week where we get to see Doubs and Watson on the field together, with Matt LaFleur telling reporters before the bye week that he expects Doubs to be available on Monday night.

We are now 13 games into the Green Bay Packers 2022 season, and Doubs and Watson have played only 52 snaps together the entire year. There are several reasons why the Green Bay offense has struggled this season, including Aaron Rodgers’ play at times, movement and a lack of continuity along the offensive line, and growing pains with the receiving core and a lack of big plays. But injuries to that group have also played a huge factor as well.

It’s not only Doubs and Watson who have missed time but there have been stretches when Green Bay has also been without Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard–not to mention that Sammy Watkins has missed some time as well. So not only will Doubs’ eventual return pair him with Watson but also with Cobb and Lazard, which once again, has been a rarity for the Packers this season.

Despite missing the last five games essentially, Doubs is still fourth on this Packers team in targets with 48, and among all rookie receivers, he ranks sixth in that category, according to PFF ($$). Doubs has caught 65% of those passes at 10.1 yards per catch, with three touchdowns.

With the emergence of Watson over the last month, the Packers’ offense has begun to build momentum, totaling their three highest-scoring games of the season in their last four games. Prior to the Dallas game in Week 10, Green Bay really struggled to generate big plays with any sort of regularity. This led to opposing defenses shrinking the field and playing much more aggressively by having defenders closer to the line of scrimmage, which resulted in a lot of press coverage, and additional challenges in getting the running and quick passing games going.

However, since then, that hasn’t been the case nearly as often. Opponents have to respect Watson’s big play ability, which helps open up the passing game for others, and that big play ability on the outside also creates opportunities in the run game as well. On top of that, LaFleur’s playbook becomes much deeper as well with that element, along with the run and passing games complimenting each other so well.

Adding Doubs to the mix should only help amplify these results. He gives Rodgers another playmaking target to lean on, and he can also take some of the attention away from Watson at times. As expected, there were some ups and downs from Doubs this season, but he and Rodgers were also starting to build some rapport prior to his injury, as evidenced by the two throws his direction in overtime against New England, including a back-shoulder toss, along with a back corner touchdown catch in Buffalo with a defender all over him.

"“Romeo is growing,” said Rodgers via Packers News following the New England game. “He’s making some plays. “I hit him twice in that last drive, so obviously I have confidence in him. I went to him on the key third down with 2 minutes left in the game. I’m not going to lose confidence in him.”"

This week the Packers will be going up against a Rams’ pass defense that ranks 23rd by DVOA and 22nd in yards per pass attempt allowed, giving Green Bay the opportunity to continue building momentum on offense. The Packers have been able to really stress defenses as of late with their run game coupled with Watson’s home run ability, and now hopefully, adding Doubs back into the mix will be an added stressor for opponents to contend with.