Packer Central

ESPN’s Scout-Coach-Exec Rankings: Five Top-10 Packers

The Green Bay Packers have five players listed in the top 10 of ESPN.com’s player rankings, but none are higher than No. 7 at their position.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander (23) reacts after an interception against the Dallas Cowboys.
Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander (23) reacts after an interception against the Dallas Cowboys. / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – In Jeremy Fowler’s poll of NFL executives, coaches and scouts for ESPN.com, the Green Bay Packers wound up with five players regarded as being in the top 10 at their position.

That was the eighth-most. Of note, the San Francisco 49ers, who eliminated the Packers in last year’s playoffs and advanced to the Super Bowl, have an NFL-high nine. The Detroit Lions, who have ousted the Packers as NFC North champions, have seven.

Those players, which include more extensive comments at ESPN.com, are:

Josh Jacobs, No. 7 running back. The 2022 NFL rushing champion is coming off a dismal final season with the Raiders but is a “good all-around back,” an NFC coach told Fowler, who can “really punish” a defense when it’s time to clinch a game in the fourth quarter.

“Breaks a lot of tackles at the point of contact. Rarely tackled by one guy,” he said. “Not the fastest or biggest or strongest but just knows how to run the football and [be] very productive.”

Jaire Alexander, No. 7 cornerback. It wasn’t Alexander’s best season, either. In fact, statistically, he was one of the worst cornerbacks in the NFL last season. Of 109 corners with at least 250 coverage snaps, according to PFF, Alexander was 98th in completion percentage (72.7) and 103rd in passer rating (124.1). He was excellent in the playoffs, though.

“The guys who match up well with the top guys will always be on the list,” an executive said.

The Packers will need him healthy and fully invested in the new defensive scheme.

“I’m super-motivated,” he said during OTAs. “I feel like every offseason is always a fresh start to do better and get better. That’s why I’m here.”

Kenny Clark, No. 9 defensive tackle. Clark is ready to be unleashed in the new defensive scheme after collecting a career-high 7.5 sacks last season.

“He has a lot of the similarities that the real guys have at the top,” an AFC executive said.

Elgton Jenkins, No. 10 interior offensive lineman. Jenkins is another player who’s not coming off his best season, but he played the second-most snaps among guards who did not allow a sack in 2023. “Versatile, athletic, long, can play every spot on the line. Belongs in the top 10,” an NFC executive told Fowler.

Xavier McKinney, No. 10 safety. With the Packers in desperate need of improvement at safety, they let their three top veterans go in free agency and signed the best available veteran. McKinney is a do-it all safety as a top playmaker and tackler at the position.

“I think he's grown over the past year in terms of his man coverage, blitz and disguise ability. He showed more this past season that he can be strategically moved around,” one source told Fowler.

Here are the team leaders – and the Packers will play most of them:

San Francisco 49ers (Week 12), 9.

Detroit Lions (Weeks 9 and 14), 7.

Kansas City Chiefs, 7.

Baltimore Ravens (Week 3 of preseason), 7.

Philadelphia Eagles (Week 1), 6.

Houston Texans (Week 7), 6.

Cleveland Browns (Week 1 of preseason), 6.

Green Bay Packers, 5.

The teams with the most top-tier talent parallel the teams with the best chances of winning the Super Bowl. At FanDuel Sportsbook, the teams with the shortest odds of winning the Super Bowl are the Chiefs and 49ers at +600, the Ravens at +950 and the Lions at +1300. The Niners have nine top-10 players while the Chiefs, Ravens and Lions have seven.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.