Packer Central

1 Day Until Training Camp: 10 Bold Predictions

On the eve of training camp, the Green Bay Packers are ready to embark on the 2023 NFL season. From Jordan Love to the final record, here’s a look at what’s ahead.

Bill Huber

Jordan Love (Photo by Wm Glasheen/USA Today Sports Images)
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – In July 2008, I took over as publisher of the old Packer Report Magazine. Talk about getting thrown into the fire.

The legendary Brett Favre was trying to return to the team for which he’d won three NFL MVPs and had just led to the NFC Championship Game. “The train has left the station,” then-coach Mike McCarthy famously proclaimed.

It was a wild setting for those night practices. Fans ringed the practice field alongside Oneida Street. Aaron Rodgers was simultaneously cheered and jeered. The fan base back then was as divided as voters today.

I’d been around the team for years, having freelanced for Packer Report while working as an editor for The Green Bay News-Chronicle and The Green Bay Press-Gazette. So, I knew what good quarterback play looked like. I was convinced Rodgers would be really good. Or so my wife recalls me proclaiming, my 50-year-old memory too filled with trying to remember what sport I’m coaching next to recall what I did last week, let alone what I thought 15 years ago.

With the fans firmly behind Jordan Love – for now, anyway – this training camp will be nothing like that one from a spectacle perspective.

Training camp starts on Wednesday. What will be similar to 15 years ago is all eyes will be on Love as he faces the impossible mission of replacing a legend.

Here are 10 predictions.

Jordan Love: Good Enough

Do I think Love will be great? No. Do I think he’ll be terrible? No. I do think, with some seasoning, he’ll be good enough to win games and division championships. That will be good enough to secure a long-term contract that will come with a mind-boggling amount of money. The Giants gave Danny Jones a four-year deal worth $160 million. With a year of on-the-job experience, Love will at least be that good. And that means he’ll at least be that rich.

However, will Love ever be good enough to do what really matters in Titletown – win Super Bowl championships? I think that will require a superb all-around team surrounding him, something the front office generally failed to provide for Rodgers.

Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon: 1,000 Yards

With added opportunities, I think running backs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon will cross the 1,000-yard marks for total offense. Of course, in a 17-game season, that’s not really much of a feat. That’s less than a combined 60 yards per game rushing and receiving. So, if they stay relatively healthy, let’s up the ante. I think they’ll approach 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns between them.

Luke Musgrave: Setting Records

Only stupid people project players to do great things based off the shorts-and-helmets practices of May and June. So, naturally, based on what I saw second-round tight end Luke Musgrave do during OTAs and the minicamp, I’ll forecast 56 receptions for 602 yards and five touchdowns.

Those aren’t just random numbers. In Packers history, the two leading rookie tight ends, Bubba Franks and Andrew Quarless, combined for 55 receptions for 601 yards. Ed West has the rookie record with five touchdowns. Musgrave will beat those marks during an All-Rookie season.

Oh, if you want to get really bold: Fellow rookie tight end Tucker Kraft will end the team’s third-round jinx.

Romeo Doubs: No. 1 in Receptions

Christian Watson will be the star of the show but Love’s rapport with offseason workout buddy Romeo Doubs will make Doubs the leader in receptions.

“I think it’s easy when you got a really good player,” Love said. “They just kind of make it happen. It’s easy to get them the ball. He’s running really good routes and he’s getting open, so it’s easy to throw it to open guys. He’s been doing a really good job. We’ve had that connection. We’ve done a lot of stuff last year so just continuing that connection has been great. He’s doing a great job.”

David Bakhtiari: Second Prime

To me, the biggest development of the offseason was former All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari taking first-team reps during the meaningless (to him) offseason practices. If the Packers were worried about Bakhtiari – if Bakhtiari were worried about Bakhtiari – he would have been limited to individual drills. After not allowing a sack in 11 starts last year, watch Bakhtiari have a great year after having a full offseason to train for football rather than rehab from surgery.

Rashan Gary: Week 1 Sack

Predicting Rashan Gary will be on the field for Week 1 at Chicago isn’t bold at all. So, let’s up the ante and say he takes down Justin Fields in the opener. Gary is opening training camp on the physically unable to perform list but he’ll be ready to roll for the season.

“It’s going to be hard to hold him back,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Tuesday. “He’s ready to go. He wants to keep pushing and he will. But, at the same time, we’ll start him off in these next two (or) three weeks and kind of see where he’s at. I wouldn’t put anything past him because he’s a different kind of guy.”

Defensive Line: You’ll Miss Dean Lowry

During Matt LaFleur’s four years as coach, the Packers rank 31st in yards allowed per carry. That’s awful. Nonetheless, losing Dean Lowry and Jarran Reed in free agency won’t be addition by subtraction. Devonte Wyatt and rookies Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks have a lot to prove as run-stopping linemen.

Kicker: Tradition (Eventually) Continues

Other than 2006, the Packers have had more than three decades of uninterrupted kicking excellence with Chris Jacke, Ryan Longwell and Mason Crosby. To replace Crosby, who will turn 39 before Week 1, the Packers drafted talented Anders Carlson in the sixth round. There will be some growing pains but the Packers will take a patient approach and deal with some bad misses before getting another 10 years of quality kicking.

Joe Barry: Last Season

Defensive coordinator Joe Barry perhaps should have been fired after his unit gave up a million rushing yards against the Eagles in late November. LaFleur stood by Barry and watched the defense almost propel them into the playoffs. However, that strong finish comes with an asterisk as big as the new Lambeau Field scoreboards.

With question marks on the defensive line and at safety, it won’t be all Barry’s fault. Regardless, three years of mediocrity will end Barry’s run and call into question LaFleur’s hiring ability.

Packers: Party Like It’s 2008

In 2007 with Favre, the Packers went 13-3 and hosted the NFC Championship Game. In 2008 with Rodgers, the Packers plunged to 6-10. Still, the stage was set. Rodgers did everything but win games that first season. That Green Bay kicked off a long run of sustained success in 2009 should have been a surprise to nobody.

The Packers won’t make the playoffs with Love in 2023. However, the stage will be set. This year will be the stepping-stone season. Love and the receivers will build rapport to springboard them into 2024. The Great Financial Reset will be complete, with Gutekunst having money to spend in free agency. The trade of Rodgers will give the Packers a second first-round pick.

With a 6-11 final record, the 2023 Packers will not make the playoffs. They might even finish in last place. The down days, however, won’t last long.

More Green Bay Packers News

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It’s a big season for the Packers’ Big 3

On eve of camp, Matt LaFleur trusting the process with Jordan Love

Packers Training Camp Countdown Series

Part of a 34-day series of features and analysis.

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4 days until training camp: Four big questions

5 days until training camp: Five biggest battles

6 days until training camp: Got to Love the schedule

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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.

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