25 Packers Storylines With 25 Days Until Training Camp

On July 23, exactly 25 days from today, the Green Bay Packers will hold their first training camp practice of the season.

Giving football to the nation after time off is like giving a starving man a steak dinner. We as a society love football, and something as simple as non-padded practices are dissected with a fine-tooth comb.

The Packers have high expectations coming into the season after failing to meet them a season ago. An 11-6 record with a playoff appearance might work in some places, but not for a franchise who has the trophy named after its most famous coach.

With 25 days until the first practice, here are 25 storylines to pay attention to.

25: Where’s Elgton Jenkins?

Elgton Jenkins opted not to show up for the team’s voluntary workouts and did not practice during the mandatory minicamp. As reported by Channel 3000’s Jason Wilde, Jenkins wants his contract adjusted in the wake of his move from left guard to center.

Will Jenkins hold out? Will it be a situation like last year with Jordan Love, where he is at practice but does not participate? Getting that situation ironed out early would be beneficial to Green Bay’s offense.

24: Division Issues

The Packers have typically dominated the NFC North since Brett Favre took over at quarterback. That run of dominance continued with Aaron Rodgers. It came to a screeching halt last season.

The Packers went 0-2 against both Minnesota and Detroit. They were a fingertip away from going 0-2 against Chicago, as well, with the Bears snapping an 11-game winning streak against their oldest rivals on the final day of the regular season.

If the Packers are going to get back on top, they need to start by beating the teams in their division.

23: New Policy?

There will be a new man in charge of the Green Bay Packers. With Mark Murphy set to retire at the team’s annual shareholders meeting in July, Ed Policy will take over as president and CEO.

How much will that change the football side of the organization? Who knows. During a recent interview with beat reporters, Policy said he would not talk about new contracts for coach Matt LaFleur or general manager Brian Gutekunst until after this season.

Those two are not on the hot seat, but could a bad season push Policy in the direction of trying to hire his own men in those positions?

22: Golden Receiver

Matthew Golden will be someone who garners plenty of attention in his first NFL training camp.

Golden has an opportunity to win a job and become an impact player as a rookie. Green Bay’s receiver room should be a fierce competition, but Golden is likely to be at the forefront of it. His speed cannot be taught and is something the offense desperately needs.

How quickly Golden learns the playbook could determine how fast he is on the field for a significant number of snaps.

21: Hobbs’ Home?

Nate Hobbs was the big offseason acquisition on defense. On Day 1 of free agency, the Packers signed the former Raiders cornerback to a $48 million deal over four years.

Where he lines up is of the most intrigue early in camp. The Packers will presumably have him as a starter on the boundary in their base defense, but he has excelled in the slot over his young career.

When the Packers move to their nickel package, it will be interesting to see if Hobbs moves inside or if last year’s second-round pick Javon Bullard, who manned that role for most of last season, gets the nod.

20: Isaiah Simmons

The eighth pick of the 2020 draft, Isaiah Simmons certainly looks the part. His size and speed combination is undeniable. That, so far, has not translated to lasting success on the field.

As Simmons suits up for his third team in four years, he believes being able to focus on playing linebacker will give him a chance to get good at one thing instead of being asked to play a lot of roles, as was the case for the Cardinals and Giants.

It will be interesting to see if Simmons earns a role on defense, special teams or even makes the roster with some of the competition set to take place on that side of the ball.

19: Lukas Van Ness

Speaking of players who look the part, Lukas Van Ness certainly does. The “Hercules” moniker has yet to translate to the field, though. Van Ness is coming off a disappointing season in which he finished with three sacks and did not start even after Preston Smith was traded to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline.

Van Ness was the starter across from Rashan Gary during the offseason program, and the team needs him to take a big step if it wants to rush the quarterback with its front four.

18: Edgerrin Cooper

There may not be a player who garners more excitement than Green Bay’s second-year linebacker. Edgerrin Cooper only started four games last offseason due to a slew of injuries early in the year. When he was on the field, however, his impact was undeniable.

Now with a full NFL season under his belt, Cooper should be one of the team’s unquestioned starters at linebacker next to Quay Walker. Those two together form one of the most athletic tandems in the middle of a defense across all of football.

After bulking up to more than 240 pounds, Cooper is one of the prime candidates for a breakout season.

17: Josh Jacobs

Jacobs was a godsend to Green Bay’s offense after coming over from the Raiders in free agency to replace Aaron Jones.

Jacobs had arguably the best season of his career and was the Packers’ best player by the time the season ended. The question this year will be if the Packers choose to limit his workload a little more to keep him fresh for the stretch of the season, but that was not an issue last year. Our next point will be important in taking some of the strain off Jacobs’ back.

16: Second Running back?

Is Marshawn Lloyd healthy? That’s a big question coming into the camp. Lloyd’s rookie season was a nightmare. He played in only one game due to injuries and an appendectomy. Before the season ended, he met with specialists in Madison to help get a handle on the hamstring issues that plagued him in his first year.

When he was on the field, the explosiveness was evident. Having a potential home run hitter in the backfield could help the Packers in the passing game as well as spelling Josh Jacobs. He’ll have some competition with Emanuel Wilson, who has filled in more than admirably each of the last two years.

15: Devonte Wyatt’s Breakout

A few of Green Bay’s former first-round picks are facing big years. Devonte Wyatt is chief among them.

Wyatt has been identified by Brian Gutekunst as someone the Packers want to keep around for the foreseeable future.

Wyatt was as disruptive as they come last year when he was healthy, but an ankle injury ruined his great start and kept him largely silent for a big chunk of the season. Wyatt having a big season in the middle of their defense would go a long way toward making them better than they were a season ago.

14: Be My Valentine?

Yes, Keisean Nixon and Nate Hobbs are likely to start in the base defense, but Carrington Valentine is someone who saw his arrow pointing upward by the end of last season. He finished the regular season with turnovers in four consecutive games.

Valentine may not start, but he has the skills to be a good cover corner. As the Packers have learned, there’s no such thing as too many of those.

Could Valentine steal a spot from Nixon? If nothing else, he could help the team feel really good about its trio of cornerbacks when they go to their nickel package.

13: Championship Drought

The Packers have 13 world championships. That drought has now reached 14 years, with their last title coming in Super Bowl XLV in February 2011.

They’ve been on the cusp, with two NFC Championship Game appearances in the last six years. This, however, is Titletown, not a city that is content with simply making the playoffs. The Packers have talked a lot about making a run to the Super Bowl. With Matt LaFleur entering his seventh season as head coach, he is running out of time to make that happen.

12: 12 Personnel?

How much 12 personnel – one back and two tight ends – are the Packers going to use? Remember Luke Musgrave and how excited the coaching staff sounded for him when they drafted him?

They’ve talked about him a lot this offseason. His ability to stretch the field from the tight end position could make it tempting for the Packers to line up with two tight ends more often than they did a season ago.

They want to emphasize getting Tucker Kraft the ball, as well, and this personnel grouping is a good way to do that.

11. 11 Personnel?

What happens when the Packers are in must-pass situations? They’ll likely have three receivers on the field, if not more.

Will they line up with one back, one tight end and three receivers – 11 personnel – or will they put tight end Tucker Kraft on the sideline in favor of a fourth receiver?

Who plays when the Packers are in must-pass situations will be the earliest indication of how Green Bay feels about the pecking order in its receiver room.

10: Opening Week

Can you make a statement in the first game of the regular season? Who knows. The Packers made one in Matt LaFleur’s first game as coach with a 10-3 win over the Bears to kick off the 2019 season.

This year, they’ll face the Detroit Lions, who have won six of the last seven matchups, including three in a row at Lambeau Field.

With all the questions surrounding their issues against top teams, a big win at home in the first game of the season would go a long way to quieting some of those concerns.

9: Christian Watson’s Recovery

If you didn’t know Christian Watson tore his ACL in January, you may not know he was injured at all.

During the team’s offseason program, he sprinted up and down the sideline. Then, he posted this video to his Instagram.

Watson is likely to begin the season on the PUP list, but his return is worth monitoring. The Packers are better when Watson is on the field, and he could give them another boost on offense for the stretch run of the season.

8: Special Teams Stability?

Rich Bisaccia is entering his fourth year as the team’s special teams coordinator. It’s the first year he’ll have the same kicker to start the season as he had to end the season.

Brandon McManus only missed two kicks last year and provided stability to a position in which three young kickers tried but failed to adequately replace Mason Crosby. The Packers signed McManus early last season and re-signed him in free agency.

The Packers hope the kicking issues are behind them and they can focus on their coverage units, which were embarrassed in their final regular season game against the Bears.

7: Safety Dance

Xavier McKinney is going to start. We knew that. Who is starting next to him?

That’s unclear.

Evan Williams and Javon Bullard should be one of the fiercest battles of training camp. Bullard, a second-round pick last year, started early in the year before giving way to Williams, a fourth-round pick last year who earned All-Rookie honors. Both players were hobbled by injuries down the stretch; Bullard was limited during the offseason practices.

6: Tucker Kraft

After ranking 18th among tight ends in receptions but seventh in yards, the Packers want to feature Kraft in a way similar to George Kittle in San Francisco.

Reports were similar in 2010 when the Packers clearly built their offense around Jermichael Finley before he was lost for the season with an injury. Kraft should be one of the big players to watch in camp.

5: Who Plays Left Tackle?

Rasheed Walker’s job as the starting left tackle apparently will never be set in stone. Despite filling in for David Bakhtiari for most of the last two years, Jordan Morgan will be competing for that job, as well.

Walker got most of the reps during OTAs. With Walker sidelined for minicamp, Morgan took all of the reps.

Morgan played left tackle at Arizona but all his snaps during training camp, the preseason and regular season came at guard. The Packers have insisted from the day he was drafted that he can play left tackle. We’ll find out in August.

4: Contract Extensions?

Right tackle Zach Tom appears to be in line for getting a contract extension, but he is not alone.

Devonte Wyatt, Quay Walker, Rasheed Walker, Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson are just a few names of players who are entering their final season under contract and could be in the discussion for extensions.

Wyatt and Walker were named by Gutekunst as players they want to keep around for the future. Last year, the Packers got contracts done with Kenny Clark and Jordan Love before the season began. Will we see another deal or two to lock in a core player?

3: The League’s Elite?

Philadelphia. Minnesota. Detroit.

Those three teams account for six of Green Bay’s seven losses a season ago. They were the three best teams in the NFC.

You don’t get a chance to win a championship by beating teams at the top of the NFL Draft order. That’s done on the field against the league’s best.

Green Bay will play all three of those teams again this year, and all three figure to be at the top of the conference. Those will be games to keep a close eye on to see if the Packers have grown from last season’s issues against the league’s best.

2: Jordan Love

Will the real Jordan Love please stand up?

Is he the feast-or-famine player that he was to start the 2023 season? Is he the quarterback who set the league on fire to finish the 2023 season? Is he the checkdown merchant that finished the 2024 season?

How much of what he was doing last year was affected by injury? How much of what plagued the passing game was on the receivers instead of him?

There are so many questions to answer.

One thing is clear: The Packers need Love to play at an elite level to win a championship. He’s proven able to provide glimpses of that. Can he sustain it?

No. 1: Master vs. Apprentice

The biggest storyline of the year is the matchup between Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers against Jordan Love and the Packers.

The last time Green Bay was in this situation, they split four games against Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. Favre got the upper hand in each of the first two games, smoking the Packers twice in 2009. The Packers, however, got the last laugh, winning a nailbiter in Green Bay before blowing Minnesota away at the Metrodome in 2010. The Packers, of course, would win the Super Bowl that season.

Rodgers is not playing for a rival, but you can guarantee that chip on his shoulder that has become a trademark of his career will be there when he faces his former team.

The schedule-makers knew what they were doing as they made us wait until October to see the two teams clash on Sunday Night Football.