Five Overreactions Following Packers Preseason
GREEN BAY, Wis. – A new era will officially begin on Sept. 10 when Jordan Love leads the Green Bay Packers into a Week 1 showdown at the Chicago Bears.
From 2008 through 2022, Aaron Rodgers owned the Bears. Rodgers knew it. The Bears knew it. Everyone knew it.
Imagine if Love throws for 250 yards and three touchdowns and makes a few big plays down the stretch to lead the Packers to victory in the opener.
Now, imagine if Love and that young passing game grow by the week. After back-to-back road games against Chicago and Atlanta to open the season, the Packers will host New Orleans and Detroit before visiting Las Vegas. After the bye, it’s a game at Denver followed by home games against Minnesota and the Rams.
Of those eight games, only the Vikings reached the playoffs last season. That game will be played at Lambeau Field. Looking at the over/under win totals at FanDuel Sportsbook, only the Saints and Lions are projected to finish over .500 this year, and those games are at Lambeau, as well.
Given how Love and the defense played this summer, those are eight winnable games. No, the Packers probably aren’t going to start 8-0. But 6-2 isn’t far-fetched. Heck, with a good bounce here and there, why not 7-1?
If that weekly growth happens, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t, the Packers could crush expectations and be a dangerous team headed into the second half of the season.
Here are four more overreactions.
Jordan Love Could Flourish
In his first season as Green Bay’s starter, Aaron Rodgers in 2008 threw for 4,038 yards and 28 touchdowns. Add in rushing yards, he finished with 4,245 total yards and 32 touchdowns. With a 17-game season, Love would beat those numbers by putting up 250 total yards and two touchdowns per game.
The passing attack, of course, is incredibly young. Second-year receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, rookie receiver Jayden Reed and rookie tight end Luke Musgrave will be the main targets. Critically, general manager Brian Gutekunst has done well to surround Love with proven talent on the offensive line and in the backfield.
Love started slowly in every preseason game before getting rolling. Until he shows he can beat some real defenses, nobody knows if he is going to be good or great this year, but he’s shown enough this summer that he shouldn’t be terrible. His pocket presence has been surprisingly good, and his athleticism is about to be unleashed. If he can dial in the long ball, Love will do more than survive. He’ll thrive.
“I’m confident in the offense,” Love said. “I think when we get to being consistent, hitting on all our big plays, I think we’re going to be tough to stop.”
Draft Picks Kick-Start New Era
Gutekunst might have crushed this year’s draft, which should accelerate the Packers into the Love era.
While first-round pick Lukas Van Ness might be brought along slowly, not unlike Rashan Gary in 2019, the two second-round picks, tight end Luke Musgrave and receiver Jayden Reed, look like instant studs. All they did during training camp was make plays every day.
In Packers history, Sterling Sharpe holds the franchise rookie record with 55 receptions. Reed could approach that number. Bubba Franks holds the franchise rookie record by a tight end with 34 receptions. Musgrave could obliterate that number.
Third-round tight end Tucker Kraft has shown some potential. Day 3 defensive linemen Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks will provide quality depth. Sixth-round kicker Anders Carlson will have the Packers on the brink of field-goal range every time they cross midfield. Running with the 1s throughout the preseason, seventh-round cornerback Carrington Valentine looks like a future starter – maybe even a really good starter.
It appears they found a quality backup quarterback in Sean Clifford in the fifth round, and fifth-round receiver Dontayvion Wicks, seventh-round receiver Grant DuBose and seventh-round safety Anthony Johnson look like eventual contributors, as well.
Comeback Player of the Year Runner-Up
Rashan Gary looks ready for the Bears
(Wm Glasheen/USA Today Sports Images)
Safety Damar Hamlin, who nearly died last season, is back on the field for the Bills. Of course he’ll win Comeback Player of the Year, as he should. Packers outside linebacker Rashan Gary is barely a consideration at sportsbooks; he has the longest odds on the board at SI Sportsbook.
Whatever. Gary was a one-man wrecking crew at training camp last week. In his first live practice, he beat Zach Tom. In his second practice, he threw Tom to the turf and flexed in celebration. In his third practice, he might have had three sacks in his first 10 snaps.
ACL comebacks are fickle. More often than not, it takes one year to return to action and another year to return to peak performance. Gary might have fast-forwarded through his comeback. By the end of the season, Gary will be on the short list of challengers to Hamlin.
Secondary Concern
While there’s been a lot of focus on safety, slot corner could be a troublesome spot, as well.
Reed got the better of Keisean Nixon more often than not in training camp. Maybe that’s because Reed is going to be an unstoppable force, perhaps even better than vintage Randall Cobb. Or, maybe Nixon’s not quite good enough to be a starting defensive back.
The Packers are in an odd spot. They’ve got a lot of good corners. Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas are a strong tandem at corner. Valentine never looked out of place. At some point, Eric Stokes, who had an All-Rookie-caliber season in 2021, will be back in the lineup.
However, if Nixon struggles, what’s Plan B at the nickel spot? Douglas struggled in the slot last year. The Packers have been reluctant to move Alexander to the slot. He didn’t take more than a few snaps there this summer, though he’s obviously got the skill-set. As it stands, the Packers have put a lot of eggs in Nixon’s basket. With a lot of high-caliber slot receivers on the schedule, the play of Nixon will be critical.
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