Five Breakout Players for Packers in 2024

Jordan Love’s breakout season propelled the Green Bay Packers to the playoffs in 2023. Who will be the breakout players in 2024?

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks celebrates a touchdown against the Chicago Bears. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin /

Training camp is a time when optimism reigns across all 32 NFL teams. Everyone thinks they have a chance to compete for something this year.

Because of Jordan Love’s breakout season last year, the Green Bay Packers are one of the teams with a realistic chance of emerging from a tough field in the NFC and reaching the Super Bowl this year.

Here are five candidates to be this year’s breakout players.

DE Lukas Van Ness

“Slow and steady wins the race” must be Green Bay’s mantra when it comes to developing pass rushers. Five years ago, they drafted Rashan Gary with two established starters in place, Za’Darius and Preston Smith. Last year, the Packers did the same thing with Lukas Van Ness coming in behind Gary and Preston Smith.

As part of the deal that sent Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, the Packers moved from No. 15 to No. 13 of the first round. Rather than give Love a passing-game weapon, general manager Brian Gutekunst took the burly pass rusher from Iowa with the nickname of “Hercules.”

The hope was to develop Van Ness to become a big part of the team’s pass rush in the future while still getting an immediate contributor. While he had a slow start to his rookie season, he came on down the stretch with three sacks in the final six games of the regular season and another in the playoffs.

While Van Ness might not be a full-time starter this year, he could out-snap Smith if he continues on the same trajectory he was on to close the 2023 season.

Van Ness’ power should play well across from Gary, and his athleticism mixes well on the stunts and twists that new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley may want to employ.

WR Dontayvion Wicks

An obvious choice based on offseason hype alone, Dontayvion Wicks has received a lot of love in the national media this offseason for his route-running ability. His strong finish to the 2023 season did not hurt, either.

Perhaps the best throw of Love’s young career came on a touchdown pass to Wicks in the first half of the Packers’ demolition of the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round.

The reality is any of the Packers’ top four receivers could have made this list. Jayden Reed was excellent as a rookie. Romeo Doubs was the team’s best receiver in the playoffs. Christian Watson is the most talented of the group.

The answer for breakout receiver might come down to who is on the field the most. The guess is the most reps will go to Wicks because he’s the best all-around player, and we know how much coach Matt LaFleur values receivers blocking in the run game.

DT Devonte Wyatt

A first-round pick in 2022, when Wyatt has been good, he’s been very good. Wyatt recorded 48 pressures in his second season with the team and ranked second in the NFL among interior defenders in Pro Football Focus’ pass-rush productivity.

The bad, however, has been pretty bad. He missed 30 percent of his tackle attempts according to PFF – with better efficiency, he would have had eight or maybe even 10 sacks – and was often caught out of position in the run game.

The guess is a new scheme that allows Wyatt to run and hit, as has been the buzzword all offseason, will fit his skill-set. Wyatt was at his best at Georgia when he was attempting to penetrate upfield to make plays in the backfield.

With the Packers’ goal to make big plays in both the run and pass game, there may not be a defensive lineman better suited to make those plays than Wyatt. He should find himself in the primary pass rushing group in big situations, giving him an opportunity to rack up sacks.

TE Luke Musgrave

Luke Musgrave became a bit of a forgotten man after missing most of the stretch run last season due to an injured kidney. However, he was one of the focal points of Green Bay’s offense during their 3-6 start.

A second-round pick last year, Musgrave was the starting tight end essentially from the day he stepped onto the field. Musgrave made a handful of impact plays in the games before the injury, and was just getting his footing underneath him again when the season ended.

His skill-set combines well with that of fellow second-year tight end Tucker Kraft, and the Packers should use a lot of 12 personnel this season to take advantage of their strengths.

The NFL is predicated on big plays, and Musgrave’s speed gives him a chance to be a big-play threat down the middle of the field.

LB Quay Walker

This will be a critical season for Quay Walker, who the team is expecting to be a defensive leader as the middle linebacker in Hafley’s new defense.

The 22nd pick of the 2022 draft oozes potential but hasn’t delivered consistently strong performances.

Walker started last season with a bang with a pick-six in the season-opening win at Chicago. He almost had another interception a week later that might have changed what wound up being a one-point loss at Atlanta.

Walker would struggle with up-and-down play for the majority of the 2023 season, including the playoff loss at San Francisco. Take PFF’s player grades for what they’re worth but, of the 30 linebackers who played as many snaps as Walker in 2023, only four were worse.

So, why do we think he’s poised to break out?

First and foremost, the traits are still there. Walker’s combination of size, length and athleticism remains off the charts.

Secondly, with Hafley, it appears they have a plan to maximize his skill-set.

“Quay's a talented player,” Hafley said in his initial press conference. “As we build this thing, we're going to make sure he's in position to make a lot of plays.”

That line was telling.

Hafley and the rest of the coaching staff were clearly prioritizing the linebacker position with the addition of Anthony Campanile as position coach. Sean Duggan, who was Hafley’s linebackers coach at Boston College for three seasons, was hired as a defensive assistant.

The message seems to be clear that the Packers want more from that group, and the guess here is that starts with the room’s most talented player.

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