Most Important Packers – 9 to 12: Rebound Seasons Required

Part 14 of our 90-to-1 countdown of the Green Bay Packers’ roster includes Eric Stokes, Elgton Jenkins and Josh Jacobs, three players who must perform better in 2024.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver DJ Chark Jr. makes a touchdown catch vs. Green Bay Packers cornerback Eric Stokes. / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

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 14 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. 12: CB Eric Stokes

Not every first-round pick is going to be a star, but every first-round pick should at least be a competent starter.

What will be Stokes’ fate in 2024?

Had Vikings star Justin Jefferson not had a dominant performance at U.S. Bank Stadium, Stokes might have been an all-rookie performer in 2021.

According to PFF, 89 cornerbacks played at least 350 coverage snaps in 2021. Stokes ranked fifth with a 51.0 percent completion rate, 12th with a forced-incompletion rate of 18.8 percent and 23rd with a 78.8 passer rating. Among rookies, he was first in completion percentage, second in forced-incompletion percentage and second in passer rating.

The last two years, of course, could hardly have gone worse. Even before suffering foot and knee injuries at Detroit in November 2022, Stokes’ career had taken an abrupt and unwelcome U-turn. PFF charged him an 84.0 percent completion rate before the injury.

Injuries, of course, completely ruined last season. He didn’t play his first snap on defense until the 14th game of the season. In two games before his season ended with another hamstring injury, PFF charged him with 8-of-10 passing for 112 yards and three touchdowns. Of the 160 cornerbacks who played at least 69 coverage snaps (Stokes’ number), Stokes ranked 158th with a 152.9 passer rating allowed.

With that, the team’s decision to decline the fifth-year option was the easiest move ever.

Stokes’ last pass breakup came on Christmas 2021. When the season kicks off against the Eagles, it will be 986 days between PBUs.

The team and Stokes hope they’ve found answers to the hamstring issues. Stokes, for his part, said he’s “faster” than ever. Stokes will enter training camp running with the No. 1 defense, but his battle against Carrington Valentine will be the most important individual battle of training camp.

No. 11: CB/KR Keisean Nixon

What a few years it’s been for Nixon.

The Packers signed him to a one-year contract in 2022 to hopefully improve depth on defense and special teams. After an All-Pro season as a returner, the Packers re-signed Nixon to a one-year contract in 2023 to repeat his role on special teams and hopefully compete for a starting job on defense. This offseason, the Packers re-signed Nixon with a three-year deal worth $18 million.

Hoping has been replaced by expecting. The Packers expect Nixon to be a solid starter on defense and an elite threat on special teams.

“If you know his story,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said before the start of OTAs, “he’s been to like four high schools and junior college, and then his mom fights the rollercoaster of cancer up and down. We go out to Vegas, and it’s exciting for him, and she’s as sick as she’s ever been.

“I love Keisean Nixon. I also adore the player. I get mad at 25, and I used to get mad at 22 with the Raiders. But it’s rare that I get mad at Keisean Nixon, who he is, the man he’s developing into and the father that he is and the teammate that he’s become here. ….

“I think Keisean feels that he has a great relationship with our head coach and he can visit with him and he can be a leader in his own way. He doesn’t have to be some sort of a robot or whatever that’s expected. He just can be himself, and that’s accepted here. Yeah, I’ve got an affinity for Keisean Nixon.”

Last season, Nixon became the fourth back-to-back All-Pro kick returner. The new kickoff rule should create more opportunities to get the best in the business the ball with room to do this thing.

“I feel like they’re changing it for me,” Nixon said.

Nixon has gotten better every year. Now, he must get better on defense. Only one player allowed more slot yards last year than Nixon, according to PFF. Of 43 defensive backs to play at least 150 slot coverage snaps, Nixon was 32nd in snaps per reception.

No. 10: LG Elgton Jenkins

At $17 million per season, Jenkins is the sixth-highest-paid guard in the NFL. For that price, dominance should be the expectation. Jenkins was good last year. He just wasn’t dominant.

On one hand, Jenkins didn’t allow any sacks. Only one guard, Pittsburgh’s Isaac Seumalo, played more snaps without giving up a sack. Dating to 2022, he hasn’t allowed a sack in 26 consecutive games.

On the other hand, he allowed a career-high 23 pressures last season, according to PFF. He allowed five stuffs (a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage vs. the run), according to Sports Info Solutions. He had given up a total of seven the previous four seasons, including just one in 2022.

Never mind the money. While Rasheed Walker probably will start at left tackle, there’s a chance it could be rookie Jordan Morgan. Josh Myers has been merely OK at center. Veteran Jon Runyan no longer will line up at right guard. The Packers need Jenkins, already a key leader, to be a stabilizing force and go-to blocker.

No. 9: RB Josh Jacobs

On Day 1 of NFL free agency, the Packers released Aaron Jones, statistically one of the most explosive runners in NFL history, and replaced him with Jacobs, the 2022 NFL rushing champion. That decision could very well decide the team’s fate in 2024.

Jacobs’ decline in production last year was staggering. He went from 1,653 rushing yards and a 4.9-yard average in 2022 to 805 yards and a 3.5 average in 2023. It’s easy to blame it on coaching (Josh McDaniels) or quarterbacking (the decision to dump Derek Carr).

However, it’s at least worth pointing out that Jacobs’ backup, Zamir White, averaged 4.3 yards per carry last year. That White’s 3.21 yards after contact per carry crushed Jacobs’ 2.35. That White had eight runs of 10-plus yards out of 104 carries while Jacobs had nine out of 233.

So, did the Packers sign the 2022 NFL rushing champion who is 38 months younger than Jones? Or did they sign a running back who lost his fastball after getting about 400 touches in 2022 and 1,500 touches in five NFL seasons?

Running backs might be viewed as discardable assets in some circles, but they’re not in Green Bay. Jordan Love was sensational down the stretch last year, to be sure, but it also corresponded to the healthy return to the lineup of Jones after an injury-plagued start to the season. In Jones’ games with 70-plus yards from scrimmage last year, the Packers went 5-1, with their lone loss coming in the playoffs against the 49ers.

In 2022, Jacobs didn’t just lead the NFL in rushing but yards after contact (1,103 yards on its own would have been ninth in overall rushing), broken tackles (23 more than the runner-up, who happened to be Jones) and broken-tackle rate (23.2 percent; Jones was 22.1 percent), according to Sports Info Solutions. To make the offense go, the Packers need that version of Jacobs and not the one who finished near the bottom of the league last year in yards after contact per carry.

“I think everyone’s watched what Josh Jacobs has been about when he’s been on the Raiders,” Love said. “There’s definitely no question what kind of player he is when he’ll get out there on the field. He’s a phenomenal player, obviously. He’s got the speed and the cuts and agility, so I’m excited to see him once the season gets rolling and see how hard it is for guys to tackle him.” 

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