Introduction

Rewind to the days leading up to week one of the 2023 season, and most Green Bay Packers fans’ expectations for the 2023 season were to potentially get to .500 and to see if Jordan Love is capable of being an NFL starter. Fast forward to today, and the team is a title contender again, with Jordan Love leading the way as the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. Before getting ahead of ourselves with aspirations for a Super Bowl title, it’s important to first focus on the division.

Last year, the Detroit Lions finally escaped the dark shadow of their franchise and not only made the playoffs but won the NFC North. That being said, as it’s probably obvious by the title, I don’t think the Lions will have too long to celebrate that division title, as the Boogeymen of the NFC North are primed to challenge them. Throughout this article, I’ll be completing an in-depth review of the Packers’ roster to see where they are now and why they are in a position to retake the division.

Breakdown of Jordan Love and Matt LeFleur

To get things started, I think it makes the most sense to focus on Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur. After struggling in the first nine games last season, Love threw for 2,616 yards, 23 touchdowns, and just three interceptions while completing 68.8% of his passes for the final ten games, including the playoffs. Scaling that to a 17-game season would have had Love finish with 4,447 yards passing, 39 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. So, when just looking at the raw numbers, it made sense why Brian Gutekunst and Mark Murphy were excited to target Love back in 2020 and extend him this offseason.

Outside of the stats, what made the Packers target Love in his draft was his elite arm talent, capable of releasing the ball at diverse throwing angles, his effortless release, and his ability to easily deliver the ball downfield even when his footwork was lacking. In a draft class consisting of Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa, and Jalen Hurts, Love’s arm talent was still touted as potentially the best of the group during the pre-draft process. Love’s footwork is still messy, but his time behind Aaron Rodgers gave him time to get more reps delivering NFL-level throws and understanding what throws he could fit in and what throws weren’t going to work in the NFL.

What also made the team comfortable extending Love was the trust that Love and LaFleur have in each other. I think we all got tired of the focus on the Aaron Rodgers and LaFleur drama on the sidelines, but a lot of that seemed to stem from Rodgers either checking out of a play call when LaFleur saw an opportunity or Rodgers straying away from the intended target for the play due to not trusting the play. Though Love will check out of plays, he seems more willing to trust the play call and take what the defense and LaFleur are getting him.

When Rodgers was traded, I was interested to see how LaFleur would handle being a leader for the team, but I was extremely interested in seeing what LaFleur’s offense would really look like with the team’s roster. Based on last year and especially the second half of the season, I’d say LaFleur passed with flying colors, just like Love.

The Packers have always been near the top of the league in motion at the snap with LaFleur and leaned even more into this in 2023, finishing with the fourth-highest rate in the league and the highest during LaFleur’s tenure at 36.3% of their plays. Teams, and especially LaFleur, love to use motion to create quick advantages for the offense and to get their top athletes at top speed before being impeded by the defense (which we’ll talk more about later).

With Love stepping up with more confidence in the offense and the play calls and LaFleur scheming openings for him, the offense became one of the most efficient offenses during the final stretch of the season. Love has the arm talent to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and the pairing with LaFleur could help him reach that ceiling. As long as Love doesn’t take a step back or gets injured, I would expect the offense to continue clicking for the upcoming season.

Breakdown of Running Backs

While there is continuity from last year at the starting quarterback position, the running back room is nearly completely revamped. With the release of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon going to IR, the team will be leaning on free agent signing Josh Jacobs, 2024 third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd, and Emmanuel Wilson. While I was excited about the team adding Jacobs, the departure of Jones made me nervous about the depth behind him and I’m not sure Gutekunst has done much to make these feelings go away. 

MarShawn Lloyd has spent a good part of the summer and preseason dealing with different injuries. Injuries happen, but I think it’s worth pointing out that Lloyd’s college career was plagued by injuries, which was the major reason he had a small workload throughout his entire college career. Another thing that led to the small workload was Lloyd fumbling the ball on 3.4% of his touches throughout his college career. That may not sound like a high mark but most college running back prospects typically have a fumble rate around just 1% of their touches.

I also have concerns about Lloyd’s vision and pass blocking, but those aren’t even worth being concerned about until we can see him on the field consistently. My biggest concerns are that Lloyd will continue to get nagging injuries that either stop him from being effective or that he will give the ball away too many times when he is playing. While his college highlights are exciting, if a back isn’t able to stay healthy and protect the ball, they are going to be passed up for other options.

For Emmanuel Wilson, he is a decent player but I think that’s as far as I can confidently describe him. He has a solid build and runs with good power but he is still pretty unproven as a pass catcher and pass blocker. Now, he looked really good in both areas in the preseason so he could continue that momentum into the regular season. However, it would be hard to trust him as the lead back if Lloyd struggles with injuries and Jacobs were to go down.

That being said, I wanted to focus on some of the hypotheticals and worst-case scenarios before going focusing on Josh Jacobs. If you looked at Jacobs’ stats last year, the signing may have been confusing. However, if you have watched him in the past or even watched him last year, things start to make sense why he had such a down year last year.

To try to put it as nicely as I can, the Las Vegas Raiders offense, and especially the offensive line, was an absolute mess last season. The line often allowed defenders to blow through and stop plays before they started, but they rarely were able to create consistent holes for Jacobs to burst through. While the Packers’ line hasn’t been a strong run-blocking team for quite some time, there will still be better opportunities for Jacobs, even if it is due to defenses needing to respect the pass more.

While I’m still not confident Jacobs is the perfect fit since Matt LaFleur typically leans more toward zone runs than gap runs as they fit better with our offensive line and his offense, he still is capable of being a steady workhorse for the team. Jacobs still runs with great contact balance, has very good hands for a back his size, has good athleticism to help him break away from defenders, and holds up well in pass-blocking situations. For as bad as the depth behind could be, it may not matter since he’s capable of handling any situation asked of him.

That being said, I’m hoping we don’t need to rely only on Jacobs, but I think it’s a very real possibility, given the state of injuries and talent behind him. With Jacobs, I don’t think we will see him suddenly return to his 2022 form and he likely won’t be as effective as Aaron Jones’ best season. However, I think Jacobs will be closer to his rookie and sophomore year production, where he is able to finish drives in the red zone, can stay out for entire drives, and is a steady presence to keep the offense on track.

Breakdown of Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Where there is more continuity is in the receiving corps for the team. The Packers will be bringing back nearly all of their young receivers other than Samori Toure and Grant DuBose who were victims of the immense depth the team has at the position. I know Matt LaFleur hates talking about it, but I have to bring up the fact that the team has no true number-one receiver, and any of the six receivers on the depth chart have a serious chance of leading the team in receiving for the week.

The fluidity of how the team can shift their focus in the passing attack depending on matchups and to be able to withstand injuries gave the team a great advantage on a weekly basis. This made it extremely difficult for defensive coordinators to slow down the offense once the young receivers got their timing down with Jordan Love. The offense also becomes near impossible to slow down when paired with Love’s arm talent and LaFleur’s play designs.

As I mentioned earlier, Love’s arm talent allowed the team to spread the ball all over the field and to all the different weapons available. With the different options Love had, the Packers actually didn’t have a 100-yard receiver until week 17 when Bo Melton, a receiver who wasn’t on the active roster until late in the season, finished with 105 yards against the Minnesota Vikings. With the receivers having more experience under their belt and being able to continue to build chemistry with Love, I would expect we see a lot more 100-yard performances as the entire passing game takes a step forward.

What will continue to help the passing game trend up is LaFleur’s ability to use players like chess pieces. As I mentioned earlier, LaFleur is an underrated play-caller and one of the better offensive minds in the league right now. He understands how to use players’ skill sets to maximize mismatches, especially when using pre-snap motion to create easy opportunities for Love.

A group of young receivers with no superstars shouldn’t work as well as they did last year, but it did thanks to players like Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, and Dontayvion Wicks being perfect fits for LaFleur’s high-motion scheme. His scheme gave them free releases to pick up speed quickly and pick up yards after the catch. When they didn’t get easy openings, Reed and Wicks were still able to shake coverage thanks to their quality route running. Also, while we didn’t see an effective Watson for very long in 2023, I expect to see him go back to being an X-factor this season now that he’s fully healthy.

What also helps elevate the offense is Romeo Doubs being the steady X receiver who can finish tough catches in the red zone. Doubs got a lot of attention in his rookie year but got lost in the shuffle when he didn’t clearly establish himself ahead of the rest of the young receivers early last season. However, I think, with hindsight, it’s clear this was more due to the level of surrounding competition than a statement about Doubs. This summer, Doubs has reportedly had his best training camp and looks like the leader of the pack that many people were expecting last season.

So that’s four receivers, and we still haven’t even talked about the team’s first receiver who hit 100 yards last season! I don’t expect major contributions from Bo Melton and Malik Heath on a regular basis, as they are the fourth and fifth receivers on the team. However, they’ve proven in the past that they can be part of a productive rotation and step up when an injury arises. With both having the talent of easily being most teams’ third best, maybe in rare cases even their second best receiver on very thin teams, there will be no shortage of playmakers at receiver.

For tight ends, it was a bit of an inconsistent season for both Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft. Musgrave dealt with injuries throughout the season, and Kraft needed time to adjust from FCS football to the NFL. However, both flashed last season and seem ready to take on more of a role in the offense if there is enough opportunity to go around this year.

Musgrave will likely be able to offer more in the receiving game with his athleticism and his comfort in playing a high number of snaps out of the slot last year. Though he didn’t have a lot of opportunities, Musgrave did a good job breaking downfield for big plays and had a good eye for settling into openings against zone coverage, which is impressive for a first-year player. As I mentioned, Kraft needed time to adjust to the NFL, but his blocking looked ready on day one. I expect Kraft to continue to contribute as an in-line blocker on run plays and to be a safe option with tough hands in play-action situations.

With a young, deep group at both receiver and tight end, it’s hard not to get excited. While I have some concerns about the rushing game getting derailed by injuries, I have zero concerns for the receivers and tight ends on the team. The team proved last year that they can withstand injuries and be a revolving door of production.

Breakdown of Offensive Line

Maybe it’s my favoritism for the team, but I really like how the offensive line is coming together for the team. Last year, it could have been a disaster with David Bakhtiari playing only one game leaving tackles Yosh Nijman and Rasheed Walker to fill the gap. The last thing you want for a young quarterback’s development is bad offensive line play which creates bad habits with footwork and anticipation. However, Nijman and particularly Rasheed Walker really stepped up.

Despite being drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 draft due to injury concerns and some early struggles in 2023, Rasheed Walker looked like a strong left tackle by year’s end. Also, nearly every Packers reporter that I trust has reported that Walker has taken another big step and looks like not only one of the most improved players on the team but one of the best linemen this summer. It seemed unfair that the Packers were originally able to get their left tackle of the future in the fourth round when they drafted Bakhtiari, but it seems Gutenkunst wanted to outdo Ted Thompson by finding Walker in the seventh round.

Going to the right side, right tackle Zach Tom is still one of the most underrated players in the league and a stalwart at tackle. He doesn’t get the most push-on-run plays, but you aren’t getting past him on pass plays. With Walker and Tom locking down the edges, Love will be given plenty of time to find any of the numerous weapons he has at his disposal. 

Focusing on the interior, I don’t think I need to spend too much time on left guard Elgton Jenkins, who plays at an all-pro level on the inside and pro bowl level outside. The right guard spot is more interesting, though, with the departures of Jon Runyan and Royce Freeman. The team drafted Jordan Morgan from Arizona in the first round of the 2024 draft but it seems the team is potentially leaning towards a possible rotation with Sean Rhyan like the team did last year at tackle with Nijman and Walker.

Rhyan has had a bit of a strange start to his career getting very little playing as he made the transition from tackle to guard. That being said, there were some flashes in the few snaps he got last year. I fully expect Morgan to eventually win the right guard spot since he is a more talented player. However, Rhyan developing into a capable player would provide much-needed depth to the interior of the line.

I’m less confident at center. I never was much of a fan of Josh Myers and was disappointed when the team took him one spot ahead of Creed Humphrey in the 2021 draft. That disappointment only grew when Humphrey became one of the best centers in the league. Hindsight is always 20/20, but the early returns on Myers haven’t been encouraging. Myers has just been wildly inconsistent and too streaky to be counted on.

While Jenkins could potentially slide to center, I see the team keeping him at guard and continue to hope that Myers finds some consistency this season. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if 2024 fifth-round pick Jacob Monk could push Myers for playing time later in the season if he continues to struggle. Monk has been getting a lot of praise throughout the summer and is a good fit for the team’s pass-focused zone-blocking scheme. 

Though the preseason wasn’t always encouraging, the team has good tackle depth compared to the rest of the league. While Andre Dillard, Kadeem Telfort, and Travis Glover aren’t inspiring reserve options, they looked decent in the preseason and hopefully could be serviceable if needed in the season. Since we need to hope offensive line coach Luke Butkus can continue to work his magic to help Dillard reach his potential and develop Glover for the likely redshirt season ahead, I would be most comfortable trusting Telfort after a strong summer and preseason. 

The offensive line definitely isn’t as strong as it was during the best years of the Aaron Rodgers era. However, they are an elite pass blocking unit if Morgan and/or Rhyan run with the right guard spot. Center is still a very big question mark but it can be covered up if the rest of the squad can do the heavy lifting.

Change in Defensive Scheme

Before going into defensive position groups one by one, I think it’s important to see what might be different with the change from Joe Barry’s 3-4 scheme to new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s 4-3 scheme. We don’t have a great sample size for Hafley in the NFL since defenses go vanilla during preseason games. However, looking back at his Boston College defense shows a much more aggressive defense than what we were used to under Joe Barry.

At Boston College, Hafley used a lot of single-high looks, had a high rate of corners playing close to the line and pressing receivers, and had an emphasis on the defensive line crashing through lanes to stop runners and make contact before the runner gets to the line of scrimmage with a head of steam. This contrasts with Barry’s defense, which had an emphasis on the corners and safeties playing off coverage with a “bend don’t break” mentality. Barry’s approach can work if you throw in exotic blitzes or have your defensive front crash the pocket. However, Barry’s blitzes were often predictable, and the defensive line’s responsibility was to hold their ground and create space for linebackers and safeties to crash into open lanes.

The other thing that didn’t help Barry’s scheme translate to success was the poor fit with the team’s personnel. We’ll get into it with more detail later, but the team has been drafting penetrators on the defensive line for the past few years who didn’t fit Barry’s approach to hold their ground. Also, the team had potentially the worst safety room in the entire league last year, which further worsened the problem against the run.

Under Hafley, the team will have a much more aggressive approach with an emphasis on getting to the quarterback quickly and disrupting the timing of pass plays with press. There might be more big plays against the defense if the pass rush doesn’t get home or if the corners don’t give a good enough jam at the line, but I’m more optimistic thanks to the better fit of a lot of players in Hafley’s scheme than Barry’s. With the majority of the defensive front having experience in a 4-3 scheme and the secondary fitting well into a press-heavy, single-high scheme, I’m excited to see what the defense can do, and it’s a major reason why I’m optimistic about the team’s chances this year.

Breakdown of Defensive Line

As I mentioned earlier, where I think we’ll see the biggest impact in the change to Jeff Hafley’s defense will be in the defensive line. As I mentioned, the team has a lot of linemen who are primarily penetrators and have experience in a 4-3 scheme, like Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks, and Colby Wooden. After trying to fit square pegs into round holes with these three, they finally get to go into roles that best fit their skill sets.

After a quiet first two seasons, Devonte Wyatt has reportedly been one of the standouts this summer and looks set for a breakout season. At Georgia, he was a pass rush specialist and was expected to be a major force in the Packers’ pass rush. So, it’s only natural that he is starting to look like the first-round pick they drafted with the conversion to a 4-3 scheme like he played in during college. Between the improvements he’s been making and the switch to a more defensive line pass-rush-friendly scheme, I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to finish with double-digit sacks. 

Like Wyatt, Brooks is a pass-rush specialist and should also be a strong presence in the pass-rush. I don’t see him being as productive as Wyatt, but I don’t think the defensive line will take much of a dip in disruption when Brooks gets subbed. It will sound like a broken record, but Wooden fits the pass rush specialist role as well. I liked Wooden back in the pre-draft process, and while he hasn’t exactly panned out too much so far, he will be a serviceable rotational rusher for the team with the new scheme. 

Now, you might be thinking, the defensive line has a lot of pass rush specialists, but where are the run stuffers? Well, that’s where it gets complicated. I haven’t talked about Kenny Clark yet and while he is a better rusher than stuffer, he is an extremely talented player who can do it all. While I don’t expect Clark to anchor the entire run defense for the line, his contributions with a solid stuffer like T.J. Slaton could help seal holes in the middle of the line.

Shifting the focus to defensive ends, while all the ends will have to adjust going from a 3-4 to 4-3, nearly all of them have recent experience in a 4-3. Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness both played in 4-3 schemes in college, and both have been having great camps, according to all the reports I’ve seen. Like Wyatt, Van Ness has had a quiet start to his career but is looking calmer and technically sound. With another year of experience, he is going back to a scheme he’s familiar with. 

While Gary wasn’t the most productive college player in Michigan’s 4-3 defense, this was more due to a lack of polish rather than a lack of ability. Now that Gary has found a way to blend technique with his excellent athleticism, he should be able to easily transition back to a 4-3 scheme. Kingsley Enagbare also has experience playing in a similar scheme playing in a 4-2-5 scheme in his final year at South Carolina. While it will take him time to come back from a torn ACL, I expect him to fit well in the new scheme.

Though Preston Smith hasn’t played in a 4-3 defense since 2018, back when he was still with Washington, he still has the anchor to hold the edge and the pass-rushing chops to translate to the new defense. So, that makes four quality ends who either have recent college experience in a 4-3 or have traits that should translate. As far as depth players, Brenton Cox Jr. is more of, you guessed it, a pass rush specialist, and it will be interesting to see how he holds up against the run or if he will be limited to pass rush opportunities. Aaron Mosby is a bit of an unknown, but he forced his way onto the roster thanks to a strong preseason. He will at least be a decent depth option for the team.

So, a lot of players on the line should fit into Hafley’s aggressive, get to the quarterback quickly scheme on passing downs. The team may run into issues regarding how they hold up against the run, which, to be honest, isn’t new for a Packers defense. As long as the team is able to limit the success of early run plays and limit short passes to force teams into third and long scenarios, I think we will be able to see the defense and the defensive line shine as a force this year.

Breakdown of Linebackers

Just as the defensive line group will be more aggressive under Jeff Hafley, so too will the linebacker group. Under Joe Barry, the linebackers were asked to do a lot between covering receivers and backs, filling in rushing lanes, and adjusting their play and timing to match safeties, providing help on run plays. Under Hafley, the backers will be able to play with a more simplified approach and focus on one responsibility to disrupt the play.

While the scheme change should help the linebacker group, this is the group I’m most concerned about. Right now, Quay Walker is the clear top linebacker for the group, but he’s still a pretty unproven player. Walker played more confidently when going downhill as a run stuffer and blitzer last year, but he didn’t make much improvement in pass coverage. Maybe reducing his responsibilities will help, but I’m nervous about Walker developing into the leader of the linebacker group, especially after the departure of De’Vondre Campbell. 

While Walker is the unquestioned top linebacker of the group, the second-best backer is a free-for-all between 2024 second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper, 2024 third-round pick Ty’Ron Hopper, Isaiah McDuffie, and Eric Wilson. Cooper and Hopper are great fits for Hafley’s aggressive defense but have missed time with injuries throughout the summer. Missed time always hurts rookies but especially hurts them since they are both hyper-athletic backers who need the reps and practice to develop patience and an understanding of their responsibilities. My concern is that they will be forced into early playing time and not have the practice or support to be able to provide meaningful contributions.

I actually think that Isaiah McDuffie will likely be the team’s second-best linebacker this year, which is a bit of a scary thought, but I’m concerned about his versatility. McDuffie is a good run defender and has the frame and skill to disengage from blocks. However, he wasn’t asked to go out in coverage much and wasn’t overly effective the times he was out there. It’s a bit of the same story with Eric Wilson, who I think is less talented than McDuffie regardless of how good of an offseason he’s had, but likely will also be limited to playing out-of-base sets on early downs.

Even if the reports of Quay Walker taking another step forward are true, I’m not confident even an improved Walker can salvage the group. The team needing to rebuild at linebacker came at a very unfortunate time with a draft class weak at linebacker and limited options in free agency. While Gutekunst typically does a good job being proactive or finding low-cost solutions to roster problems, this might be a time he misplayed his hand.

With the current room, the best option is to likely have frequent rotations with Isaiah McDuffie and potentially Eric Wilson in on early downs and Edgerrin Cooper and Ty’Ron Hopper coming in on passing downs to help with their athleticism. This will likely be easy to exploit, but the team doesn’t have a better option unless they have a linebacker step up in a major way. Hopefully, I’m either wrong, or Cooper and Hopper are further along in their development despite the injuries, but I just have a hard time seeing major contributors from this group.

Breakdown of Secondary

While I have major concerns about the linebackers, I have a lot of faith in the secondary. Though there weren’t any changes to the cornerback room, the safety room had a major overhaul and is a group I’m excited to see this season. After fans tried to convince themselves that Darnell Savage, Jonathan Owens, Rudy Ford, and Anthony Johnson Jr. were starting-caliber players last year, the team moved on from all of those players and upgraded by signing free agent Xavier McKinney and drafting Javon Bullard in the second round, Evan Williams in the fourth round, and Kitan Oladapo in the fifth round of the 2024 draft.

While we still need to see all of them play a regular season snap for the team, I have high hopes for the group. McKinney is a perfect fit for Hafley’s defense with his ability to cover the whole field in cover one and also finish tackles downfield and in the run game, which will be a welcomed sight for many Packers fans after the poor tackle attempts by safeties last year. Also, Javon Bullard is a natural fit for Hafley’s scheme as he can play deep but also is a strong player near the line of scrimmage contributing on blitzes and able to cover players out of the slot. I don’t know if he will be as good of a player as him, but his skill set and use in this defense reminds me a lot of Micah Hyde early in his career. 

Despite Bullard having a good summer and being the first safety taken by the team in the draft, the star rookie this summer has been Evan Williams. If you followed camp reports, Williams likely became a familiar name as he was routinely making plays in both the pass and run game while playing deep. He isn’t the best athlete and may not have the highest ceiling, but he could develop into an Adrian Amos-like player who can give the team another sure tackler who is no slouch in coverage. While the developments of Bullard and Williams have been exciting, it, unfortunately, came at the cost of Oladapo missing starter reps and missing a lot of summer due to injuries, which will likely limit his impact this year.

While I cringed seeing the safeties the team was running out on the field last year, I’m excited to see the new look safety group and excited to see them gel together. It seems they complement each other well and the defensive scheme also fits their skill sets well. With safety being such an important piece of Hafley’s defense, Gutekunst seems to have hit the ball out of the park building this room like he did when he rebuilt the receiver room last offseason.

While Gutekunst focused his attention on safety, he surprisingly didn’t make any moves at cornerback. This was very surprising to me since past, Jaire Alexander, there are a lot of unknowns. Starting with Alexander, he’s another player I likely don’t need to touch on, but I do want to point out that he not only will fit perfectly into Hafley’s press man coverage heavy scheme but also has reportedly been locked in and looks the best he has ever looked with the team. After some turbulence last season, including a brief benching, it seems he’s ready to be a leader this year both on and off the field.

However, hopefully, the decision to trust Eric Stokes to play opposite Alexander this season doesn’t backfire. After an extremely promising rookie season, Stokes has battled injuries and hasn’t looked the same these past two seasons. 

However, the early reports from training camp are encouraging and sound more akin to his rookie play. On top of that, Stokes also fits nicely as a press man coverage corner and could have a resurgence this season. Right now, there is a lot of hope for him but I just don’t think I can bring myself to trust him again until I see him playing quality regular season snaps.

Past those two, Keisean Nixon is primarily known across the league for his return ability but is a decent, not great, coverage Nickelback. I think the team will still use him a fair amount throughout the season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Bullard eventually takes over some slot snaps in the near future. Carrington Valentine was the breakout star last summer, and while he did look like a seventh-round rookie at times last season, he still had encouraging snaps that showed promise of being a useful player in the future. As for Corey Ballentine, he was able to beat out 2024 seventh-round pick Kalen King for a roster spot thanks to his experience, but I see him as more of a depth player and wouldn’t be surprised to see King eventually find his way onto the roster later in the season and get snaps.

After a frustrating showing last season from the secondary, I find myself excited to see the new look secondary and especially excited to see the new safety group. While the cornerback room hasn’t changed, I do think the change in scheme will better fit their play styles, and camp performances seem to align with this. With a much-improved safety group and a better-used cornerback room, I think we will see a group that will be making more big plays and being more of a force rather than the doormat they were under, Joe Barry.

Special Teams

This will be the shortest section because I’m not going to pretend I’m a kicking or punting expert. I mostly want to use this section to focus on the kicker position because of the absolute mess of a battle we witnessed between Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph that ultimately led to neither winning the kicker job. The Packers eventually decided to reroll and sign Brayden Narveson from Tennessee off of waivers. Narveson seemed to have a good preseason, converting 6 out of 7 field goal attempts, with his only miss being from 58 yards out and showing off his strong leg. Just from looking at his college kicking stats, while his field goal percentage isn’t encouraging, it’s worth noting that his percentage is being dragged down by most of his misses being from the 50 yards out or further, which is similar to this preseason.

Now, the team will need to count on him hitting kicks from 50 yards out. However, Carlson and Joseph were struggling with 30- and 40-yarders. So, it is still an upgrade. Time will tell how much of an upgrade Narveson is and if he is the long-term solution, but I’m hopeful he will at least be a stopgap for the team this season.

The punting situation is still the same, and while Daniel Whelan isn’t a top punter, he is serviceable and was a dependable holder last season, which was needed with some of the snaps he received. Speaking of those snaps, I’m still a bit surprised the team hasn’t moved on from long-snapper Matt Orzech. I’d be lying if I knew what the long snapper market looked like but Orzech notably struggled to deliver clean snaps throughout all of last season. There, of course, isn’t coverage on long snapper performance during training camp and preseason, but hopefully, Orzech has made improvements.

As for the return game, the team will continue to lean on All-Pro returner Keisean Nixon. We’ll see how the change in kickoff rules impacts him, but he still has very good speed, quickness, and vision that will help him. While the rule changes benefit returners with more size and contact balance, Nixon should still be a steady force as a returner.

Looking Around the Division

Minnesota Vikings

So, we just went through nearly the entire Packers’ 53-man roster. So, let’s take a break and take a quick look around the division to see what their competition is like. Starting with the Minnesota Vikings, I think it’s obvious that the Vikings will be in for another rebuilding season. 

The team was looking to develop rookie first-round quarterback JJ McCarthy during the season, but a torn meniscus placed him on IR for the season. With the team down to Sam Darnold who is attempting a redemption season after struggling throughout his NFL career, I have a hard time believing their offense will be that much of a threat, even with the addition of Aaron Jones. On top of the McCarthy injury, the team will also be without TJ Hockenson for the first part of the season and will need to ensure Jordan Addison is focused on football and has his head in the right place.

Also, while they have a good group of edge rushers with Jonathan Greenard, 2024 first-round pick Dallas Turner, and Andrew Van Ginkel, their interior defenders are weak. While their linebackers are good coverage backers, they don’t really have options that are good run defenders in their front seven. Now, their safeties are good run defenders and are decent in coverage, but they don’t have the range to take away big plays. Also, outside of Byron Murphy, the team doesn’t have that high of quality players at corners, which is promising for the Packers to exploit with their deep receiver room.

Chicago Bears

Shifting to the Chicago Bears, we have a team that is also in a rebuild but may be more ready to compete this year, especially after drafting Caleb Williams first overall in the 2024 draft. A lot of people seem to have opinions on Williams, but the only opinion that truly matters to me is how good of a football player he is. Based on his college film, he was easily my top quarterback in this deep quarterback class and was my top overall player in the class. This was my opinion on him in the pre-draft process, but this sentiment was similar across other evaluators, and it was the opinion of the Bears as well.

After years of trying to build around Justin Fields, the Bears get a fresh start and put together a strong supporting cast that is reminiscent of when Russell Wilson took over as a rookie in Seattle. The team already had DJ Moore but also added Keenan Allen via trade from the Los Angeles Chargers, drafted Rome Odunze ninth overall in the 2024 draft, and signed D’Andre Swift and Gerald Everett in free agency.

The offensive line still has room to grow, especially along the interior, which could be beneficial with the strong Packers interior defenders, but once the team gets their timing and chemistry, I think they could finish the season on fire like the Packers did last season.

As for their defense, it’s a bit of a mixed bag with a weak defensive line outside of Montez Sweat. Their linebackers are good and helped by Wisconsin Badgers legends T.J. Edwards and Jack Sanborn. Their corners are also very strong with Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon and could become really scary if 2023 second-round pick Tyrique Stevenson continues to develop. While their safety group is dependent on 31-year-old Kevin Byard III still being able to be a major contributor, a combination of Byard and Jaquan Brisker will help complete a strong secondary for the team.

Detroit Lions

After being the joke of the division for so many years, the Detroit Lions won their first division title in three decades. They did this on the back of an elite offense led by Jared Goff, who could carve up defenses thanks to the best offensive line in football. Just as the Packers have a lot of weapons, the Lions do as well with one of the best receivers in the NFL in Amon-Ra St. Brown, one of the best up-and-coming in Sam LaPorta, and the best running back tandem in the league in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.

The team’s defense actually has a similar breakdown as the Packers’ defense, with a strong defensive line, a decent but relatively unproven linebacker group, and a strong secondary. It likely goes without saying, but the Lions are clearly the Packers’ biggest threat for a division title. However, as we saw on Thanksgiving, the Packers can not only beat them but can even beat them in Detroit.

As I mentioned before, Joe Barry had a conservative approach to his defense but came out much more aggressive on Thanksgiving with more blitzes, a defensive line that was crashing more, and a secondary that was bumping and playing more aggressively. The recipe to beat Jared Goff and the Lions is putting pressure on Goff, which admittedly is easier said than done. That being said, last year, we saw how much pressure impacted Goff’s play as he finished 22nd in PFF passing grade and 32 in QB rating while under pressure. 

Again, how you get pressure on Goff is the biggest challenge. However, with Hafley’s aggressive scheme and the likely growth of the defensive line, there is a lot of hope that the Packers’ defense can continue to challenge the Lions defense and fight for the division.

What Could Derail Their Season

So, while most of the Packers’ division either improved like the Bears or stayed strong like the Lions, the Packers have made improvements of their own and should stack up well against their division rivals. That being said, what are some things that could be landmines for the team and quickly derail their season?

Obviously, outside of an injury to Jordan Love, I think an injury to Josh Jacobs is a bit of a disaster waiting to happen. With the high rates of injury, especially at the running back position, it feels inevitable that Jacobs will miss at least some time. As I mentioned, the team would likely need to hope MarShawn Lloyd is healthy and holding onto the ball or that Emanuel Wilson can provide a steady presence. Neither are great options for a team looking for their offense to lead them to a Super Bowl run.

The other thing that I think could make things a bit dire is an injury to either Rasheed Walker or Zach Tom. As I mentioned, the team has some decent interior options if Josh Myers or either Jordan Morgan or Sean Rhyan go down with an injury. However, the options at tackle are less inspiring. The team will either need to hope Jordan Morgan can jump in at tackle or their current reserves can get the job done and keep Jordan Love upright. 

Also, an injury to Jaire Alexander could be extremely detrimental for the secondary to be as strong as I’m hoping. The team would then need to put Eric Stokes into the top corner role after being injured and underperforming the past two seasons, which feels like a recipe for disaster. The team could try to get creative and use Bullard as a full-time slot corner to help cover the holes if that were to occur, but I think the team would have a really hard time slowing down teams’ top weapons without Alexander.

Outside of injuries, on the note of cornerbacks, I think Stokes not returning to form could be detrimental to a playoff run. While the team was able to make things work at times without Stokes even in Joe Barry’s defense, it was often by the skin of their teeth. If the team plays a hyper-aggressive approach on defense under Jeff Hafley and Stokes and the other corners behind Alexander struggle to stick to their receivers, I think we will get shades of the Packers’ 2011 defense giving up big play after big play.

Also, I could see the weak linebacker group making it difficult for the defense to reach its full potential. As I mentioned, there is no bonafide stud on the defense, and right now, it is filled with either a lot of great athletes who are still learning the position or bigger body backers who are likely limited to early downs. If the rookie linebackers don’t develop and the team can’t find the right combination of players that give them the best chance of success, it could be very frustrating seeing them waste potential opportunities on defense.

Sticking to defense, I also have concerns that teams will identify the team’s weak run defense and work themselves into short, manageable situations to take the steam out of the defense. With a defense filled with pass-rush specialists and not many run stuffers, it’s going to be hard for the team to slow down the run game, especially with the current group of linebackers. The safeties could provide some help, but that is asking a lot of them to take away the big plays and still find a way to crash on run plays. It will be a difficult balance, but Hafley will need to find the creativity to limit early-down runs and force more third-and-long situations.

Conclusion/Prediction

So, while that last section may have made some fans nervous, I’m still optimistic about the team as a whole. As I mentioned, the offense seems ready to keep clicking, and Jordan Love should be slicing up defenses with his receiving weapons. The run game may take a bit of a step back compared to when Aaron Jones was healthy, but Josh Jacobs will be able to get consistent yards and be a steady force for the offense. Also, the offensive line seems poised to take a step forward with developments from Rasheed Walker, potentially Sean Rhyan, and the additions of Jordan Morgan and Jacob Monk.

The defense has me a bit nervous, but my excitement with the change to a more aggressive scheme overrides my nervousness. The change in the scheme will put both the rushers and corners in better situations to succeed. Also, the new and improved safety room will be a welcomed sight and should go from a major weakness last season to a major strength of the team by season’s end. As I have mentioned throughout, the linebackers make me nervous, but hopefully, they develop throughout the season and prove me wrong.

While I don’t expect the Vikings to be competitive this season, I see the Chicago Bears being more of a headache to deal with. That being said, I still feel the Packers matchup well with them, and the Packers will be able to take care of the Bears if their aggressive defense doesn’t let rookie quarterback Caleb Williams break off big plays. Also, though I see brighter days for the Bears offense ahead, it will take time for the team to reach its potential, and it may not all come together for them this year.

As for the reigning division champions, while beating Detroit for the division is a tough task, it’s a doable one, as last season showed. The biggest battle will come down to the Lions’ offensive line versus the Packers’ defensive front. I trust Jaire Alexander to stick with Amon-Ra St. Brown, but if the Packers’ pass rush doesn’t get to Jared Goff, Alexander won’t be able to stick with him all day and will eventually lose him. So, it will be interesting to see if the new aggressive defense becomes Goff’s kryptonite or if Goff will have time to carve up the defense and the holes that are created.

I’m going to come off as a fanboy, but I do believe the Packers will win the division this season. While it will likely go down to the final week of the season, the Packers have a manageable schedule after their week 14 matchup against Detroit, going to Seattle to face the Seahawks, against the New Orleans Saints at home, going to Minnesota to face the Vikings, and then against the Bears at home. Meanwhile, Detroit follows that week 14 matchups with games against the Buffalo Bills at home, going to Chicago going to San Francisco to face the 49ers, and against the Vikings at home.

With everything under consideration, I see the Packers finishing with a 12-5 record and barely edging out Detroit for the division title. After losing a close game to the eventual NFC Conference winners in the Divisional Round last season, I see the Packers taking the next step and making it to the Conference Championship game. While I have a lot of hope for the team, I still need to see growth from young players and how the linebackers play before trusting that they can beat a team like the 49ers in the playoffs. That being said, the sky's the limit for the team, with Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur orchestrating the offense and the defense potentially having a real pulse again.