After a full year of anticipation, the 2025 NFL Draft takes place in Green Bay on Thursday night. Fans from across the country will flock to Wisconsin to get a glimpse at one of the NFL’s most historic venues and Green Bay Packers fans will watch with their own level of excitement as they find out who the next player will be to wear green and gold.
But while the event is exciting for multiple reasons, there are some who may have muted enthusiasm. Current Packer players may be watching the draft with a different kind of anxiety as a draft pick could turn them from a long-term fixture to a player on the roster bubble.
In no place is that more prevalent for the Packers than in the receiver room. And one playmaker has a right to be worried as the pre-draft rumors come in.
Romeo Doubs Should Be Worried Entering NFL Draft
The Green Bay Packers have several directions they can go with the 23rd overall pick. The Packers’ desire to shop Jaire Alexander makes cornerback a possibility but the favorite is wide receiver with hours to go until Green Bay takes the podium.
SI’s Bill Huber led the charge by predicting the Packers will take a pass-catcher in the first round and even mentioned Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka as a logical target.
“The Packers need a receiver. Everyone knows it,” Huber wrote. “General manager Brian Gutekunst hosted Egbuka and fellow first-round receiver prospects Tetairoa McMillan and Matthew Golden on top-30 visits. It was an acknowledgement that the Packers have to be better, that their $220 million quarterback can’t do it alone.
“Green Bay was nowhere near good enough on offense to compete with the NFL’s elite teams last season, and that was with Christian Watson. With Watson recovering from a torn ACL, how are the Packers going to be good enough to compete against the quality defenses in the NFC North and the rest of the NFL’s power teams without making a big splash at receiver?”
Huber’s prediction makes sense when you read the tea leaves. In addition to Watson’s injury and several top-30 visits with receivers, Josh Jacobs demanded a No. 1 receiver during Super Bowl week. But while Watson is the easy choice to feel uneasy about rumors of a receiver early in the draft, it also trickles down to the Packers’ No. 2 target, Romeo Doubs.
A fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft, Doubs put up modest numbers with 42 catches for 425 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season and improved to 59 catches for 674 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023.
But last year had a different feel for Doubs. The 25-year-old skipped practice last October after becoming upset with role in the passing offense and missed two games with a concussion late last season. He suffered another concussion during the Packers’ wild-card loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and Matt LaFleur expressed concern about his long-term health during his end of year press conference.
It may not seem fair but it’s not the best way to go into a contract year. Doubs has never posted a 1,000-yard season and his concerns off the field don’t sound like someone the Packers would want to pay – especially after Khalil Shakir signed a four-year, $60.2 million contract extension with Buffalo Bills this offseason.
With rumors about a trade for George Pickens also circulating, it’s possible the Packers could use their first round pick on a receiver and bring in Pickens on Friday or Saturday night. If that happens, the Packers’ receiver room may become crowded and Doubs could follow Watson on the way out.