Years ago, when I first started here with Cheesehead TV, my role was to publish game recaps after every single Packers game. When this role was first presented to me, my first thought was that I needed to paint a picture beyond the box score. Any somewhat educated person with a keyboard can copy/paste stats from the end of the game and call it a recap. I wanted to do my best to immerse the reader in each drive and not just tell them that Jordan Love threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson, but tell them how they got there and what helped Watson get wide open down the field for the big play. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the comments I received from folks who may have missed the game, saying they felt like they didn't need to watch their recording, they just had to read my recap. And obviously, I did something right, as I'm still on this platform today. But it's exactly that detail that separates many of us fans. You have your box score watchers who define games and players by the numbers they look at for ten seconds, and then you have your detail-oriented fans who are able to break down the cause and effect of most plays/drives. This isn't a gate-keeping statement; everyone can "fan" how they want, but when it comes to passing judgment, it's better to have the full breakdown. 

You hear it time and time again that football is the ultimate team sport. 11 players on that field need to do their job in order to find success. If Josh Jacobs breaks out a 40-yard touchdown run, of course, the camera is going to zoom in on Jacobs, and the stat sheet is going to be padded in his favor. But what doesn't the stat sheet show? How he got there. It doesn't show Zach Tom and Tucker Kraft sealing the edge, it doesn't show Christian Watson walking his defender ten yards down the field and out of the play. But that's what makes that play happen, and those players deserve the credit due for getting the job done. 

Football is all about cause and effect. If this happens, then that can happen. The sheer presence of one player alone can change an offense or a defense dramatically. One player who can do exactly that for the Green Bay Packers is Christian Watson. 

Going Beyond the Box Score

Ever since Christian Watson was drafted, he's been defined as a deep-threat receiver. If he gets behind a defender on a route or has the ball in open space with an open field ahead, there is no catching him.  As a result, secondaries need to account for his speed on every play. If Christian Watson takes off on a fly or post pattern, there's a good chance he's going to pull his assigned corner, as well as a safety to defend him. 

That attention draw can easily leave other receivers, or a tight end like Tucker Kraft, in favorable one-on-one mismatch situations in the short or medium game. A prime example of this was Watson's return from his ACL injury to face Pittsburgh. The attention of the Steelers' defense immediately went to the threat of Watson deep, and as a result, Kraft went off for the best game of his career, making 7 catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns. 

A box score watcher would look at this as "wow, Kraft really went off in this game," and then look at Watson's four catches for 85 yards and say, "pretty decent for his first game back." When honestly, Watson shared in the majority of Kraft's success. But there's no way to truly measure the impact of essentially acting as a decoy. Nor is there a good way to measure impact blocking from a receiver. PFF might try to grade a receiver's blocking abilities, and Christian Watson has ranked high on their lists, but "key block to spring a big play" isn't listed on the stat sheet.

Rest assured, though, coaches and GMs see those unheralded actions, and they don't forget. Yesterday, Matt LaFleur praised Christian Watson, noting that Watson embodies the team's culture and that he never complains about targets, always puts the team first. Some fans may roll their eyes hearing this term if the player talked about is one they're not a fan of, but the term "good locker room guy" is one some teams value more than others. If statistically, a player is ranked 20th in the league, but is considered a "good locker room guy," the team may value him as if he's ranked in the top-10. 

Much like the game recaps I used to write, the full story of a game doesn't always lie in the box score. Many fans balked at Christian Watson's extension this week. But Watson's value in Green Bay goes way beyond catches, yards, and touchdowns. He commands a defense's attention, and he selflessly creates opportunities for his teammates, whether it be by throwing blocks or running routes as a decoy. Those contributions don't show up on a stat line, but they're often the reason why a teammate's stats do.