Five Training Camp Standouts

The Green Bay Packers have made it through the early portions of training camp.

Usually around this time of camp is when teams get tired of playing against themselves and want to see someone else across from them.

The Packers are at that point. They’ll play the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night after a joint practice on Wednesday.

How much Jordan Love and the starters play remains to be seen.

All eyes are going to be on Love, as they have been since the day the team started practice.

Love is coming off a strong finish to family night where he finished a two-minute drive with a touchdown pass to Christian Watson.

Every pass from Love is going to be under a microscope.

There are, however, other players that have participated in training camp with a few standouts.

Here are five guys that have stood out thus far.

Jaire Alexander

Realistically, both starting cornerbacks could be on this list. Rasul Douglas has had a strong camp as well. Alexander, however, has been a notch above since the day camp started. He has accepted every challenge and looks every bit the player the Packers made the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL last offseason.

It will be interesting to see if the Packers use Alexander more against the opposing team’s best receiver. The Packers didn’t do that much a year ago. They famously did in the team’s Week 17 win over the Minnesota Vikings where Alexander held Justin Jefferson in check.

Alexander isn’t likely to play much in the preseason but has gotten plenty of work against Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. This week in Cincinnati he’ll face one of the best receivers in football in Ja’Marr Chase. His teammate Tee Higgins is no slouch either.

That will be a heavyweight battle.

Alexander’s been up to the task against his own teammates. It’ll be interesting to see what he can do against one of the league’s best tandems.

Devonte Wyatt

Apart from Jordan Love, there may not be a player whose development is more critical to the team than Devonte Wyatt’s.

The Packers’ defensive line is incredibly thin, replacing two starters from a season ago.

Kenny Clark is entrenched as a starter, but he’s surrounded by question marks. Wyatt was the 28th overall pick a season ago.

The Packers have typically shied away from prospects that are older in the first round, which is why it was surprising to see them take Wyatt.

They envisioned another dominant defensive lineman joining their front to take some pressure off Clark. He didn’t play much a season ago, but the lightbulb started to come on at the end of the year, and that’s carried over into camp.

“I feel a lot more comfortable, a lot more confident with plays,” said Wyatt.

“I’m a lot more focused, not much stress. I hit the rookie wall about the beginning of the year but it’s gone now. Now, it’s just time to take that next step.”

So far, Wyatt has taken the next step.

Wyatt has eaten the Packers’ IOL all of camp. Excited to see him against someone else https://t.co/yAVxsaVd2T
— Jacob Westendorf (@JacobWestendorf) August 6, 2023

Romeo Doubs

All the stories that were told about Romeo Doubs’ connection forming with Jordan Love in the offseason were real.

Doubs was the training camp star last season, making plays early in camp. That carried over into the regular season where he was the first rookie to earn the trust of Aaron Rodgers.

A combination of injury and the rookie wall affected Doubs down the stretch of the season. He had six catches for a paltry 56 yards in the team’s final three games of the season. That includes being shut out of a 20-16 season-ending loss at Lambeau Field.

Those days look to be well behind Doubs at this point. He didn’t get a catch on the stat sheet, but Doubs opened some eyes when he ran by Jaire Alexander. Alexander looks like a player primed for an All-Pro caliber season. Had Jordan Love hit Doubs on the route, it would have been a long touchdown.

Doubs has made plays in 1-on-1s and in team drills.

He looks like the player that has the eye of the quarterback.

Perhaps Doubs will be the trusted target that a young quarterback can lean on as he gets his feet wet.

Jayden Reed

Coming into training camp there seemed to be a clear-cut top two in the Packers’ receiver room. Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs were the team’s top returning receivers from a season ago.

Samori Toure was the team’s other returning receiver. He had a nice start to the offseason program and had a leg up to be the team’s third receiver with his knowledge of the playbook.

Reed has been with the starting group when the team goes with three receivers. He’s made some plays down the field.

There have been rookie mistakes, but that is to be expected for a young receiver. The big plays have outweighed the mistakes to date.

Once he’s able to stop thinking and start reacting, the Packers should have a true threat once the ball is in his hands.

In addition, Reed looks like the early favorite to be the team’s punt returner. He looks comfortable and should be able to take those duties from Keisean Nixon, who should have more on his plate in 2023.

Luke Musgrave

Rounding out the trio of young pass catchers, Musgrave is the one that looks like he’s going to get the most playing time early in the season. The Packers let Marcedes Lewis walk. They let Robert Tonyan walk.

They didn’t sign any veterans in free agency. They’re going young. Musgrave has appeared with the starters in team drills since camp began. The team clearly likes what his skillset can bring to the offense. Matt LaFleur told Tom Pelissero in an interview with NFL Network that Musgrave is the fastest man in camp.

From Inside Training Camp: My interview with #Packers coach Matt LaFleur, who talks expectations for Jordan Love, the high upside of Christian Watson and the fastest man in camp — 6-6, 253-pound rookie TE Luke Musgrave. pic.twitter.com/x7OtQQeOn2
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 3, 2023

Musgrave made a splash play in the two-minute drill on Family Night. It’s hard to say without live tackling how the play would have finished, but Musgrave could have scored on the play by making one man miss. Officially, it was a 30-yard completion. With the Packers emphasizing attacking the middle of the field during training camp, Musgrave’s speed will be needed to attack that part of the field.

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Watch: Thursday practice video, including 61-yard field goal

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