Two Packers Selected to ‘Boom-or-Bust Team’

Two members of the Packers, one surprise star and one former star, made the Football Outsiders team.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jul 12, 2022 5:30 PM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Finally getting to the Super Bowl will require more than Aaron Rodgers getting consistent production out of his new-and-not-necessarily-improved cast of receivers.

It’s going to take a strong encore from a surprise star and a bounce-back season from a formerly reliable veteran.

Fitting those descriptions, Football Outsiders’ Mike Tanier selected two members of the Packers to his Boom-or-Bust Team.

One is cornerback Rasul Douglas, who in 2021 wasn’t re-signed by the Carolina Panthers, was released during training camp by the Las Vegas Raiders and Houston Texans, and was languishing on the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad when he was signed by general manager Brian Gutekunst.

Five interceptions and consistently strong coverage during his 12 games got Douglas a three-year contract in free agency.

In presenting a worst-case scenario, Tanier wrote, “Douglas is the big-but-sluggish-and-penalty-prone defender we saw in Philly and Carolina from 2017 to 2020, and the Packers are counting on too many veterans to repeat their career years on defense.”

The second is kicker Mason Crosby, who missed two field-goal attempts in 2019 and zero in 2020 but misfired on a league-worst nine tries in 2021. Crosby was 9-of-13 from 30 to 39 yards, a total of four misses. From 2018 through 2020, Crosby was 26-of-27 from that distance, a total of one miss. Also in 2021, Crosby was 4-of-8 from 40 to 49 yards. From 2017 through 2020, Crosby was 27-of-32 from that distance, a total of five misses.

In presenting a best-case scenario, Tanier wrote, “Only four kickers in history have made more playoff field goals than Crosby. That's the sort of reliability you can bank upon in the NFC Championship Game.”

Crosby is 14th in NFL history in scoring and No. 1 by a wide margin in Packers history. With a couple more hundred-point seasons, he’ll become the eight player in NFL history with 2,000 career points.

One former Packers Pro Bowler made the list, as well.

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Top Six Scorers in Packers History

Mason Crosby has set the bar in terms of scoring in Green Bay Packers history. He’s a whopping 752 points ahead of second-place Ryan Longwell and has more than doubled the scoring total of the legendary Don Hutson.

1. Mason Crosby: 1,806 points

Crosby led the NFL with 141 points as a rookie and has topped 100 points in 14 of his 15 seasons. If he hits his 120-point average, he’ll end the 2022 season with 1,926 points. Only 10 players in NFL history have scored more.

2. Ryan Longwell: 1,054 points

Longwell kicked for the Packers from 1997 through 2005. He topped 100 points in each of his first eight seasons. He closed his career by playing six years for the Vikings and is 20th in NFL history with 1,687 points.

3. Don Hutson: 825 points

Hutson was part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class of 1963. You could argue no player dominated any sport like Hutson dominated the young NFL. When he retired, he had 99 receiving touchdowns – an incredible 63 more than anyone else. For more on Hutson, check out our recent story.

4. Chris Jacke: 820 points

Jacke kicked for the Packers from 1989 through 1996, his final season being the Super Bowl XXXI triumph. He was a first-team All-Pro in 1993, when he made 31-of-37 field-goal attempts – including 6-of-7 from 50-plus yards – and scored a career-high 128 points.

5. Paul Hornung: 760 points

The Hall of Famer played his entire career with the Packers, from 1957 through 1966 (with a one-year suspension for gambling in 1963). He led the NFL in scoring in 1959, 1960 and 1961. In 1960, he scored a then-record 176 points. More than 60 years later, that’s the second-most points in NFL history. LaDainian Tomlinson broke the mark with 186 points in 2006. Tomlinson played in 16 games; Hornung needed only 12.

6. Jim Taylor: 546 points

The Hall of Famer played for the Packers from 1958 through 1966 before finishing with the expansion Saints in 1967. He led the NFL with 16 touchdowns in 1961 and again with 19 touchdowns in 1962, when he won NFL MVP honors. Even today, he ranks 17th in NFL history with 83 career touchdowns.