Packer Central

PFF Ranks Packers Among Top Five Rosters

Pro Football Focus ranked the roster of every team, including strengths, weaknesses and X-factors. What does the PFF staff think of the 2022 Packers?

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – For years, the Green Bay Packers have entered the season as a championship contender because of Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers is back and, as usual, the Packers are back among the top Super Bowl contenders. With the start of training camp just 20 days away, they have the fourth-shortest championship odds at SI Sportsbook.

What is unusual is Green Bay’s championship resume isn’t filled solely with offense-related bullet points.

Green Bay’s depth charts are loaded with high-quality players at just about every position group. In a pre-training camp ranking of team rosters by Pro Football Focus, the Packers rank fifth.

The strength of the team, in PFF’s estimation, is what could be a powerful defense. The hype is built on last year’s playoff performance against the 49ers, the re-signings of De’Vondre Campbell and Rasul Douglas, and the additions of Jarran Reed and first-round picks Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt.

“There aren't going to be many weak points for opposing offenses to attack,” Ben Linsey wrote.

True, but the Packers will have to live up to the hype. Lost in the glow of their no-touchdowns-allowed smackdown of the 49ers is the fact that this was one of the worst defenses in the NFL down the stretch.

Over the last seven games of the season, the Packers allowed 28-plus points five times – tied for the most in the NFL. Rather than peaking, Joe Barry’s defense ranked a woeful 28th in points allowed, 32nd in touchdown passes, 28th in yards allowed per carry, 24th in total defense and 22nd on third down during that span.

However, the addition of Walker with the 22nd overall selection opens some intriguing possibilities for Barry.

The biggest weakness is obvious. There isn’t a true No. 1 receiving anywhere in sight, though Rodgers has a lot of belief in Allen Lazard, and the Packers will be counting on Sammy Watkins (whose one 1,000-yard season came in 2015) and three draft picks to help offset the trade of Davante Adams.

The X-factor is offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins. A Pro Bowl left guard in 2020, he was a standout at left tackle in place of David Bakhtiari until suffering a torn ACL in November. When will he be healthy? And, when he is healthy, where will he line up?

“That uncertainty surrounding his availability and position qualifies him as an X-factor,” Linsey wrote, “but it's probably a safe bet that he'll perform at a high level wherever he lines up, which includes right tackle — his likeliest landing spot — where Jenkins has played just 33 snaps in his NFL career.”

Click here for all of PFF’s strengths, weaknesses and X-factors.

20 Reasons Why Packers Will Win Super Bowl

Countdown to Packers Training Camp

Get ready for July 27, the first practice of training camp, with this unique series of features.

Part 1 (30 days): All Matt LaFleur does is win (in the regular season)

Part 2 (29 days): Dominant Rasul Douglas

Part 3 (28 days): Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon

Part 4 (27 days): 27 is the magic number

Part 5 (26 days): Rich Bisaccia’s brilliance on special teams

Part 6 (25 days): Aaron Rodgers vs. the NFC North

Part 7 (24 days): Can defensive live up to hype?

Part 8 (23 days; July 4): These players will provide the touchdown-scoring fireworks

Part 9 (22 days): Homefield dominance

Part 10 (21 days): Christian Watson and history of FCS receivers

Part 11 (20 days): 20 reasons why Packers will win Super Bowl

NFC North Insiders

Get ready for the 2022 NFL season with our 12-part NFC North Insiders series, with stories running every Saturday and Sunday until training camp.

Part 1: Team MVPs for each team on both sides of the ball.

Part 2: The biggest addition and loss for each team.

Part 3: Most overrated player for each team.

Part 4: Most underrated player for each team.

Part 5: Best-case scenarios

Part 6: Worst-case scenarios

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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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