Packers Will Need These 12, Including Rookie, to Supply Fireworks

The United States is celebrating its 250th birthday this weekend. Independence Day celebrations on Saturday night, highlighted by fireworks, will mark the birth of our great nation.

The Green Bay Packers haven’t been star-spangled spectacular and won the Super Bowl since 2010, a stretch of 16 seasons. To finally celebrate in championship confetti, they’ll need these 12 players to provide fireworks throughout the season.

QB Jordan Love

Of course, everything starts with the quarterback. Jordan Love hunts for big plays and prefers to push the ball downfield.

According to PFF, 14.1 percent of Love’s attempts were thrown 20-plus yards downfield, the fifth-highest rate. Of 33 quarterbacks to throw at least 20 deep passes, Love was eighth in completion percentage and 13th in passer rating.

On the other hand, 21.0 percent of his attempts were thrown between 10 and 19 yards downfield, which ranked only 19th out of 33. He needs to explore that area with greater frequency as he was ninth in completion percentage, seventh in yards per attempt and eighth in passer rating.

RB Josh Jacobs

Josh Jacobs is the driving force of the offense. He didn’t get much help last season from an inconsistent, revolving-door offensive line, though. The blocking could be better this season, which means Jacobs should perform better. If Jacobs performs better, the play-action passing game should be more effective.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) runs for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That would be huge. Last season, 36 quarterbacks dropped back to pass at least 250 times, according to Pro Football Focus. The median quarterback averaged 2.9 yards per attempt more on play-action passes and the median difference in passer rating was 6.3 points greater. When Love used play action, though, his passer rating was 1.2 points less, his completion rate was down 4.8 percent and his yards per attempt was better by only 0.1.

Simply put, for the good of the offense, the Packers need Jacobs at his best.

RB MarShawn Lloyd

If there’s some obvious upside on offense, it’s the potential of MarShawn Lloyd finally getting on the field and playing to his scouting report from before the 2024 draft.

Last season, 49 running backs had at least 100 carries. Just 3.0 percent of Emanuel Wilson’s runs came on runs of 15-plus yards. Only one running back was less explosive. Wilson signed with Seattle in free agency, leaving it to Chris Brooks and Lloyd to be the No. 2 back behind Jacobs. During his final year of college at USC, Lloyd ranked among the national leaders with 7.1 yards per carry.

“I’m in a great position with a great team, great organization,” Lloyd said. “You don’t play for two years, you’re gone. That’s just how the league works. It’s cool to still have people like (running backs) coach Ben Sirmans, the head coach Matt LaFleur and Gutey (general manager Brian Gutekunst) and everyone still believing in me. It’s amazing. I’m ready to go and I’m excited for what’s going to happen.”

WR Christian Watson

Christian Watson, with his elite combination of size and speed, is a big play waiting to happen.

In 10 games upon returning from a torn ACL, Watson caught 9-of-18 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield for 294 yards and four touchdowns. Even while playing barely half the season, only five players caught more deep-ball touchdowns than Watson.

For his career, the Packers are 10-5 when he has more than 65 yards and 9-5 when he averages more than 13.0 yards per target.

The Packers need Jayden Reed to have a bounce-back season and Matthew Golden to take flight, but there’s no receiver more important than Watson.

TE Tucker Kraft

What Tucker Kraft was doing before his torn ACL was almost comical.

In Kraft’s eight games, he had 347 yards after the catch. That’s a 17-game pace of 737 yards after the catch. That total on its own would have ranked eighth in total receiving yards among tight ends.

Kraft finished the season with 10.8 YAC per catch. Of the 49 tight ends targeted at least 30 times, Kraft was No. 1 by 3.3. Stathead has YAC numbers dating to 2018. Kraft is the only tight end to average at least 10.0 YAC during that span.

Kraft was first in passer rating when targeted at a near-perfect 157.2. He was on pace for 13 touchdowns, which would have ranked third by a tight end in NFL history. The Packers haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiving season since Davante Adams in 2021; Kraft was on pace for 1,039.

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft (85) celebrates his touchdown reception against the Texans. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Kraft needs to be more than just a YAC threat. In 2024, he caught 4-of-5 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. Of the 22 tight ends targeted at least five times, Kraft was tied for first in catch rate, second yards per catch, first in yards per route and tied for first with a perfect passer rating. Last year, he was targeted only twice (one catch).

Edge Micah Parsons

This one goes without saying. Micah Parsons had 79 pressures in 14 games, according to PFF. The next three players who are on Green Bay’s current roster – defensive tackle Karl Brooks (25), edge Luks Van Ness (23) and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (22) – combined for 80.

It didn’t take long for Parsons to emerge as not just the best player on the defense but the heartbeat of the defense. The Packers need him at his best for a potential playoff run.

Edge Lukas Van Ness

This one goes without saying, as well. Parsons is going to miss a big chunk of the season. Somebody is going to have to pick up the slack. If Lukas Van Ness is as good as Parsons believes, the Packers will be fine. If Van Ness is as good as the three-year production suggests with only 8.5 sacks in his career, the Packers will be doomed.

For what it’s worth, Van Ness has 61 pressures in three seasons. Parsons had 79 in 14 games last season.

“I believe in him,” Parsons said. “I think sometimes he looks into y’all and that gets to him, but I think he can be as great as he wants to be.”

DT Devonte Wyatt

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) is sacked by. Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Devonte Wyatt has teased what he can be. Now, with a potential contract extension on the horizon, Parsons’ prolonged absence and the lack of proven production on the edge, he’s got to prove it.

After a breakout second season with 5.5 sacks in 17 games in 2023, Wyatt had five sacks in 14 games in 2024 and four sacks in 10 games in 2025.

The Packers are 12-3 when he has at least a half-sack, 10-5 when he has a tackle for loss and 7-0 when he has at least two quarterback hits. Every year, close to 100 defensive tackles get at least 200 pass-rushing opportunities. Wyatt was sixth in pass-rush win rate in 2023, 10th in 2024 and 12th in 2025.

A strong interior rush is a quarterback’s worst nightmare. Wyatt could provide some bad dreams if he can stay on the field.

LB Edgerrin Cooper

Edgerrin Cooper caused all sorts of mayhem in a part-time role as a rookie. Even while starting only four games, his 13 tackles for losses led all off-the-ball linebackers in the NFL. Cooper more than doubled his playing time last season, but his production didn’t get close to doubling. He went from 87 tackles to 118 and 13 TFLs to four.

For the defense to hit its potential, Cooper needs to be hitting more ball-carriers in the backfield. That should be a priority for new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

CB Brandon Cisse

The Packers know everything there is to know about returning starting cornerbacks Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine. Nixon last season finished among the league leaders in passes defensed (good), touchdowns allowed (bad) and penalties (bad). Valentine, as was the case his previous two seasons, covered well and tackled horribly.

If there’s upside in the secondary, it belongs to rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse. If the defense is going to hit its peak, it’s going to need Cisse on the field and growing into an impact player.

S Xavier McKinney

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) misses an interception against the Giants last season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Xavier McKinney went from eight interceptions in 2024 to two in 2025. Oddly, the Packers are 5-5 when he has an interception, but turnovers change games and he’s the defense’s proven playmaker.

“It’s been good,” he said of Gannon’s defense. “I think we all thus far enjoyed playing in this scheme. I think it’s going to show the people watching and for us, guys that can play in different spots and really showcase their skills. Obviously, we got a lot of players on the defensive side, ball guys, people that can change a game. I think this scheme is perfect for our personnel.”

KR Skyy Moore

A quarterback is the rising tide that lifts all boats on offense. The same is true for a kick returner on special teams. It’s human nature, really.

“Everyone blocks a little harder when they have a guy back there who they think could go on any given return,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said last season.

There was no such belief in Green Bay’s returners last season. Savion Williams didn’t move the needle on kickoff returns and Romeo Doubs was back on punt returns because he could catch.

The Packers signed Skyy Moore in free agency. Acquired at the end of training camp last year by the 49ers, he was one of three returners to finish in the top 10 in kickoff- and punt-return average.

Moore saw it play out in real time. With a strong return game, special teams went from weakness to strength.

“Once I started ripping a couple off,” Moore told Packers On SI, “people started to buy in like, OK, like, we could actually go to the house with this. Let me lock in and let me get my one guy and everybody play their one-eleventh and we can go to the house. We definitely started to get real momentum as the season went on.”

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google