Six X Factors Who Will Help Determine Fate of Packers This Season

There are factors during an NFL season that are a given. If the Green Bay Packers are going to get to the Super Bowl, they need Jordan Love to play well. They need Micah Parsons to return to form after an injury.

Those things are obvious. Some other things are less obvious but are X factors in whether or not a team is able to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

One of the biggest X-factors in the history of the Packers was undrafted rookie cornerback Sam Shields becoming a good player during the 2010 season. Shields’ emergence kept Jarrett Bush on the sideline and, more importantly, moved Charles Woodson into the slot, where he was incredibly impactful as the Packers’ secondary helped spearhead them to what stands as the franchise’s last title.

Who or what are the X factors for this year’s Packers as they chase the end of a championship drought?

Zach Tom’s Health

Most of the attention in last year’s season-ending injuries focus on Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft. That stands to reason, those are two of the most impactful players at their respective positions.

Kraft was lost for the season after tearing his ACL on Nov. 2 against the Panthers. Parsons made it to Dec. 14 before his knee gave out at Denver. Lost in the shuffle of that loss to the Broncos was an injury to premier right tackle Zach Tom that turned out to be season ending.

Green Bay’s offensive line was a big game of musical chairs a season ago. Their preferred starting offensive line was on the field for just 18 percent of the snaps, according to Sharp Stats. That was 30th out of 32 teams around the NFL, and the issues manifested throughout the season, culminating in one giant dud in a poor playoff performance against the Chicago Bears.

The most impactful piece missing was Tom. When Tom was on the field last year, Jordan Love had a 3.2 percent sack rate and 1.0 percent interception rate. When Tom was off the field, Love’s sack rate soared to 7.2 percent and the interception rate jumped to 2.1 percent.

On the ground, the results were similar. Josh Jacobs averaged 4.2 yards per carry and an explosive run rate of 11.4 percent when Tom was on the field. When he was sidelined, Jacobs averaged 3.6 yards per carry with a 7.4 percent explosive run rate.

It’s rare that you see an offensive lineman have that much impact on the team, but that has been the case with Tom. That’s part of the reason the Packers rewarded him with a big contract extension prior to the beginning of the 2025 season.

Now, the Packers need to keep him on the field so their offense. As the numbers show at least, the offense begins to crater without him.

The “Other” Pass Rushers

Micah Parsons is good. That’s an understatement. Frankly, there are not enough superlatives to describe how impactful he was in an abbreviated first season in Green Bay.

Across from him? That’s a different story. With the departures of Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare, the Packers do not have a player with proven NFL pedigree set to start on the edge this season.

Parsons is going to miss time while recovering from last season’s torn ACL, which means there will be extended pressure on those left to pick up the slack.

Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Collin Oliver and Brenton Cox have NFL experience under their belt. Dani Dennis-Sutton joined that group this offseason when the Packers took him with their fourth-round pick. Van Ness, with 8.5 sacks in three seasons, will be one starter. The four candidates to be the other starter have a combined 6.5 sacks in their careers.

The reality is that even when Parsons comes back, he cannot be the only player able to impact the quarterback. The Packers’ rushers outside of Parsons were not good enough a season ago. When he returns, he’ll need some help if the Packers are going to advance in the postseason.

Who will replace Parsons is anyone’s guess. In a perfect world, Van Ness becomes an impact player and worthy partner for Parsons, while someone else emerges alongside him to give the Packers at least a trio of rushers they feel can impact opposing quarterbacks.

Brandon Cisse

Rookies in the NFL typically struggle. That’s especially true at cornerback. Cornerback is arguably the hardest position to play in football with the rules designed to augment scoring.

Even with those caveats, Cisse might be the most talented cornerback on Green Bay’s roster, and with the way last season ended, the team may need him to take on a bigger role than they’d typically like to give a first-year player.

Carrington Valentine is penciled in as a starter across from Keisean Nixon at the moment, but that feels like the Packers are doing so reluctantly. Valentine made his way into the starting lineup with injuries hampering Nate Hobbs throughout his one and only season in Green Bay. In a Dec. 27 game against Baltimore, the Packers tried to put Valentine on the bench two separate times.

His replacements, Hobbs and Kamal Hadden, left the game with injuries, and Valentine ultimately started in the playoffs against the Bears.

Nixon piled up pass breakups, explosive plays given up and penalties a season ago. He’s likely slated to start, as well, but that position could be tenuous at best.

If Cisse is able to work his way into the lineup, the Packers have a chance to have a much better tandem than what they finished the 2025 season.

Trey Smack

Another year, another kicking competition for the Packers. One year ago, it felt like those days were long gone with the re-signing of Brandon McManus, who followed up a shiny new contract with a near-perfect training camp.

Matt LaFleur famously said during the 2025 season that he did not even think about the kicking game.

However, McManus struggled with injuries and inconsistency in 2025, and finished off the year with a disastrous showing in the playoffs against the Bears. McManus missed two field goals and an extra point, leaving seven points on the board in a game the Packers lost by four points.

McManus was released after the Packers traded up to select Trey Smack out of Florida to solve their kicking woes.

Sticking by McManus during the 2025 season made sense. McManus had a track record as a successful kicker. Moving on from him after a poor showing in the playoffs also makes sense, but there is a risk in entrusting the kicking game to a rookie.

If Smack proves capable, perhaps the Packers will stop leaving points on the board in the postseason. They have at least one missed kick in each of their last five postseason games, dating back to San Francisco blocking a Mason Crosby attempt in the divisional round in January 2022.

If he’s not good, the Packers will continue lighting points on fire in their biggest games and continue to search for consistency that they enjoyed over Crosby’s long career.

Savion Williams

Most of the attention this offseason has gone to Matthew Golden stepping into the starting lineup with Christian Watson and Jayden Reed. That makes sense. Golden was a first-round pick and showed promise, albeit in limited opportunities in his rookie season.

What about his draft classmate? Savion Williams was a name that quarterback Jordan Love brought up as a player he expects to take a Year 2 jump when he was not asked about Williams specifically.

That’s a level of confidence that can go a long way for a second-year receiver who was used mostly for manufactured touches and gadget-type plays in Matt LaFleur’s offense.

Williams is going to have to take on a bigger role in 2025. As much as the narrative surrounding the receivers is that fewer mouths to feed will mean a more effective passing game, they are just one injury away from relying on Williams to be a primary contributor.

Injury aside, Watson, Reed and Golden are not going to play 100 percent of snaps. The Packers can ill afford to put someone on the field who is just running cardio on the field.

LaFleur clearly likes getting the ball in Williams’ hands, but the Packers likely did not spend a third-round choice on someone to just be a gadget player. Williams’ development as a receiver is something that is a small issue at the moment but could expand quickly with one ankle turn.

Skyy Moore

Green Bay’s return game a season ago was a mess. Keisean Nixon, a two-time All-Pro returner, focused on defense. Jayden Reed suffered a broken collarbone in Week 2. Former special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia insisted their best options were Savion Williams returning kickoffs and Matthew Golden returning punts.

Eventually, Golden gave way to Romeo Doubs, who at least could consistently catch the ball, while a foot injury sapped Williams’ return ability.

Brian Gutekunst had enough of the revolving door in the return game and signed a proven player for the job in free agency. With the 49ers last year, Skyy Moore averaged 27.5 yards per kickoff return, including a 98-yarder, and 11.6 yards per punt return, with a long of 66.

Special teams has been a pressure point in Green Bay for what seems like 20 years, and the return game has been a big reason for that. While the Packers insisted they took special teams seriously a season ago, it’s hard to take that at face value when Nixon and Josh Jacobs were returning kickoffs in the postseason after rarely doing so during the regular season.

Now, Moore can be someone who can not only give them stability but be a field-position-changing X factor they have not had since the days of Micah Hyde returning punts.

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