Updating Three Biggest Needs for Green Bay Packers in 2024
With the 2023 NFL season just past its halfway point and the Green Bay Packers scuffling along at 3-6, their team needs for next season have begun to crystallize.
When the Packers traded Aaron Rodgers, they knew that the offense would take some time to find its footing. They would have been foolish to think otherwise. As the offense worked out the kinks, they hoped the defense would be able to carry the load.
The defense has been inconsistent and is about ready to face a gauntlet of top-tier offenses. The offense has been inconsistent, as well, and borderline incompetent depending on the week.
A few weeks back, we started to look ahead to the offseason, wondering what needs have emerged for the Packers for 2024.
With more data, the information has changed.
The Packers have more needs than the ones along the offensive line and at receiver, which we pointed to the last time we did this exercise. While those areas remain needs, let’s focus on a few different spots the Packers could look to upgrade when the offseason hits.
Quarterback
There is potential for some controversy with listing this position as a need.
Jordan Love has played better recently, but there are fair questions as to whether he is the long-term answer for the Packers.
The team is 3-6 and the offense is in the bottom third of the league in scoring.
Not all of those things are his fault. The offensive line around him has been in shambles, the run game has not lived up to its billing and his best receivers have been rookies.
Jordan Love under pressure
Photo by Philip G. Pavely/USA Today Sports Images
That being said, if this season continues to spiral and the Packers are in a position to grab one of the top prospects, perhaps they'll elect to look at making a change at quarterback for the second consecutive season.
Love is under contract for one more season after a one-year extension in the offseason served as a compromise on his fifth-year option.
The reality is that teams don't often operate with a quarterback on an expiring contract. That's one of the reasons Love got the contract he did this offseason.
Love can answer all these questions on his own by playing well and helping guide the Packers to a respectable record.
Free Agent: None
Signing a quarterback in free agency has worked for teams like Denver and Tampa Bay, when Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were available.
Those teams were a quarterback away from winning a championship. There is almost no scenario in which that type of situation will present itself in Green Bay.
Furthermore, the best available free-agent quarterback will be Kirk Cousins. Cousins is better than what he gets credit for, but not someone the Packers should be looking at as the final piece of a championship puzzle.
Draft Prospect: Jayden Daniels, LSU
North Carolina's Drake Maye and USC's Caleb Williams are the consensus top quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft class.
If the Packers are in position to draft either, that should be a no-brainer.
If they're not, there's a question about who is the third-best quarterback prospect.
One intriguing player is LSU's Jayden Daniels.
Daniels transferred from Arizona State to LSU a season ago and has shined as bright as any of the stars in college football.
This past Saturday against Florida, Daniels piled up a whopping 606 total yards against the Gators.
He can beat you with his arm or his legs. That athleticism and his big arm could be tantalizing if the Packers aren't sold on Love.
Defensive Tackle
You'll never guess what team leads the league in games of more than 200 rushing yards surrendered.
Yes, it's the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers' experiment of adding smaller defensive linemen to their front has yet to yield consistently strong results.
Despite using a first-round pick on Devonte Wyatt in 2022 and two more picks this past draft, their run defense is still at the bottom of the league.
Free Agent: Michael Pierce, Baltimore Ravens
The Packers spent all offseason talking about how things would be different in the run game, where they are the worst in football under the stewardship of Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur.
One way to fix that could be adding Baltimore's Michael Pierce.
Devonte Wyatt chases down Jimmy Garoppolo
Photo by Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports Images
After letting Dean Lowry and Jarran Reed leave in free agency, the Packers added Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks with Day 3 picks in the 2023 draft. They hoped by adding those two and giving Wyatt more playing time, they’d be able to fix their chronically porous run defense.
The problem is all three players are better pass rushers than they are run-stoppers.
Pierce would add someone else to the defensive front willing to play against the run.
Draft Prospect: Kris Jenkins, Michigan
Kris Jenkins should be familiar with Green Bay as the nephew of Cullen Jenkins, who was a key part to a defensive line that helped the Packers win the Super Bowl in 2010.
Kris Jenkins is not just a product of nepotism, however. He's one of the leaders of a Michigan defense that leads the country in points allowed per game.
Nicknamed "The Mutant," Jenkins uses his freakishly long arms to separate from blockers and make plays in the backfield.
Jenkins is a balanced defense lineman, playing well in both the run and pass game. The Packers could use more players like that on their defensive front, where they have too many guys that are one-dimensional.
Running Back
AJ Dillon is starting to play better after a tough start to the season, but likely has not earned a second contract to this point.
Aaron Jones is starting to show signs of age, and the Packers could choose to move on from him to save money against the salary cap.
Aaron Jones breaks a big run
Photo by Wm Glasheen/USA Today Sports Images
Emanuel Wilson has not played much outside of garbage time.
Unlike when the Packers drafted Dillon in 2020, there is no heir to the running back throne, which means the Packers almost certainly will have to add at least one player to this position.
Free Agent: Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
No, this is not likely to happen.
However, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported the Packers were in the market for a running back around the trade deadline.
Before the season began, they reportedly explored acquiring Indianapolis Colts star Jonathan Taylor, the University of Wisconsin legend.
How serious they were in either pursuit is anyone's guess, but perhaps the Packers would want to go big-game hunting.
Barkley has health issues but would be an instant upgrade as both a runner and receiver out of the backfield.
Draft Prospect: Donovan Edwards, Michigan
Donovan Edwards' biggest game came a season ago in Columbus against the Ohio State Buckeyes, when he had two runs of 75 yards or longer to help Michigan win 45-23 over their heated rivals.
The backup to prolific Blake Corum, Edwards rushed for 991 yards last season and has 24 catches this season.
Edwards' skill-set is perfect for the modern NFL. He can line up in the backfield or as a receiver. He has experience in a pro-style offense and has been asked to pass protect.
That could shorten the learning curve for him and allow him to get on the field immediately.
