For Packers to Take Next Step, These Players Must Take Giant Step Forward

The Green Bay Packers were active in free agency this offseason. Well, as active as they could be, that is.

The last two years they were shopping at the top of the free-agent market with the additions of Josh Jacobs, Xavier McKinney, Aaron Banks and Nate Hobbs. Those moves came before the seismic deal for defensive end Micah Parsons, who was greeted with a market-setting contract extension.

Those moves meant the Packers had to be more measured in their approach with free agency this offseason.

They were still active. Benjamin St. Juste, Zaire Franklin and Tyrod Taylor are veterans they brought in either through free agency or trade. They are smaller moves, however, in comparison to the shopping they’ve done the last two seasons.

If the Packers are going to take the jump from seven seed to Super Bowl champion, their improvement is going to have to be organic. They’ll need growth from some of the young players on the roster.

Who these men are, and how they grow into their roles, could be the difference between Super Bowl glory or another disappointing finish as the wheels continue to spin at 1265 Lombardi Ave.

LT Jordan Morgan

Jordan Morgan is finally home. After spending two seasons moving to different spots on the offensive line, the 2024 first-round pick is penciled in as the team’s starter at left tackle.

Morgan is excited, his teammates are excited for him and he had a ringing endorsement from his quarterback.

“J-Mo, since we got back, he’s looked good. He’s put in the work throughout the offseason, just working out, getting that strength right,” Jordan Love said this week at OTAs.

“For him, I think it’ll be great to be able to get him settled in at left tackle. We know he’s bounced around – been at guard, moved around to tackle. For him to be able to settle in and get all these reps throughout the offseason and going into training camp at tackle, it’ll be great for him and just continue to grow and be the best player he can be. I’m excited for him.”

Love might be excited for him, but there’s nobody more excited than Morgan. Morgan would not openly complain about having to move around the offensive line, but he didn’t hide the fact he believes his best position is left tackle.

Now, after two seasons of playing guard and right tackle, struggling with injuries and getting benched, the third-year tackle has a chance to make his mark as Green Bay’s blindside protector.

Green Bay Packers lineman Jordan Morgan (77) clears the way for running back Josh Jacobs (8) against the Bears. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“Yeah, for sure. I got in here expecting myself to play left tackle, but I mean, like I’ve said a lot of times before, I’m a team player. Wherever they needed me to be and to play I’m going to try to do my best at it,” Morgan said this week.

“So playing those other positions for the first time in my life – and I’ve got to play at a professional level – it’s just … I mean, when you’re not good at it, it’s hard on you mentally, obviously. And when you want to be good and you want to be a perfectionist, it’s really hard. So, those first two years, it was a struggle for me, for sure. But, at the end of the day, I’ve got to do it for the team, I’ve got to do for my teammates, just try to do the best I can do.”

The best he can do now is improve on the left tackle play from a season ago. Rasheed Walker had some solid years in Green Bay but struggled at time during his walk year, which hurt the Packers on the field and Walker’s contract on the open market.

Morgan could be an upgrade at that position simply by playing average.

Of course, his job got much harder last week with the Los Angeles Rams adding Myles Garrett to their defensive line. They’ll play the night before Thanksgiving.

The reality with Morgan at this position is the Packers do not have a contingency plan. In the past, they’ve had players like Morgan or Yosh Njiman who had experience to play in the event of an injury.

Now, the Packers don’t have a backup plan now. Darian Kinnard, Zach Tom or Anthony Belton would be the likely candidates to be the next man up in the event that Morgan is injured.

All of those options have obvious warts. Tom played left tackle at Wake Forest in 2020 and 2021, Belton played left tackle at N.C. State from 2022 through 2024 and Kinnard played it a little as a freshman at Kentucky in 2028. Moving Tom and Belton would require musical chairs.

Simply put, Morgan not only has to be available but has to prove able to handle the workload at his natural position.

WR Matthew Golden

Green Bay Packers receiver Matthew Golden (0) runs after the catch to score a touchdown against the Chicago Bears. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The roar from the crowd after Matthew Golden was selected in the first round of the draft in Green Bay reverberated through the grounds outside Lambeau Field.

The hype, however, did not match the substance in Golden’s rookie season.

Whether it was an injury that slowed him down or the four veteran options in front of him after Christian Watson and Jayden Reed returned to the lineup, Golden found himself buried on the depth chart.

When the regular season ended, it looked like Golden’s rookie season was going to end with a whimper. Instead, it ended with a bang. Golden was excellent in the playoff loss to Chicago, scoring his first career touchdown and proving his mettle as a go-to target in big moments.

Golden has been given the runway this offseason to step into a bigger role on offense with the departures of Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks. It would be natural to expect him to step into the role as the top receiving option behind Watson and Reed.

With Golden in his second season, the offense and NFL game should slow down for him.

“The biggest things I learned I would just say obviously now being in the system for a year. I would say the playbook, it’s slowed down a lot,” Golden said this week.

“I would just say patience and obviously just understanding that everything is not going to happen on your time. I wouldn’t take it as a learning lesson. I had a lot of guys around me that was helping me get into the system and just learn some of the things I didn’t know. I feel like we got a great room this year and I feel like sky is the limit.”

If the sky is the limit, Golden is the airplane. He was a first-round pick for a reason, and has the talent to help add to the speed and playmaking ability that Watson and Reed provide.

The “Other” Edge Players

When everyone is healthy, Micah Parsons is going to start across from Lukas Van Ness.

After that? Who knows. Barring an outside addition, which is unlikely at this point of the offseason, the Packers are rolling the dice on a quartet of Brenton Cox, Barryn Sorrell, Collin Oliver and rookie fourth-round pick Dani Dennis-Sutton.

Two stories from Packers star Micah Parsons' 20-minute conversation.

🏈His thoughts on the state of the pass rush with his absence and the lack of a trade for Josh Sweat: https://t.co/PHOHpcFGfW

🏈The timeline isn't maybe what you were hoping it'd be: https://t.co/Pl4ZGiwtdN
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) June 3, 2026

There are reasons to believe in any of those players. Oliver has a different skill-set than most of Green Bay’s edge group. Sorrell and Cox both had productive games in the season finale in 2025, and Cox went on a tear to end 2024. Dennis-Sutton is consistently brought up as Green Bay’s steal of the 2026 draft. Draftniks thought the Packers could pick Dennis-Sutton with their second-round pick and they got him in the fourth round.

The other reality is all of those players are unproven, at best, as NFL players, and Van Ness deserves to be mentioned in this group, as well, as someone who needs to play to his potential.

The Packers’ pass rush was too often reliant on Parsons to save them from opposing offenses.

Parsons is unlikely to be at full strength until November, and the Packers cannot afford to have an absent pass rush for two months of the season hoping that Parsons will save them when he returns.

RB Marshawn Lloyd

Marshawn Lloyd’s career has been two seasons sent directly from hell. He’s been injured for almost the entirety of his NFL career. If you include preseason play, Lloyd has taken less than 50 snaps in two seasons. He played 10 snaps in his only regular-season game, which was in Week 2 of 2024.

Despite the lack of production, the potential is through the roof. Josh Jacobs’ situation is yet to be resolved, and even if it is resolved and he can play, the Packers need a complement to Jacobs that can give them more juice in their run game.

It's been an eventful few weeks for the Packers. Here are some early winners and losers through two weeks of OTAs. ⬇️https://t.co/Vf3fqFwqDE
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) June 4, 2026

Jacobs is a tough runner, but hardly a threat to score from any spot on the field. Lloyd can be that, which is part of the reason the Packers spent a third-round pick on him two years ago.

The key to his career is he’s been unavailable due to a long list of lower-body injuries and an appendectomy. Now, Lloyd thinks he’s healthy and is ready to prove his injuries are behind him.

“Feeling good. Really good. Really good. Really, really good. Running well. Doing everything that I need to do. Listening to everything they’re saying,” Lloyd said this week.

“I have a routine that I have to stay on and stick to. Everyone has a different routine. I might have to do stuff different because of things I’m working on. Everyone doesn’t work on the same thing. So that’s the biggest thing, just staying on my routine, knowing what I need as a player myself and what my body takes, being an explosive player and being able to move, I just have to treat my body the way I need it to be treated.”

If he can prove those injuries are behind him, the Packers’ run game could get a boost for a true old-school thunder-and-lightning approach with Lloyd and Jacobs.

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