We're all excited for Training Camp to begin every season. We're back to football finally after over five long months. My favorite aspect of camp is seeing what we have in the new rookies or free-agent signings. After months of hype around the newcomers, we finally see what they've got. But, outside of that, it's also great to see any improvement in the game of the veterans on the team. There are the expectations of those veterans to carry on the expectations of them, but it's even better when they seem to have improved a bit since the last time we saw them.

Romeo Doubs wrapped up the 2023 regular season with 59 catches for 674 yards and 8 touchdowns. A pretty decent outing for the second-year receiver considering the turbulent start to the campaign, but what really stood out for Doubs, was his performance come playoff time. Doubs had 10 catches for 234 yards and a touchdown in just two playoff games. Wherein he averaged only 39 yards per game during the season, he averaged 117 in the playoffs when it counted the most. Doubs always seemed to be the one available for Jordan Love to make the acrobatic catch when needed, especially when a first-down conversion was required. Despite Doubs' playoff performance, it still isn't quite appropriate to name any receiver on the Packers' roster "WR1." Most of us have come to call that label irrelevant. But fast-forward to Training Camp this year, several practices in, it appears Romeo Doubs is beginning to set himself apart a bit. 

If you've followed my writing for any amount of time, you'll know I love the term "iron sharpens iron" to describe battles in practice. Only a few days ago I talked about the long line of cornerback vs receiver battles in Packers history where facing each other day after day has made them better. Well, add another to the list, Jaire Alexander vs Romeo Doubs. So far in camp this year, Alexander and Doubs have had some excellent battles with Doubs coming out on the winning end more often than not. On Tuesday, Doubs and Jaire faced each other three times in 1x1's with Doubs getting the best of them.

On the first rep, Doubs shimmied a little late in his route to shake Jaire to make the catch for a touchdown. With the second rep, Jordan Love threw an absolute beauty of a corner end-zone throw to Doubs on a low fade that Doubs hauled in just passed Alexander. With the third rep, the pass fell incomplete only because Doubs simply ran out of room after breaking free of Alexander and the ball sailed out of bounds. Realizing he'd been beaten that third time too and just got lucky, Alexander begged for one more rep, but he didn't get it. Jaire Alexander has been having a great camp so far, but it appears Romeo Doubs is just having a little bit better of a camp than him so far.

It's not just Jaire Alexander that Romeo Doubs has been besting either in camp so far. On Tuesday alone he gained a step on Carrington Valentine for a big catch where you could say Valentine got "Moss'd" with Doubs making the catch just over his head. And then in a red zone attempt, Eric Stokes had very good coverage on Doubs, but Love just put it only where Doubs could touch it and he reeled it in getting both feet in bounds for the touchdown on third down.

There were no hard feelings from Jaire Alexander at all after practice, as he went on to say "I always want to go against Doubs, the dude's freaking really good." He continued to praise Doubs stating that the 3rd year receiver couldn't catch a thing on him when he was a rookie but now they're going up for 50/50 balls and Doubs is holding his own and route running is very good. Alexander also stated that on his list of top receivers in the league, he believes Doubs to be a close second to former Packer, Davante Adams. That's some mighty high praise coming from one of the best corners in the league. Adams himself is a great route runner and if Alexander sees the same in Doubs, we could be in for a big year 3 from number 87. 

Preparing for a big year 3

Two years ago, the first week of camp I was writing about how Romeo Doubs was a training camp breakout player and that the Packers may have found a gem in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft. Well, Doubs hasn't let up. He's capitalized on that 2022 camp breakout and is now arguably the best Wide Receiver on the Packers' roster. He may not be the fastest or have that quickness to get to the edge on a jet sweep or end-around, but he seems to have the best hands on the team. To go with those hands, he also has tight-rope walking feet to keep himself in bounds whenever needed. He also has the trust of his quarterback. 

Closing out 2023, and also a bit evident in three practices so far, Jordan Love showed a lot of chemistry with Romeo Doubs. It seems that Jordan Love may have found his wide receiver security blanket. If he needs to get rid of the ball quickly to someone he trusts, it looks like Doubs is his guy. Coincidentally with Doubs wearing the number 87, I could see him and Jordan Love developing the same type of QB/WR chemistry as Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson had. But first, if Doubs wants to even be mentioned in the same sentence as Jordy Nelson, he needs to turn in his first 1K yard season. Which I think could be accomplished in 2024.

As mentioned before, the Packers' receiver's room is filled to the brim with talent. Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and even Bo Melton and Malik Heath are going to get their catches. But Doubs is slowly becoming that "sure thing" when you send the ball his way. Watson is likely going to stretch the field a lot and land those home run balls down-field while Jayden Reed is going to dominate the slot. The tight ends as well are likely to control the middle of the field for the Packers which is going to put Romeo Doubs on the sidelines often. And that is where he does his best work. With Jordan Love dropping dimes just over the shoulder of receivers, Doubs will likely be on the receiving end of a lot of balls thrown tight to the sidelines where only he can get them. Five yards, ten, twenty, thirty, Doubs will be there to tap both feet in-bounds and move the chains which will be an invaluable asset to this offense. And then he'll pull off one of those 50/50 jump ball catches in the endzone for the touchdown. 

The Packers don't need a "WR1." They have at least four receivers with the potential to take over a game. But Romeo Doubs could set himself apart on the stat sheet by being that "sure thing" for Jordan Love and coming down with the big catches whenever called upon. It won't be flashy, it will be several big conversion plays each game, but I think Romeo Doubs could achieve his first 1K-yard season this year.