Bo

Melton

Melton injured his knee in Week 18. Having been placed on injured reserve, he must now miss at least four games. The Packers only have four potential games left to play this season, so we will not see Melton until next season. The coaching staff switched Melton from wide receiver to cornerback last offseason, but he never once lined up on defense this year, instead logging 96 snaps on offense and 186 on special teams.

Wicks missed Week 18 with a concussion and starts out this week limited in practice. The 24-year-old finished the regular season with a 30/332/2 line amidst a crowded wide receiver depth chart. Tuesday’s practice was just a walkthrough for the Packers, but it is encouraging that Wicks was estimated to be a limited participant. He has a chance to return in the Wild Card round against the Bears. The Packers’ only non-participant Tuesday was CB/WR Bo Melton, who sat with a knee issue.

After signing an exclusive rights free agent deal with Green Bay in April, Melton will enter training camp as a corner. Melton had 24 catches for 309 yards and a touchdown as a rotational wideout over the past two years. The team reportedly liked Melton’s special teams play enough to try him on defense.

Melton caught on with the Packers in 2023, totaling 16 receptions for 218 yards and a touchdown in five games. He added eight receptions for 91 yards in 17 games last season. Melton will continue to be a depth piece in an already-deep Packers wide receiver room. Wilson has also been with the Packers for two seasons and rushed for 502 yards and four touchdowns as Josh Jacobs’ immediate backup last season. He will compete with MarShawn Lloyd for that role again. Whelan is the team’s punter and will be back for 2025. All three signed their exclusive rights free agent tender and will essentially be on one-year contracts this season.

An established depth piece for the Packers, Melton was active for every game this season and finished with a 8/91 line on 17 targets. He got his hands on a Jordan Love ball in the end zone but didn’t look appreciably close to either actually catching the ball or getting his feet inbounds. Melton’s work on specials teams should give him a leg up to keep a lower-depth chart role for the Packers, but it would take a deep injury rash for him to see a fantasy-relevant workload as a receiver.

It was a quiet day for Melton, but it was still triple the yardage and catch total of Jayden Reed (1-6-0). That probably doesn’t make fantasy managers who took a risk on Melton feel any better. The former seventh-round pick could see some time against the Bears in Week 18, but it’s not a guarantee nor is it worth the fantasy risk.

The tallies come from Acme Packing Co. Team Community Producer, Justis Mosqueda, whose 2023 Family Night and preseason snap counts helped Mosqueda effectively project last year’s regular season starting lineup. Doubs (21 snaps) and Watson (19 snaps) debuted as the two-wide receiver-set winners with second-year WR Jayden Reed logging 16 snaps, WR Dontayvion Wicks six, Bo Melton five and Grant DuBose two. Doubs will be a fantasy-draft-day steal if the trend holds.

Melton had one of the easiest receptions you’ll see in 2024. The rookie receiver broke free wide open down the right sideline and needed an impressive toe drag to make it all happen, but his score managed to give the Packers a much-needed lead earlier in the third quarter. Melton came on late in the season, catching 16 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown while playing primarily on the practice squad. He’s officially made his case for more playing time in 2024 but will need to get through a challenging wide receiver room to make that happen.

Melton saw seven touches on the day, second-most amongst Packers skill players, trailing only Aaron Jones. He nearly punctuated his day with a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but bobbled the ball and could not catch it in bounds. Melton was just signed to the active roster for the Packers and will continue to have a role in the young receiving corps heading into Wild Card weekend.

Melton caught 6-of-9 targets for 105 yards and one touchdown in the Packers’ Week 17 win over the Vikings. Over the last three weeks, he’s amassed 11 receptions for 156 yards and one touchdown, playing in an expanded role while Christian Watson nurses a hamstring injury. Melton won’t see many opportunities when Watson returns, but is an interesting dynasty stash now that he’s been elevated to the 53-man roster.