Packer Central

Packers Midseason Awards: Who’s MVP at the Bye?

The Green Bay Packers are 6-3 at the official midpoint of the 2024 NFL season. Here are the team’s Most Valuable Player, Least Valuable Player and more.

Jacob Westendorf

Where would the Green Bay Packers be at the bye without Malik Willis?
Where would the Green Bay Packers be at the bye without Malik Willis? / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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It’s hard to believe it, but we are halfway through the 2024 NFL season.

The Green Bay Packers are 6-3 at the bye. With a four-game winning streak, they looked to be a Super Bowl contender through the month of October.

Perhaps they received a slice of humble pie in their first game of November with a 24-14 loss coming at the hands of the Detroit Lions.

Despite that defeat, the feeling in Green Bay at this time last year was decidedly different.

The Packers in 2023 did not win a game in October and had uncertain feelings as to whether they’d found their quarterback of the future.

No such feelings exist now. Jordan Love was rewarded with a contract extension early in training camp and the Packers were undefeated in October.

Green Bay has its man.

Whether or not the Packers have enough to win a championship this year is anyone’s guess, but they’re in the conversation, which is all you can ask for in early November.

With the halfway marker here, it’s awards season, and here is who is getting some of our prestigious and dubious honors.

Most Valuable Player: Malik Willis

Yes, the backup quarterback. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Willis saved Green Bay’s season.

Rewind to Sept. 6, with Jordan Love writhing on the field in pain during the final moments of their game in Brazil against the Eagles.

The Packers were about to drop their season-opening game and play their backup quarterback for the foreseeable future.

Playing the backup quarterback is usually a bad situation for anyone. Never mind the fact Malik Willis had been in Green Bay for mere moments when he was asked to make his first start a week-and-a-half later against the Indianapolis Colts.

When Love was injured, the initial prognosis was he could miss anywhere from two to six weeks. It was plausible Green Bay could have been 0-7 by the time Love was ready to return. Their season, for all intents and purposes, could have been over.

Of course, none of that happened, because Willis has been excellent. He has played extended minutes in three games this year. The Packers have won them all.

He’s been efficient. He’s made plays with his arm and his legs.

Most importantly, he has not turned the ball over.

Yes, this award could go to Xavier McKinney, who has been a godsend for the Packers’ safety room, but the reality is that would go largely unnoticed if Willis had not saved Green Bay’s season.

There’s nothing that could be more valuable than that.

Least Valuable Player: Eric Stokes

Eric Stokes looked like he was going to be a high-level running-mate to Jaire Alexander after his rookie season. He was rock solid in 2021 – arguably the best season among the NFL’s rookie cornerbacks – but has failed to rediscover that form.

Stokes endured a dismal first half of his second season before suffering a season-ending foot injury at Detroit.

The injury kept him on the PUP list to start the 2023 season, and hamstring injuries twice sent him to injured reserve.

To say Stokes has had bad luck would be underselling it, but that is life in the NFL.

Stokes has struggled this season after winning the job as the second perimeter cornerback in a training camp competition with Carrington Valentine.

Stokes has since been displaced by Keisean Nixon, who predominantly played as the nickel since arriving in Green Bay.

The passer rating against Stokes this season according to PFF is 108.5. He has zero interceptions or breakups and has allowed two touchdowns.

Stokes’ snaps have been limited – he went from 67 snaps in Week 1 against the Eagles to eight in Week 7 against the Texans – and one wonders if they’ll be cut even more as Valentine gets healthier and the rookie defensive backs get more up to speed.

X-Factor: Xavier McKinney

Xavier McKinney could have been the MVP if not for the brilliance of Malik Willis.

In fact, there may not have been two more impactful additions to any team this offseason than Willis and McKinney.

Green Bay’s safety room was a disaster last year.

Part of Brian Gutekunst’s mastery of the offseason was the makeover of that position. Not only did he sign McKinney in free agency, but he drafted Javon Bullard in the second round and Evan Williams in the fourth round.

The big piece, however, was McKinney. He made his mark early and often.

McKinney had an interception in each of his first five games before going through a long two-game drought, which he snapped at Jacksonville.

He has a career-high and NFL-leading six interceptions and has emerged as one of the leaders of Green Bay’s defense.

It’s hard to imagine where they’d be without him. It’s even harder to imagine how they were able to function without him a season ago.

Biggest Surprise: Evan Williams

The signing of Xavier McKinney and the selection of Javon Bullard were viewed as the highlights in Green Bay’s safety makeover.

Williams, however, has been arguably the best safety in this year’s draft.

Williams was seen as someone who could contribute on special teams and perhaps sparingly on defense. Instead, part of taking cornerback Eric Stokes off the field was finding a way to get Williams on it.

Despite being one of the stars of training camp, Williams did not get on the field during the season opener.

He rotated in and out of the lineup the next few weeks before becoming a full-time starter during the team’s Week 5 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Williams always seems to find himself around the ball and is one of the smartest players on Green Bay’s defense.

Perhaps the biggest sign of his importance to the defense was in the 30-27 win over Jacksonville in Week 8.

The Jaguars did not move the ball much while Williams was in the game. Once he exited with a hamstring injury, things opened up for the Jaguars.

Even if that is mostly coincidental, there’s little question that Green Bay’s best 11 on defense includes Williams.

Biggest Disappointment: Lukas Van Ness

If you read a list talking about potential breakout players for the Packers, Lukas Van Ness was probably on it. The second-year defensive end looked primed for a bigger role after a strong finish to his rookie season.

Instead, in the opener against the Eagles, he was out-snapped by former fifth-round pick Kingsley Enagbare. Of Green Bay’s four defensive ends during the first half of the season, he played the fewest snaps.

Now, he’s losing some snaps on the edge to Karl Brooks, who has played almost exclusively on the inside during his short NFL career.

Perhaps the most disappointing part for Van Ness is there are few, if any, signs that he is developing.

On Sunday against Detroit, he got a one-on-one with a tight end. He was stonewalled and was never close to winning the matchup.

The Packers have made a huge investment in Van Ness. They used Aaron Rodgers to maneuver from No. 15 to No. 13 overall to select him in the 2023 draft. On Tuesday, they moved on from one of their longtime veterans, Preston Smith, to open more snaps for the young players – Van Ness included.

However, he looks more often like an undrafted free agent than someone worthy of the 13th overall pick.

With more opportunities set to come his way, he’ll need to be much better than he has been through the first nine games of the season. 

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Jacob Westendorf
JACOB WESTENDORF