Most Important Packers – 25 to 29: ‘He’s Looked Exceptional’

Part 10 of our 90-to-1 countdown of the Green Bay Packers’ roster includes two projected starting offensive linemen, as well as Dontayvion Wicks, MarShawn Lloyd and Anders Carlson.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks (13) celebrates after catching a touchdown pass vs. the Dallas Cowboys. / Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will take a 90-man roster to the field for the first practice of training camp on July 22.

Here is Part 10 of our ranking of the most important players on the Packers’ roster. This isn’t just a listing of the team’s best players. These rankings consider talent, importance of the position, depth at the position, salary and draft history. More than anything, we hope you learn something about each player.

No. 29: RB MarShawn Lloyd

With powerful veteran running backs Josh Jacobs and AJ Dillon coming off disappointing seasons, there is an opening for the explosive Lloyd, a third-round pick in this year’s draft, to be an immediate X-factor.

“The good thing about him is he’s a pretty explosive player, not just in the run game but also in the pass game,” running backs coach Ben Sirmans said before the start of OTAs. “Then you kind of forget about how thick he is, so he’ll be physical enough to break tackles but then also fast enough to give you those long, home run plays.

“You just get the sense that he was a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. You can tell with him being here that he was happy and glad to be here and wants to fit in with this young nucleus that we have and be ready to contribute.”

At 5-foot-8 3/4 and 220 pounds with 4.46 speed in the 40, Lloyd, indeed, is explosive. Among running backs in the draft class with at least 100 carries in 2023, Lloyd was No. 2 in yards per carry and No. 1 in yards per reception. He wasn’t used much in the passing game – teams rarely blitzed quarterback Caleb Williams and Williams typically threw to his receivers – so that will be the test on how much he plays.

Lloyd said catching the ball would “definitely” be his focus during the break between minicamp and training camp.

“Just being able to be available as a pass-catcher, being able to use my abilities to make people miss and be used in space, I feel like that’s something I’m going to work on this whole offseason,” he said. “It’s been pretty good. I feel like they’ve been using me pretty good and in different ways. I’m super-excited about the season.”

No. 28: RG Sean Rhyan

There might be only one open spot on the offensive line, and that’s right guard, where Jon Runyan started last season before signing with the Giants in free agency.

While the Packers used their first-round pick on Jordan Morgan, Rhyan, a third-round pick in 2022, is likely to get the first snap when training camp begins. He has zero career starts on his resume but played 183 snaps in the regular season and another 46 in the playoffs.

“I was really able to showcase that I’m able to play at this level, as well as show myself that I can play at this level,” he said during OTAs. “In that last game blocking (the 49ers’) Arik Armstead a couple times, going back and forth with him, it’s fun. It’s good. It’s comforting knowing that I can still play the game to the level that I expect myself to. The ceiling is still high.”

While there are some questions about Rhyan, they might be overblown. Initially when the Packers started getting Rhyan on the field, the team was going nowhere fast and had to find out if Rhyan could be part of its future. Then, the team started winning. Rather than turning back to the reliable Runyan, the team basically doubled-down. During the final four regular-season games and the playoff win at Dallas, Rhyan essentially played 50 percent of the snaps.

He wasn’t great but, again, if he was a liability, he would have been benched. He allowed zero sacks, zero quarterback hits and eight pressures (playoffs included), according to Pro Football Focus. According to league data, the Packers averaged 5.17 yards per rushing attempt with Rhyan in the game vs. 4.23 with Runyan in the lineup.

That run-game physicality could be a real asset.

“It was great to see Sean grow,” offensive line coach Luke Butkus said. “Sean works at it. He loves football. He wants to go out and play, he wants to get a chance. When he had his chance last year, he improved. He is a big, strong kid, man. When you hold those bags for our players when you’re holding the bag for Sean Rhyan, you feel it.”

No. 27: WR Dontayvion Wicks

Coming off a disappointing final season at Virginia, Wicks was the 19th receiver selected last year. He greatly outplayed his draft slot and looks like a building-block player.

In the entire rookie class, Wicks ranked 11th with 39 receptions, ninth with 580 yards, tied for seventh with four touchdowns and fourth with 18 explosive catches (defined as a reception of more than 15 yards). Among the 23 rookies who were targeted at least 20 times, he was fifth with a 14.9-yard average, fifth with 2.04 yards per route and sixth with 5.6 YAC per catch.

Among all NFL receivers who averaged at least two catches per game, Wicks was fourth with an explosive-catch rate of 46.2 percent. He led the Packers’ receiver corps with nine forced missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.

That’s a lot of numbers to state the obvious: Wicks had a good rookie season and could become a very good player.

“It boosts confidence a lot,” Wicks said. “You’ve got to be confident to go out and play good. Building it from last year, it’s way better because now I can go out and have that chip that I’ve always had. Playing faster, that’s when I’m at my best.”

After quality rookie seasons, Wicks and Jayden Reed spent about three months together in Florida in hopes of taking the next step in their careers.

“He ran some great routes and he played competitive and he played physical,” passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable said at the start of OTAs. “He was blocking for his guys and playing the right way. He has a tremendous skill-set with his footwork and the way he runs routes with his pad level. 

“I think the biggest thing is where you left off last year, you’ve got to stack that type of production and play to maintain those high-end results. He’s looked exceptional right now.”

No. 26: C Josh Myers

This will be a make-or-break season for Myers, a second-round pick in 2021 who is entering his final season under contract.

After missing most of his rookie season with a knee injury, he started all 17 games in 2022. That should have been the jumping-off point for 2023. But it wasn’t. Starting 17 games once again, Myers didn’t take that big step forward that anyone had hoped or expected.

According to Pro Football Focus, Myers in 2022 gave up three sacks and 13 total pressures and ranked an excellent sixth in its pass-blocking efficiency, which weighs sacks, hits and hurries per pass-protecting snap. In 2023, Myers gave up five sacks and 28 total pressures and was a mediocre 18th in PFF’s efficiency metric.

To be sure, Myers wasn’t terrible. He just hasn’t been what you’d expect from a former second-round pick. And he hasn’t been Creed Humphrey, the Chiefs’ All-Pro center who the Packers could have selected in 2022 instead.

On the bright side, he took ownership of the offensive line and built a strong chemistry with quarterback Jordan Love. His run blocking improved, too. According to Sports Info Solutions, his blown-block rate went from 4.4 percent in 2022 to 3.2 percent in 2023, and he went from six stuffs (a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage) to two.

“Every day, get better. That’s where Josh excelled last year,” offensive line coach Luke Butkus said. “He did get better as the year went on and he had command of this offense and took charge, was a little bit more vocal toward the end in commanding this offense. So, what do we need from him? Just to get better every single day. Keep improving.”

Myers, who perhaps contrary to popular opinion is the overwhelming favorite to be the Week 1 starter, is hoping to parlay a strong fourth season in Green Bay into multiple additional years with the team.

“It’s hard because I do love it here and I absolutely want to be a part of what’s happening here,” he said.

No. 25: K Anders Carlson

This ranking for a kicker who’s not guaranteed to be on the roster might be an eye-opener, but the margin for error in the NFL is so thin that a competent kicker is worth his weight in gold.

Of 31 kickers with at least 20 field-goal attempts last year, Carlson finished 23rd with an 81.8 percent success rate. The overall league success rate was 85.9 percent.

Carlson missed a field goal in a two-point loss to Denver. He missed an extra point at Pittsburgh, which forced the Packers to go for a touchdown in a four-point loss. He missed a field goal in a two-point loss to the Giants. And he missed a field goal in a three-point loss against the 49ers in the playoffs.

No kicker in the NFL missed more kicks last season than Carlson. He missed one in 11 of the final 14 games. While he limited it to one per game, those misses added up and – rather predictably – proved incredibly costly.

As a sixth-round draft pick, Carlson went without a challenger for about eight months last year. It will be different this year with veteran Greg Joseph and rookie James Turner poised to make it a three-man competition.

“It’s been good. It’s been a lot of good work,” Carlson said at the end of minicamp. “I think they’ve put us in front of the team a lot and really made us go out there and do our work in front of the team. I think it was good to build off of.”

More Green Bay Packers News

Our annual 90-to-1 countdown of the #Packers' roster continues with three returning defenders and the backup QB candidates.

More than the ranking, hopefully you learn a little something about everyone. ⬇️https://t.co/3t0WAqOQkD

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 8, 2024

Training camp previews: Quarterbacks 

All-NFC North Team: Quarterbacks | Running backs | Receivers | Tight ends (Thursday)

Best/worst case for rookies: Jordan Morgan | Edgerrin Cooper

Hot Reads: 12 Super Bowl contenders | Josh Jacobs in ESPN rankings | Two months to Packers-Eagles | Most overrated player |  They’ll provide the fireworks | “Sky is the limit” for Packers | NFC North quarterbacks | Q&A with Josh Jacobs | Fresh faces will decide NFC North

Most Important Packers: 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | 45-49 | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-64 | 65-69 | 70-79 | 80-90