The Green Bay Packers receiving corps has been a problem throughout this season. They entered the 2022 NFL campaign with a lot of question marks and injuries have made things tougher for the unit which has struggled all year.

The Packers started the season without Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, two of their top three wideouts from a year ago. Then injuries hit Allen Lazard, Christian Watson, Randall Cobb and Sammy Watkins during the first eight games. That left an already questionable receiving corps even more shorthanded and forced to rely on rookies and inexperienced players.

The results were predictable. Aaron Rodgers hadn’t developed trust with his inexperienced receivers and the Packers passing game suffered. The struggles of the offensive line and questions about play calling and disappointing quarterback play were also factors in the subpar passing game which is presently ranked 20^th in the league in passing yards per game.

But in last week’s game against the Buffalo Bills, rookie receivers Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure gave the team some reasons for optimism at the position.

Doubs finished the game with four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. The scoring play was an outstanding grab from 19 yards out. Doubs came in motion across the formation and then headed down the right side. He was originally turned to the right side, twisted his body around to the left side and then back to the right before beating man coverage and getting both feet in bounds.

He made a second outstanding catch on the left sideline that helped set up the Packers final touchdown. He ran down the left sideline and outleaped the defender and got both feet in bounds on a 26-yard gain.

“Romeo made some unbelievable plays in this game,” head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game.

Doubs presently leads all Packers wide receivers with 30 catches. Like most rookies, he has been inconsistent. Some games, Doubs has looked like he could be a solid starter in this league like he did against the Bills. But just the previous week against the Commanders, he had no catches on four targets and struggled to make an impact.

Through eight games, Doubs has a catch percentage of 61.2. He is learning how to make adjustments when plays break down and to get on the same page as his quarterback. Doubs has always had a strong work ethic and has worked hard to learn the playbook. Now he needs to learn how to read plays the same way as his quarterback when the original call breaks down.

Doubs is ahead of seventh round pick Samori Toure. The Nebraska alum sat out the first six games of the season as an inactive player. When injuries hit, he saw his first action against the Commanders and made his first career NFL catch in that game.

Against the Bills, Toure caught his first career touchdown pass, a 37-yard play that was impressive not just because it was a rare long gain through the air, but for the way the play developed and Toure reacted.

Toure started on the right side of the formation, faked out his defender at the line of scrimmage and headed downfield towards the middle of the field. As Rodgers scrambled to avoid the rush, Toure changed directions not once but twice to help his quarterback while running further down the field. Rodgers found him in the middle of the end zone behind the defensive backs for a touchdown.

It will take more time for the Packers rookie receivers to become more consistent. But what we saw last Sunday against the Bills was glimpses of the potential they have and what they can consistently become in the future.

Last month, Rodgers acknowledged the talent the Packers rookie receivers have. “It’s going to be, how does their confidence progress, how many plays can they lock in and anchor into their mind…How many memories can they lock into their brain that they can easily access in the moment? And how do they work on their craft? Big jumps, opportunities for them between years one and two and years two and three, especially, that we see from a lot of young players. But I think they both have opportunities to be really, really good players in the league.”

Now it’s a question of having them go out and do it consistently and whether they can be part of the necessary improvement of the Green Bay passing offense in the second half of this season.