Green Bay Packers Unit Report Cards: Grades After 2024 Season

The Green Bay Packers finished 11-6 in the regular season before a one-and-done postseason. Here are our unit-by-unit grades.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) carries a turkey back to the locker room after beating the Dolphins on Thanksgiving night. / Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – A season that started with Super Bowl aspirations ended with a one-and-done whimper by the Green Bay Packers.

It was a wasted season, with the Packers going 0-6 against the NFC’s top regular-season teams and failing to take advantage of the flaws of the Lions (ridiculous number of injuries to their defense) and Vikings (offensive line).

Here are our positional report cards, with a coaching and personnel report card coming separately and our annual player grades publishing throughout the week.

Passing Offense

Those aforementioned Super Bowl aspirations started with Jordan Love and the passing attack. General manager Brian Gutekunst wanted that young group to grow together, and they hit their stride down the stretch in 2023.

However, that progress stalled in 2024.

Of 32 quarterbacks with at least 300 dropbacks, Love finished with a 25th-ranked completion rate of 63.1 percent. That was the worst for any quarterback for a team that finished with a winning record. His completion percentage and passer rating were right about where he finished in 2023. Per attempt, his yardage was up but so were his interceptions.

Yes, injuries impacted his play. The knee injury sustained in Week 1 against the Eagles not only sidelined him for two games but limited his practice time, as well. A groin injury before the bye impacted him in the loss to the Lions before the bye.

Yes, the offensive line – despite the superb sack rate – impacted things, too. In 2023, Love faced the third-lowest pressure rate, according to Pro Football Focus. This year, it was 14th. He was under siege throughout the playoff loss to the Eagles, even with Philly coordinator Vic Fangio blitzing just once.

Yes, the pass-catchers weren’t especially helpful. According to PFF, receivers dropped 8.2 percent of Love’s catchable passes in 2024, the fourth-highest mark out of 32 qualifying passers. In 2023, it was 6.1 percent for the 18th-highest rate.

Ultimately, the receiver corps was overrated. That was especially true when one of them was out of the lineup. It was like a house of cards when Romeo Doubs, the superb route-runner and third-down target, or Christian Watson, the big-play threat, was sidelined. Watson’s probably going to miss the first half of next season, so that’s a big issue when looking ahead to 2025.

With or without Watson, part of the solution has to be getting the ball more to receiver Jayden Reed and tight end Tucker Kraft.

Too often, the passing game was all or nothing. Even with Love missing about two-and-a-half games and the end-of-season struggles, the Packers finished fourth with 59 passes of 20-plus yards.

Because of those big plays, it was easy at times. The Packers had the third-fewest third-down plays this season. It was like a baseball team putting together a four-run rally on the strength of three doubles and a home run. At other times, it was the equivalent of three power hitters swinging and missing on nine consecutive pitches for a one-two-three inning. Love’s strikeouts too often came on a ball in the dirt and a too-high fastball.  

Looking ahead, Love must take the step forward that he didn’t take in 2024. That is undeniable. After five consecutive games with 100 passer ratings, Love during the final three regular-season games ranked 20th in passer rating and 25th in completion percentage. Then, in the playoffs, he completed 60.6 percent of his passes with a 41.5 rating against the Eagles.

It takes all 11. And it takes coaching. Everyone must be better by September.

Grade: C.

Rushing Offense

Every veteran running back that gets a big contract from now through about 2030 should send thank-you notes to Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst last offseason released Aaron Jones and signed Jacobs. As great as Love was down the stretch last year, it was all jump-started by the return of a healthy Jones.

Jacobs, meanwhile, was coming off an unproductive season with the Raiders.

He was tremendous with the Packers, though, just like Henry was in switching from the Titans to the Ravens and Barkley from the Giants to the Eagles. Jacobs finished sixth with 1,329 rushing yards. He finished third in yards after contact, fourth in broken tackles and sixth in 10-yard runs.

Jacobs’ power, physicality and durability changed the offense. The Packers ran the ball on 50.7 percent of their offensive snaps, the third-highest percentage behind the Eagles and Ravens, both of whom feature running quarterbacks. In 2023, the Packers ran the ball 43.0 percent of the time; the highest of the coach Matt LaFleur era was 43.8 percent in 2020.

To be sure, everyone did their part in Jacobs’ big season. Mostly, though, it was Jacobs. Of 46 running backs with 100-plus carries, Jacobs finished 20th in yards per attempt overall but eighth in yards after contact per carry. In the playoff loss to the Eagles, he forced a season-high 12 missed tackles and 75 of his 81 yards came after contact.

Jacobs was tied for fifth among backs with four fumbles, and he put it on the ground again against the Eagles. He struggled in pass protection, especially in the first half of the season. Otherwise, though, he was phenomenal in every way.

With MarShawn Lloyd’s incredible string of injuries and misfortune, Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks provided quality depth. Wilson actually beat Jacobs in missed-tackle rate.

When the Packers needed to gain yards, their best bet was running behind right tackle Zach Tom and right guard Sean Rhyan. The Packers finished fourth in yards per carry behind right guard, eighth behind right tackle and seventh around right end, according to league data.

Grade: A-minus

Passing Defense

The pass defense had issues.

The pass rush was hot and cold. The team’s best pass rushers were supposed to be Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark. Gary led the team in sacks and somehow made his first Pro Bowl team but never was one of those “creatures” that Matt LaFleur likes to talk about. Clark? His biggest impact was on the salary cap. Former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness? He’s on the team.

In the secondary, Jaire Alexander barely played. Again. The secondary went from Alexander and Eric Stokes as its primary cornerbacks in Week 1 against the Eagles to Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine for the playoff rematch.

From the salary cap and key free agents to draft capital and fifth-year options, here is everything you need to know as the #Packers enter the offseason. ⬇️https://t.co/ouwMqk3qcq

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 16, 2025

Imagine lining up with a lackluster pass rush and makeshift secondary and finishing ninth in opponent passer rating. That’s what the Packers did under first-year coordinator Jeff Hafley.

For all the warts, the Packers’ pass defense generally was good enough. While Green Bay was a woeful 25th in completion percentage, it was third in interceptions, seventh in yards per completion, eighth in sacks and 11th in yards per attempt.

You can’t possibly exaggerate the impact made by safety Xavier McKinney. He finished second in the NFL with eight interceptions, which is one more than the Packers had in total in 2023. McKinney made big plays, didn’t give up big plays and tackled with efficiency. He led by word and by deed. He is a face-of-the-franchise type of player.

With McKinney playing a starring role, Hafley did a tremendous job of turning lemons into lemonade.

While the Packers were 15th with 48 completions allowed of 20-plus yards, they were first with just one completion of 40-plus yards. And that came during Week 1 against the Eagles.

Officially, Hafley didn’t blitz much – Green Bay had the second-lowest blitz rate – but his creativity meant 11 players had at least two sacks.

In the grand scheme of things, Green Bay’s pass defense was a strength. In NFC North losses at Detroit and Minnesota, though, the Packers were destroyed by Jared Goff and Sam Darnold.

Ultimately, smoke and mirrors only get you so far. It’s hard to believe the Packers will enter another offseason needing pass rushers and cornerbacks, but here we are.

Grade: B-minus.

Rushing Defense

In the first five seasons under coach Matt LaFleur, the Packers ranked last in the NFL with 4.66 yards allowed per carry. Those teams allowed the 10th-most 10-yard runs.

In 2024, they finished third with 3.96 yards allowed per carry and yielded the ninth-fewest 10-yard runs.

While defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich was fired because of his unit’s lackluster pass rush, his group got after it against the run.

The linebackers, led by new position coach Anthony Campanile and boosted by second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper, played fast and physically. Cooper played the fewest snaps of the linebackers but led the team with 14 stuffs (a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage vs. the run). Kenny Clark, Quay Walker and Eric Wilson were next with 10.

The emergence of Cooper and defensive end Brenton Cox were huge. A healthy inactive for the first nine games, the trade of Preston Smith got Cox into the lineup. Per snap, the run defense was 0.66 yards better with Cox on the field – best among the team’s regular defenders. Wilson was next at 0.58 and defensive tackle TJ Slaton was third at 0.50.

After allowing 179 rushing yards in the game after the bye at Chicago, the Packers allowed 44 yards against the 49ers, 39 yards against the Dolphins, 111 yards against the Lions, 80 yards against the Saints, 67 yards against the Vikings and 83 yards against the Bears to wrap up the season. In the playoff loss against the Eagles, Saquon Barkley had less than 100 yards until the final 2 minutes.

Grade: B-plus.

Special Teams

Someday, the Packers will have good special teams.

At some point, even if it’s through sheer randomness or good fortune, the Packers will put it all together on the kicking units.

This, of course, was not that season. The kickoff coverage was fantastic. The return units made no impact. Brandon McManus rescued the field-goal unit. Daniel Whelan is a legit weapon as a punter.

By unit, here are the rankings:

Kickoff return: 19th with an average starting point of the 29.5-yard line. Nixon returned 18 kickoffs with a long of 43 yards. Over the last 25 regular-season games, that is his one and only return of 40-plus yards.

Kickoff coverage: Second with an average opponent starting point of the 28.8-yard line. The Packers allowed a long return of 42 yards.

Punting: Daniel Whelan finished 26th with a net average of 40.2 yards. The punt-return touchdown in Week 18 against the Bears didn’t help; he was 13th with a 42.1-yard net through Week 17.

Opponent punting: 27th with an opponent net average of 43.0 yards. Nixon had a 39-yard punt return; Jayden Reed, however, averaged just 7.8 yards per return with a long of 16.

Field goals: Of 31 kickers with at least 20 attempts, Brandon McManus made 20-of-21 field-goal attempts, a second-ranked 95.8 percent success rate that included a few big-time kicks. He also made all 30 extra points. Overall, weighed down by Brayden Narveon's struggles to start the season, the Packers were 18th in field-goal percentage (84.2). That can't be ignored in the final grade.

If you’re not going to have an explosive, field-flipping special teams, the goal should be to not lose the game. Rich Bisaccia’s unit allowed a punt-return touchdown in Week 18 and Nixon fumbled – controversially, yes – to start the playoff game against the Eagles.

Grade: D-plus.

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You can't be the best team in the NFL with a mediocre quarterback. Doesn’t mean Jordan Love is destined for mediocrity, but 2024 wasn’t good enough.

On the #Packers and their place in the NFC. https://t.co/UNeAILfNU3

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 19, 2025

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