Packers Stock Report: Three Players Rising, Three Players Falling Before Week 2

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, which is old news. It’s time to move full speed ahead into this week’s game at the New York Jets.

Here’s a stock report from the Minnesota game and what it means going forward into this must-win game.

Stock Up: Starting Cornerbacks

After training camp, Keisean Nixon and Brandon Cisse emerged as the team’s starting cornerbacks. They faced a big-time challenge in the opener against Minnesota’s elite trio of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings.

Jefferson had a vintage day with eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. However, Addison had zero catches on two targets and Jennings had zero catches on one target. So, on the whole, the Packers can probably live with the reality that those three players were held to less than 100 receiving yards.

According to Next Gen Stats, Nixon was targeted five times and gave up three catches for 35 yards. He had a half-sack, one tackle for loss and two quarterback hits. Cisse lost the ball, Jefferson or both on the 39-yard touchdown, but that was the only catch he allowed.

It was a good start, and more will be needed against solid veteran quarterback Geno Smith and premier receiver Garrett Wilson, who caught six passes for 79 yards vs. Tennessee.

Stock Down: Every Starting Offensive Lineman

Quarterback Jordan Love dropped back to pass 46 times. He was pressured on half, according to Next Gen Stats. Only the Colts’ Daniel Jones was pressured at a higher rate. Of 32 qualifying passers, Love faced an avalanche of pressure even while tying for fourth-shortest time to throw.

“It was just miscommunication up front,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Tuesday. “Backs and O-line not on the same page. That’s one of the hard things about, obviously, playing in that environment, we all have to do a really, really good job communicating. There was a lot of really good pickups, and then a couple that weren’t.

“And when you cut guys loose like that, obviously, it could turn into bad things for the offense. So, we’ve got to make sure we don’t do that again.”

Left tackle Jordan Morgan wasn’t charged with any sacks but had the third-highest blown-block rate on passes, according to Sports Info Solutions.

“I think he could be better, and he will be,” Stenavich said. “There were some plays I think he would like to have back but,again, it’s the first game of the year, and we’ve just got to make sure we’re improving with our technique and everything like that.”

Clearly, this group must play much, much better. Productive veteran Will McDonald, rookie David Bailey and former Packers player Kingsley Enagbare – all edge rushers – had one sack apiece against the Titans. They combined for 14 pressures, according to PFF.

Stock Up: LB Edgerrin Cooper

Pro Football Focus’ grades should be taken with a grain of salt. Edgerrin Cooper finished with a 56.2, which is slightly below average.

The reality is Cooper was “lights out,” according to defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

“He’s all over the place, deployed him a couple different ways, made a lot of plays for us, so he definitely impacted the game in a positive way,” Gannon continued.

Cooper had seven tackles, one sack and two tackles for losses. A half-sack was waved off by a defensive penalty. Next Gen Stats charged him with two completions allowed but for only 8 yards. Plus, he was a big reason why the Vikings averaged 3.1 yards per carry.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) tackles Minnesota Vikings running back DeeJay Dallas. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Stock Down: LB Zaire Franklin

After an impactful training camp, Zaire Franklin was credited with only four tackles. He wasn’t bad – he gave up two catches for 13 yards and had the pressure on Keisean Nixon’s interception – but four tackles isn’t enough for a linebacker.

Combined, Cooper and Franklin will have a big role against the Jets. Running backs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen – a true lightning-and-thunder tandem – combined for 142 rushing yards on 32 carries.

Stock Up: TE Tucker Kraft

Tucker Kraft caught three passes for 65 yards in his debut following last year’s torn ACL. All three catches were on passes thrown 10-plus yards downfield, an interesting and noteworthy development after he caught only eight passes thrown 10-plus yards downfield in eight games last season.

“I think Tuck’s what we want to be about,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “I think he shows up every day and puts his 100 percent into this thing. He does a great job. He’s obviously earned the respect from his teammates – being voted a captain – and he does things the right way. I love the style of play which he presents out on the field. You can’t have enough guys like Tucker Kraft.”

Stock Down: RB MarShawn Lloyd

In his long-awaited return to the lineup after missing almost two full years’ worth of games, MarShawn Lloyd carried 13 times for 37 yards, a 2.8 average. Of 35 backs with at least 10 carries, Lloyd wound up tied for 30th with 2.00 yards after contract per carry.

So, while it’s true the line wasn’t helpful, Lloyd didn’t get much done on his own, either. He forced only one missed tackle (a nifty jump cut on a 12-yard run), didn’t catch any passes and gave up one pressure.

The Packers need Lloyd to live up to the team’s expectations, so perhaps Sunday was just the next step on that path following the preseason. Balance will be needed so slow down the Jets’ pass rush.

Bonus Stock Up: Tackling

According to Sumer Sports, the Packers missed only four tackles in Week 1. That’s tied with the Jets for fewest in the league. PFF charged the Packers with three, one each by Brandon Cisse, Lukas Van Ness and Edgerrin Cooper.

“Just like any game whether you win or lose, there’s some good things that we took away from it, there’s some bad things that we got to get cleaned up,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said in his overall thoughts after the Packers gave up a lot of points but just 239 yards “I don’t like where the score ended. You’re not going to win many games giving up 39 points, so we’re (going to) look to clean up the things that we need to clean up.”

Bonus Stock Down: Pass Protection (Duh)

According to ESPN’s pass-block win rate, the Packers are last at just 9 percent. The Cardinals are 31st at 22 percent, so that’s a giant gulf between the worst teams.

Meanwhile, the Jets came out of Week 1 ranked third in pass-rush win rate at 65 percent. Individually, the aforementioned Will McDonald is tied for third among edge rushers in pass-rush win rate.

“Defensively, I thought our guys harassed the quarterback,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said on Monday. “Two things we want to be able to do is disrupt the quarterback and disrupt the receivers, I thought our guys did that.”

Maybe you're still feeling a Week 1 hangover. @JacobWestendorf has an anecdote better than any hair-of-the-dog shot.

It's his Week 2 Packers-Jets matchups. ⬇️https://t.co/sv0BAnhFW4
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 15, 2026

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