Good afternoon, everyone. Well, we made it to the next NFL season. 2023 is the start of a new era for the Green Bay Packers. Hopefully it is one that includes another Super Bowl title in the future for Green Bay. Before we talk about the upcoming season, let’s take a look at what happened to the Packers during the offseason.
I’ll get the biggest event out of the way first. Following the loss to Detroit in the last regular season game of the 2022 season at Lambeau Field, the biggest question everyone asked was “What will Aaron Rodgers do?” A couple of months later, he announced on the Pat Mcafee show that he intends on playing as a New York Jet. Right before the NFL draft, the trade was made official and Aaron Rodgers was no longer a Packer. Thankfully, there was no drama with this trade compared to what happened in 2008 with Brett Favre. It’s a major bummer that he didn’t get another Super Bowl ring after the 2010 season. That is similar to Brett Favre not getting a second ring after the 1996 season. I do wish him the best, along with the other Packers players that went to the Jets with him: Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Adrian Amos.
Two more veteran players are no longer with the Packers: Marcedes Lewis and Mason Crosby. Lewis went to the Bears (who the Packers play on Sunday) while Crosby was cut from the Packers and is now a free agent. These two departures stink for their own reasons. Both were veterans that helped the Packers win plenty of games. Crosby was a very consistent kicker who made sure that the most important kicks were good. He did have an iffy year in 2012, but he was kept anyway and continued to play for the Packers. So much so that he broke Brett Favre’s record for most games played by a Green Bay Packer on Christmas Day last season against Miami. Yes, he was iffy on kickoffs and he missed some kicks last year, but I always counted on him to make the biggest kicks. Lewis was a great presence in the locker room and a great blocker for running plays. It was always nice when he caught the occasional touchdown pass from Rodgers and everyone barked at him (for reference, he was nicknamed Big Dog). Both of these players will be missed in Green Bay.
With those players gone, it’s time to focus on the new era of Green Bay Packers football. The biggest difference is the new starting quarterback: Jordan Love. Drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft from Utah State, he was able to learn from Aaron Rodgers as he sat on the bench for three seasons. A couple of exceptions were when Rodgers was out of the game against Kansas City in 2021 due to COVID-19 and Love was thrust into the starting position and when Rodgers hurt his ribs last year against Philadelphia. During these three seasons, Love has improved his play in terms of accuracy. He played great in Philadelphia last season after Rodgers left with the rib issues. With Rodgers now gone, Love is now the starter for Green Bay. There will be ups and downs, but I’m sure that he will improve as the season goes on. He has plenty of weapons to throw to, including Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Samori Toure, Jayden Reed (who was drafted this year from Michigan State), Luke Musgrave (who was drafted this year from Oregon State), and Malik Heath (undrafted free agent from Ole Miss). Not only that, but he has a solid offensive line protecting him. David Bakhtiari (when he is healthy), Elgton Jenkins, Zach Tom, and Yosh Nijman are examples of great O-Linemen for Green Bay this season. Hopefully Josh Myers does better at center this year and Royce Newman stays off the field.
Defensively, I’m not a fan of the Packers keeping Joe Barry at all. It was frustrating to watch the defense always give up third down conversions by playing too far past the first down marker. The talent that this defense has, including Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, Lukas Van Ness (who was drafted this year from Iowa), Jonathan Owens (who was brought in from Houston and is the husband of Simone Biles), and Brenton Cox, Jr (undrafted free agent who played with Georgia and Florida in his college career) should perform very well on defense. As long as Joe Barry lets the players do their thing, especially the pass rushers and corners, the Packers should be at least a top 10 defense this year.
On Special Teams, I am a bit nervous about the Packers having a rookie kicker (Anders Carlson) and a rookie punter (Daniel Whelon). I wish that Mason Crosby was still a Packer, but I do hope that Carlson kicks well in the regular season after being up and down in training camp and preseason. As for punter, I was surprised that the Packers cut Pat O’Donnell. Hopefully Whelon punts deep into opposing territory every time he is called upon (which I hope is very little). For both field goals and punts, everything needs to be done from the snap to the protection to the hold (or catch) to the kick. I have plenty of confidence in Keisean Nixon returning each kickoff for large gains of yards (plus touchdowns) every time he receives a kick. Of course, Nixon needs help from the return team blocking the other team’s players and avoiding holding penalties in the process. I’m glad that Rich Bisaccia is still the Special Teams Coordinator for Green Bay. I know that he will coach these men well.
This is an important season for head coach Matt LaFleur. He needs to prove that he can win games without Aaron Rodgers. Thankfully, Jordan Love has improved over the years. Even then, this season will have its ups and downs on all sides of the football. The 2023 regular season starts on Sunday afternoon with a matchup against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. I’ll do my pregame post for that game tomorrow. Hope you have a great day, everyone. Go Pack Go!
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