Packers 2023 UDFA Profile: Ole Miss WR Malik Heath

Next up in my review of the Green Bay Packers 2023 undrafted rookie class, I will now be taking a closer look at Ole Miss wide receiver Malik Heath.

In this series, I have been examining the current state of each UDFA’s respective position group while taking a closer look at their college stats you need to know. I’ll also be diving into each player’s height, weight, and athletic testing measurements, along with highlighting a pre-draft scouting report for an added perspective.

If you’ve missed any of the other articles in this series, you can find them below.

Brenton Cox

Benny Sapp

Jimmy Phillips

Kadeem Telfort

Jason Lewan

Chuck Filiaga

Duece Watts 

Henry Pearson

Camren McDonald

Current state of the Packers wide receiver position

On the roster: Jadakis Bonds, Jeff Cotton, Romeo Doubs, Grant DuBose, Malik Heath, Bo Melton, Samori Toure, Christian Watson, Duece Watts, Jayden Reed, and Dontayvion Wicks

As we know, the Green Bay Packers wide receiver room is young and inexperienced. Currently, Romeo Doubs and his 529 career snaps are the most on the team at the position. I do believe that adding a veteran is still in play, but if done, won’t be until training camp begins, once Brian Gutekunst, Matt LaFleur and Co. get a better look at the current group.

With such an inexperienced room, adding a veteran would provide some needed stability to the position, an important aspect with Jordan Love taking over as the starter. Inevitably, there are going to be ups and downs that come with relying so heavily on a young position group. However, on the flip side, being thrown into the fire will hopefully help build that chemistry and rapport with Love more quickly, while also shortening the learning curve, leading to a greater impact sooner.

This is the balance that the Packers have to consider. Reliability is important – especially with a young quarterback – but the free agent market doesn’t have a ton of options remaining, and does Green Bay want a veteran, who may only be here for one season, taking snaps away from Jayden Reed, Samori Toure, or Dontayvion Wicks?

In previous years, the Packers have kept anywhere from five to seven receivers on the roster. This year, my guess is that six is the sweet spot, given the makeup of the position group, with those roster openings going towards the six receivers that Green Bay has drafted over the last two seasons. Gutekunst and LaFleur have been partial towards their recent draft picks when it comes down to the final few roster spots—although keep your eyes on Bo Melton.

For Heath, like many UDFAs, that likely means that his ceiling in year one is as a practice squad player. Heath had what I considered the play of the day at Wednesday’s practice, hauling in a ball down the sidelines with three defenders around him.

Stats to know

Heath spent his first two years playing at Mississippi State before transferring to Ole Miss, where he had his most productive season in 2022. That year, Heath caught 68% of his 76 targets at an impressive 16.0 yards per catch with four touchdowns. His 2.45 yards per route run – an efficiency metric – ranked 61st out of 200 receivers. Of Heath’s total targets this past year, 25 came within 0 to 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, while 32 in the 10 to 19 yard range, and he was often targeted over the middle of the field. For his career, he hauled in 66% of his 183 targets at 13.0 yards per reception, along with 12 touchdowns. Heath spent most of his career lined up on the boundary, and for what it’s worth, he graded out as an average run-blocker by PFF’s grading system.

Measurements

6’2” | 213 | RAS: 6.58

Heath fits that prototypical big-bodied mold that the Packers prefer at the receiver position, measuring in over 6’0” tall and over 200 pounds. His size bolstered his overall Relative Athletic Score while he performed decently in the broad jump and 3-cone, showcasing some explosiveness and agility. However, his vertical, shuttle, and 4.84-second 40 time brought his RAS down below the 8.0 mark, which for drafted players anyways, has been a fairly steady threshold for the Packers under Gutekunst.

Pre-draft scouting report

"“The size and length are appealing, as is the potential to improve his contested-catch success rate, but Heath lacks the burst to back coverages off or separate consistently against press-man. The ball skills show up on tape, but he must become a consistent ball-winner and play to his size. Heath has Day 3 draft potential.” – Lance Zierlein, NFL.com"