Ranking Packers’ Six Biggest Offseason Needs
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are a team packed with potential but filled with question marks. General manager Brian Gutekunst’s ability to fill holes on the roster will determine just how realistic a run to the Super Bowl could be in 2024.
Here is our ranking of those needs.
6. Interior Offensive Line
The interior three to start 2024 will be Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers and Sean Rhyan. The Packers wouldn’t have kept splitting snaps between Rhyan and Jon Runyan if Rhyan weren’t performing and progressing. But, because Rhyan kept getting significant playing time in place of the reliable Runyan, who is set to hit free agency, there figures to be a changing of the, ahem, guard.
However, the depth is nonexistent. At this point, the next man up would be Royce Newman, who lost the starting job for the playoffs in 2021, lost the starting job again in 2022 and lost the next-man-up role to Rhyan in 2023. The Packers have to do better.
5. Linebacker
With new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley switching to a 4-3 base defense, the Packers on paper today would line up with Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie and De’Vondre Campbell as their off-the-ball linebackers.
However, Campbell has been unable to replicate his All-Pro form from 2021. On one hand, the Packers would avoid paying $9.85 million in base salary and roster bonus by moving on. On the other hand, they’d absorb about $11.63 million in dead money and save only $2.60 million against the cap.
Either way, the Packers could use another linebacker to improve the depth. If they release Campbell, they’d need a starter.
4. Running Back
With AJ Dillon about to hit free agency and coming off a disappointing fourth season, the Packers might need a new sidekick for Aaron Jones.
Jones’ late-season domination – and what it meant for the offense as a whole – is exactly why running back is such an important need. With Jones in and out of the lineup due to hamstring and knee injuries, the offense sputtered without a reliable running game. Upon his return, Jones’ fresh late-season legs allowed him to kick it into high gear down the stretch.
The Packers need a running back capable of delivering when the 29-year-old Jones is out of the lineup for the game or for the moment.
3. Left Tackle
With David Bakhtiari not playing after Week 1, the Packers’ goose would have been cooked without Walker rising to the occasion. A seventh-round pick in 2022 who played four snaps on special teams as a rookie, Walker started 15 games in 2023. He might not have been Bakhtiari-level great but he never was a problem.
According to PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric, which measures sacks, hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap, Walker ranked 39th out of 57 tackles who played at least 50 percent of the snaps. While he allowed six sacks, only two came during the final nine games.
Given a chance to give Walker a big vote of confidence for the future, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said last month: “I think he’s got a ways to go. With these young guys, you never know how high their ceiling can be. They just got to keep improving, keep working and have that internal drive to be the best they can be. If you have those tools, you can accomplish a lot. I expect high things from him.”
Assuming the Packers move on from Bakhtiari, will Gutekunst look to the draft in hopes of finding the next great blind-side protector, or will he hope there is more growth to be had from Walker?
2. Cornerback
In 2023, six cornerbacks played at least 110 snaps. Keisean Nixon, who manned the slot all season and led the way with 809 snaps, will be a free agent. Corey Ballentine, who played 488 snaps, will be a free agent. Rasul Douglas, who played 487 snaps, was traded to Buffalo. Jaire Alexander, who played 446 snaps, had perhaps the worst season of any player on the team. Eric Stokes, who played 110 snaps, has more trips to injury lists (four) than passes defensed (zero) the past two seasons.
Alexander and 2023 seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine, who played 695 defensive snaps and led the team with nine passes defensed, are atop any way-too-early depth chart. Will the Packers be looking to upgrade the slot? Can they trust Valentine as a full-time starter? Who will provide depth? Can the career of Stokes, who was so good as a rookie, be salvaged?
Great quarterbacks win championships. That means stopping great quarterbacks – or at least slowing them down – is imperative. From that regard, the Packers have a lot of questions as they transition to Hafley’s more aggressive scheme.
1. Safety
First, there’s the influence of Hafley. Under former defensive coordinator Joe Barry, the Packers played mostly Cover-2, which meant two deep safeties meant to eliminate big passing plays. Hafley’s history at Boston College suggests he will play plenty of Cover-1 or Cover-3, which means one deep safety and one closer to the line of scrimmage.
The deep safety has to cover a lot of ground. The other safety has to possess a combination of athleticism to cover and physicality given his proximity to the line of scrimmage and his role in run defense.
Second, safety was a weakness through performance in 2023. Now, it’s a weakness in numbers. With Darnell Savage, Jonathan Owens and Rudy Ford, 1,959 defensive snaps, 192 tackles, two interceptions and 10 passes defensed are set to hit free agency. A pair of rookies, 2023 seventh-rounder Anthony Johnson (303 snaps) and undrafted Benny Sapp (three snaps) are the only safeties under contract who played a defensive snap. Johnson had 23 tackles (but a horrendous nine misses), one interception and three passes defensed as a rookie.
Through re-signings and potential veteran additions and draft picks, Gutekunst has a monumental amount of work to do over the next few months.
