It is September 11, 2022.  The Green Bay Packers are playing their season opening game against the Minnesota Vikings.  The Packers receive the opening kickoff, which goes into the end zone for a touchback.  Green Bay lines up for their first offensive play from scrimmage, first and ten at their own 25 yard line. 

Rookie receiver Christian Watson, the Packers second round draft pick, is lined up wide right, positioning himself two yards behind the line of scrimmage on the 23.  Across from Watson is cornerback Patrick Peterson, who has been to eight Pro Bowls and voted first team all pro three times.  Peterson is giving Watson plenty of room, standing eight yards away from him on the 31.   

Aaron Rodgers takes the snap.  Watson runs straight at Peterson and then dips his left leg to the inside.  Peterson hesitates to back pedal, thinking Watson is going to break off and cross the middle.  At that point, Watson changes direction and explodes to the outside.  His maneuver is so sudden it causes Peterson to stumble as he tries to adjust.  By the time Watson reaches his own 40 yard line he is wide open, five yards beyond Peterson and the deep safety.  Rodgers spots him immediately and throws a perfect long ball.  It’s a sure touchdown. 

Except the ball hits Watson on the heel of his thumbs and bounces off his hands.  The dropped pass would unjustly define him through much of his rookie year, being replayed during virtually every game of the season. 

But while everybody focused on the drop, they missed the most significant thing about the play.  It was that route.  That incredible route.  The inside deke, the cut, the explosion, the acceleration in the open field.  It was special.  It was elite.  In that one play, the first play of his pro career, the former North Dakota State star announced he has the potential to be a difference maker. 

And as the season progressed, he was.  He led all rookies with nine touchdowns, two of which were rushing scores.  He atoned for his infamous drop by catching a 58 yard touchdown bomb against the Cowboys, and turning a short cross into a 63 yard TD against the Eagles.  He led all rookie receivers in rushing yards and finished second among first year players in yards per catch.  He did this despite missing three games and playing just 57 percent of Green Bay’s offensive snaps.  After one of his three touchdowns against the Cowboys, Watson demonstrated his athleticism by doing a backflip in the end zone, an extraordinary move for someone of his height, especially while wearing full pads. 

By now you know about his recurrent hamstring problems and how they sabotaged his 2023 season.  He missed ten games but still aggregated 422 receiving yards and five scores.  The two most impressive wins of the regular season were the victories over the Lions on the road, and the Super Bowl champion Chiefs.  It is no coincidence that those were Watson’s two best games, having caught a combined twelve passes and scoring three touchdowns.  After the Chiefs win, the Packers suffered back-to-back disappointing losses to the Giants and Bucs.  Watson missed both games. 

This offseason, Watson learned that the muscles in his legs were out of symmetry, contributing to the frequency of his hamstring issues.  He has been on a special workout plan designed to bring his legs into harmony.  He told reporters during the spring that the plan is working and he feels one hundred percent healthy.   

If that is true, it changes the Green Bay Packers.  With a healthy Watson as a threat, the Packers are the equal of any team in the NFL, as the wins over the Lions and Chiefs proved.  He is that important.  Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton and Malik Heath are promising young receivers that could become very good players in this league.  They are not Christian Watson. 

At six feet four inches tall, 208 pounds, with 4.3 speed, Watson is the whole package.  He can and should be a star.  If he plays all seventeen games this year, he will be an all pro.  Book it.