Five Packers Under Pressure To Have Good Training Camp

With the start of Green Bay Packers training camp barely a week away, these five players have plenty to prove.

Darnell Savage (Photo by Mark Hoffman/USA Today Sports Images)

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The start of training camp represents a new beginning for every team. It’s similar to Opening Day in baseball. Optimism reigns supreme.

Every fanbase is convincing themselves why their favorite team can make a run in the postseason. Every team is telling you who is in the best shape of their life.

Training camp is not as rigorous as it used to be. Thanks to the collective bargaining agreement agreed to in 2011, two-a-days are a thing of the past.

That makes preseason games more important in terms of seeing young players get the reps they need should their number be called during the regular season.

That’s the way Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur has approached the preseason. Maybe that will be different with a new starting quarterback, but that remains to be seen.

Practice and preseason games will be more important for some players than others. Kenny Clark is going to make the roster and be a starter. Other players don’t have that luxury.

Some guys need to have a good camp to prove they can start. Some guys need a good camp to prove they belong on the team. Others need to prove they’ve moved beyond some issues from the previous season.

Here are five guys that need to have a big training camp.

Yosh Nijman

The Packers have to feel good about Njiman’s development as a whole.

Njiman is another one of their undrafted free agent success stories. He developed on the practice squad before being thrust into duty during the 2021 season. Njiman’s first career start came against Nick Bosa and a ferocious San Francisco 49ers front.

Njiman held his own.

He’d go on to play 590 snaps and help stabilize a position that was without David Bakhtiari and lost Elgton Jenkins due to knee injuries.

Nijman shifted from left tackle to right tackle during the middle of the 2022 season. Without an offseason or training camp to prepare for the switch, his performance was up and down. He battled through a shoulder injury at the end of the season and wound up being benched midway through each of the final three games.

Nijman enters a contract year in a competition with Zach Tom for the starting spot at right tackle.

With David Bakhtiari’s uncertain future, Nijman could establish himself as a long-term option and set himself up for a big payday. If he loses the competition, he’ll become the swing tackle, which would cloud his future.

Josh Myers

The Packers’ 2021 second-round pick has been inconsistent through his first two seasons.

Myers is one of three players that has been plugged in as a starter as a rookie on his first day of camp. The other two were Darnell Savage and Quay Walker. The Packers clearly thought highly of him. They allowed Corey Linsley to walk in free agency and installed Myers in his spot immediately.

Playing center in Green Bay is tough. LaFleur’s offense is complicated. Add in the complications that come with playing with a future Hall of Famer at quarterback and a knee injury that cost him a big chunk of his rookie year, Myers’ job hasn’t exactly been easy.

Myers isn’t helped by comparisons with who was taken one pick after him in the draft. Shortly after Myers was announced as Green Bay’s pick, the Kansas City Chiefs selected Creed Humphrey.

Humphrey was the consensus best center in his draft class, but the Packers opted for Myers, citing the desire to build a big, intimidating offensive line.

“His size, his athleticism, his power, how smart he is, what they asked him to do at Ohio State, understanding he could handle that stuff here, that was intriguing to us. He just fit what we’re all about,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said after the made the pick.

Humphrey was a second-team All-Pro in 2022. Myers in 2023 will have to fight for his starting job.

“We got a lot of competition on the right side, at guard, right tackle, or even center,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said before the start of OTAs.

“We are just going to go out there and put those guys at different spots. I know right now, Zach is going to compete a lot at right guard and right tackle, and possibly some at center, and see how that goes. Getting those best five out there, that gel the best and are the most physical, that’s what I’m looking for.”

Having center mentioned in that quote was jarring. The Packers didn’t have Myers compete for his job as a rookie.

The Packers have a lot of depth on their offensive line but a lot of uncertainties about the future. Myers needs to establish himself as a long-term starter. The Packers need that from him, as well.

Justin Hollins

Justin Hollins (Photo by Wm. Glasheen/USA Today Sports Images)

Hollins was a nice addition to the defense after Rashan Gary was lost for the season with a torn ACL. According to Pro Football Focus, the former fifth-round pick had nine pressures in just six games with the team.

Hollins enters the season as a primary backup in the edge room, but for how long?

Rashan Gary will be back at some point to start next to Preston Smith. The team used the 13th overall pick on Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness, who figures to get playing time. Kingsley Enagbare, a fifth-round pick last year, had 25 pressures as a rookie while learning his role on the fly. Add in the addition of intriguing undrafted free agent Brenton Cox, and there’s a bit of a logjam at the position.

Hollins was brought back this offseason on a one-year deal with a cap hit of $1.28 million. That type of contract doesn’t preclude the Packers from releasing him should Gary be healthy and Cox prove enough to beat him out.

Maybe the roster logjam gets cleared a bit by Gary’s health and the desire to bring Van Ness along slowly. If Van Ness does play, he figures to reduce inside for some snaps, too, which could have the Packers opt to keep more outside linebackers for depth purposes.

If that doesn’t happen and everyone is healthy, Hollins looks to be competing for a spot on the roster.

Quay Walker

Walker was a departure from the Packers’ draft trends under Gutekunst.

The team had been willing to use bargain free agents and late-round draft picks at the position for the better part of a decade.

Prior to Walker’s selection, all of Gutekunst’s first-round picks were at positions that were considered more valuable.

Jaire Alexander and Darnell Savage are pass defenders.

Rashan Gary is a pass rusher.

Jordan Love is a passer.

That’s why so many eyebrows were raised when the 22nd overall pick was announced as Walker, a toolsy inside linebacker from Georgia.

The team’s stated desire with the Walker selection was the ability to stay in their nickel defense throughout the game.

The San Francisco 49ers were able to terrorize teams in the past with Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman roaming the middle of the field. Their prowess in coverage allowed the team to stay stout against the run without giving up much against the pass.

The Packers thought pairing Walker with reigning first-team All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell would give them a similar pairing.

Walker had some nice moments as a rookie and was really starting to flash toward the end of the season. He was thinking less and reacting more, which allowed his athleticism to jump to the forefront. He wound up a first-team selection to the Pro Football Writers Association’s All-Rookie team.

The highs of Walker’s season were high.

The lows were very low.

Walker was ejected from two games for shoving opposing team personnel that were not in uniform.

A red-faced LaFleur was upset after Walker was ejected from the must-win finale against the Lions.

“I have a much higher standard for our players than to do something silly like that. We’ve had a guy ejected twice. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my career, and we’ve got to be much more mentally tough,” LaFleur said after the game.

“Any time our guys commit personal fouls, I take that very personally because I think that’s a reflection of myself and the standards that we set for these players. And we’ve got to be better and we’ve got to learn from that because that is unacceptable.”

Walker is not in danger of being released, but that’s a troubling pattern that cannot continue. The Packers have big plans for Walker, but he’ll need to prove more mature in his second season than he was at times in his rookie campaign.

Darnell Savage

Savage is perhaps the walking definition of a guy facing a make-or-break season. Had the Packers not picked up his fully guaranteed option prior to the draft a year ago, Savage may not even be on the team.

They did pick up the option, so he is on the team.

Savage saw it all last season. He was a starter coming out of camp. He got benched midway through the season, then found his way back into the starting lineup by the end of the season.

Turning to 2023, defensive Backs coach Ryan Downard said: “I think Darnell is best when he pulls the trigger and let’s it all hang out. I’ve had that talk with him. If you watch his Maryland tape, he was going to get it. He’s got to trust himself. We have to do a better job of tackling and playing a physical brand of football. That’s not only at the point of contact, but that’s taking on blocks.”

The Packers need him to be successful. Adrian Amos signed with the Jets in free agency. The Packers didn’t use any premium capital to replace him.

Savage is the only player on the roster with a track record of success at the position. The team might need Savage to succeed just as much as he needs to succeed for himself.

Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

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— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 18, 2023

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