TAKING STOCK: GREEN BAY PACKERS

BY ADAM GREENE

For the Green Bay Packers, the 2022 offseason began as it often has, with Aaron Rodgers being a real problem. Since the team drafted Jordan Love and Rodgers kept piling up Most Valuable Player Trophies, the future first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer has needed constant reassurance that he’s the prettiest girl at the dance. So, instead of trading Rodgers after his second consecutive MVP and his fourth overall, the Pack instead handed him a brand new contract and it all blew up in their faces.

Green Bay lost its first game right out of the gate, a 23-7 beat down by the Minnesota Vikings, but that’s nothing new. For whatever reason, the Packers regularly get embarrassed in Week 1, but bounce right back. It looked as if that would happen again as Green Bay won their next three straight. It turns out, that would be the high point as the team would lose seven of their next eight games to enter the final month of the season 4-8.

Still, Green Bay wasn’t out of the playoff race. The NFC had a weird year, not only with the Packers taking a nosedive, but with the Los Angeles Rams, the defending Super Bowl Champions, suffering every single significant injury on the roster. Thanks to Rodgers unquestioned paternity over the Chicago Bears, the Packers won four straight to set up a potential win and in scenario in Week 18 when they hosted the Detroit Lions. Green Bay did not win and Aaron Rodger rode off into the sunset to huff Ivermectin about it, or whatever he was into at the time.

While Rodgers did have a down year by his own standards, he wasn’t terrible. He completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 3,695 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Aaron Jones crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the third time in his career, rushing for 1,121 yards and two touchdowns to go with 59 receptions for 395 yards and five TDs. Allen Lazard led the receivers with 60 catches for 788 yards and six touchdowns. Rookie Christian Watson caught 41 passes for 611 yards and seven scores. Preston Smith led the team with 8.5 sacks to go with 59 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, one pass defense and one forced fumble. Quay Walker finished with 121 tackles, five for a loss, 1.5 sacks, seven passes defended, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Jaire Alexander picked off five passes and defended 14 passes while recording 56 tackles and four for a loss.

GREEN BAY PACKERS

2022-23 Record: 8-9

Playoffs: N/A

2023 Super Bowl Odds: +5000

2023 NFC Championship Odds: +2200

2023 NFC North Odds: +425

NOW WHAT?

Green Bay had finally seen enough of the Aaron Rodgers ayahuasca offseason show and shipped him to the New York Jets a year after they could have really cleaned up in a trade. Now it’s Jordan Love time, a guy who, if you’re a regular reader of mine, I’ve never liked for even a second, not in college and certainly not what I’ve seen in the pros. Love made just one start in his career and, as of this writing counting that game (it was a loss) and every snap he’s played, he’s completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 606 yards, three touchdowns and three picks. That’s a total of 10 game appearances, for what it’s worth.

Yes, it’s probably not fair to judge Love on that limited sample size, but here’s the real problem I’m having with what Love will do this upcoming season with the Pack. No one in the coaching staff or the Green Bay media is talking him up. If you look at any Carolina Panthers or Houston Texans report right now, you’ll read about some phenomenal throw or play Bryce Young or CJ Stroud has made. How their leadership is already manifesting in the building. Not only are you not hearing anything like that about Love, you haven’t heard it since the team drafted him in 2020. And while I have no issue calling Rodgers a Prima donna, he never seemed like a bad teammate and I don’t think the lack of Love accolades can be laid at his Covid-toed feet.

Their 2023 schedule doesn’t start strong, but I could easily see them losing their opener at the Chicago Bears. The Pack could begin the year 2-5 before their bye and maybe not win another game the rest of the season. So, the good news for Green Bay is, if Love doesn’t work out, they could have a legit shot at Caleb Williams next April.

THE DRAFT

Like most of you, I was prepared to laugh heartily the second the Packers turned in a draft card with a wide receiver’s name on it in the first round, something they never did while Rodgers was employed by the team. Instead, they did the thing they usually do, take a defensive player and then grab that wideout in the second round. In this case, it was edge rusher Lukas Van Ness out of Iowa in the first and wide receiver Jayden Reed out of Michigan State in the second. I have no issue with those picks and both guys should see significant time as rookies, especially as the season spirals down the drain. They earned a B+ in my draft rankings, with some solid picks down the draft, though it looks like their third rounder, tight end Tucker Kraft out of South Dakota State, was a reach.

FREE AGENCY

The Pack didn’t add a lot in free agency, which makes me think this is a salary cap reset year for them and they know it’s going to be rough. They did bring in safety Tavarius Moore from the San Francisco 49ers and long snapper Matthew Orzech from the Los Angeles Rams. That’s it.

NFC NORTH

With Rodgers gone, the entire NFC North will look drastically different on paper, but not in reality. The Minnesota Vikings are still clearly the best team in the division with the Detroit Lions in second place. Whether the Packers finish third or fourth behind the Chicago Bears, it probably won’t matter. This is a team that will be starting its draft prep in December.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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