The Green Bay Packers’ offense was one of the more dangerous in the NFL during the second half of last season. It might be unstoppable if the Bo Melton who made a splash down the stretch – and did again at OTAs on Tuesday – can become a regular contributor.
“I say that’s just a start,” Melton said after practice. “It was a nice journey just to be from practice squad to playing, but my goal was never just to be a practice-squad player in general. That’s never my mindset. I’m wanting to be a player in this league for a long time.
“I’ve been around a lot of good players here that motivated me during the whole year when I wasn’t playing. When I started to play, it was nothing different. I know when you do good things, good is expected. At the end of the day, I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. That’s been working since I was a kid.”
A seventh-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, Melton joined the Packers late during his rookie season. After failing to make Green Bay’s roster in 2023, he made his NFL debut at Detroit on Thanksgiving and made his first NFL reception against Tampa Bay a few weeks later. At Minnesota in Week 17, he caught six passes for 105 yards – the team’s first 100-yard game of the season – and contributed five receptions for 62 yards in the finale against Chicago. Two weeks later, he scored a 19-yard touchdown in the playoff loss at San Francisco.
“I think anytime you can go out there and prove who you are as a player, it helps you get that confidence going,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “Bo is the same guy every day. You know what you’re going to get. Bo came in and he definitely wasn’t a starter last year, but he worked. Every day you’d see him on scout team making plays and getting a touchdown and celebrating, and he’s going to treat it like a game.
“That’s why it was no surprise when his number was called, he goes out there and makes plays.”
In limited opportunities, Melton caught 16 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown during the regular season. He led the Packers with 2.83 yards per route, according to Pro Football Focus. That was well ahead of Jayden Reed (2.05) and Dontayvion Wicks (2.04).
Among all NFL receivers who were targeted at least 20 times, Melton ranked fifth in yards per route behind Tyreek Hill, Nico Collins, Brandon Aiyuk and Justin Jefferson.
“I think it’s a great story just being persistent and to continue to push forward even, when maybe the stacks are put up against you,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “He brings a lot of energy to our team. It’s cool to see a guy that got here two seasons ago from Seattle, to see him battle. He’s on the practice squad for the majority of last season, then getting an opportunity to go out there and play and he was our first receiver to gain 100 yards in a game.
“But that’s what this league’s all about. Some guys come in and make an immediate impact and other guys got to continue to battle and show that resiliency that it takes and just continue to chop away. When given the opportunity that’s when you like to see those guys go out there and perform, and he’s done that.”
Nothing will be guaranteed in 2024 for Melton. LaFleur typically splits the team in half for 11-on-11 periods. On the north side of the practice field, it’s the starters and key backups. On the south side, it’s mostly young players and deep backups.
Melton started the day on the north side of the field with the starters and delivered the play of the day. Melton ran a post route, got behind safety Anthony Johnson and hauled in Love’s bomb for a touchdown of about 75 yards.
“Jordan saw me and I kind of knew Jordan was coming my way because, when I turned my head, I didn’t see the ball yet and I thought, ‘Oh, it’s going to be in the air,’” Melton said. “We’ve been wanting to hit a deep ball. We hit that play and it was a nice moment for the team.”
But, during the second half of the practice, Melton was on the other side of the practice field, where Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt were the quarterbacks.
Melton’s got elite speed and a “dog” mentality as a run blocker, LaFleur said. He’s shown he can be an X-factor in a passing game filled with weapons.
“I would definitely say that I’ve just proved what they thought of me as a playmaker,” Melton said. “That’s what I was brought here for – make plays. I just wanted to show that to them. It was kind of hard not being able to play on an actual gameday. When they actually seen it [in a game], it’s like, ‘OK, this is who Bo is.’
“Along with the great athletes we have in the room who can make plays, too, it was like ‘Dang, we got Bo now.’ I felt good to be another asset to the team whether they use me on wide receiver and special teams. I was just trying to show them I could play, too. I showed them, for sure.”
