Winners, Losers From Packers’ Win Over Browns

The Green Bay Packers defeated the Cleveland Browns in their preseason opener on Saturday. Here are the players who rose to the occasion and who fell short of expectations.

Green Bay Packers defensive end Lukas Van Ness was in the face of the Browns' quarterbacks on Saturday. / Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers beat the Cleveland Browns 23-10 on Saturday. However, preseason games aren’t about team success as much as individual performances.

From that perspective, here are the winners and losers from Saturday.

Winners

QB Jordan Love

Love’s touchdown bomb to Dontayvion Wicks was the play of the game.

Last season, Love led the NFL with 81 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. Of the 35 quarterbacks with at least 25 deep passing attempts, Love ranked 15th in completion percentage, 16th in yards per attempt and 16th in passer rating, according to Pro Football Focus.

So, Love was decent in that phase of the game but not great. He’s been much better during training camp, and the one pass he threw on Saturday was perfect. Love looked off the safety, and the accuracy couldn’t have been any better had the ball been placed directly in Wicks’ hands.

RB Emanuel Wilson

With Josh Jacobs, AJ Dillon and third-round rookie MarShawn Lloyd, Wilson entered training camp on the roster bubble. However, Wilson delivered a quick reminder that he is a legitimate NFL runner.

After leading the NFL in preseason rushing last year, Wilson carried 13 times for 67 yards. He got the ball seven times on Green Bay’s second touchdown drive. Wilson gained 36 yards on those runs. By our count, he gained 23 yards after contact on those plays. On a 23-yard run in the third quarter, he broke a tackle and gained 18 yards after contact.

“He was able to stick his foot in the ground and get outside and we all know the speed he has. He’s got real speed,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “The challenge to him pregame was make sure you’re running your feet on contact and run through people, and I thought for the most part that happened.”

WR Grant DuBose

DuBose is battling Malik Heath, Bo Melton and Samori Toure for the final spot or two at receiver. DuBose continued an excellent stretch of practices by catching 5-of-6 targets for 66 yards.

Beyond the box score, DuBose created five first downs, including drawing defensive holding on third-and-8 and gaining 13 on fourth-and-3, 23 on third-and-9 and 12 on third-and-3. The 23-yarder was especially important, a clutch and athletic toe-dragger to set up an easy field goal at the end of a 2-minute drill.

“It feels good,” DuBose said. “I sat the whole last year (on the practice squad). This offseason was pretty good for me. I just wanted to take advantage of it. It’s not anything new to me. I always had to sit and wait for my number to be called. I think that it’s made me and built me for these type of moments. I just wanted to take advantage of it, and I feel like I did some good things today.”

Those good things include his work as a blocker, which is a big deal to LaFleur.

DE Lukas Van Ness

Last year’s first-round pick ended his rookie season on a powerful note. With that, there were heightened expectations entering Year 2. Van Ness seems well on his way to meeting or even surpassing those expectations.

In 23 snaps, Van Ness had one sack and three tackles for losses. If Love’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Wicks was the highlight of the game, Van Ness’ sack on the ensuing drive might have been the biggest play. The Browns had advanced to the Packers’ 34 when Van Ness got away from his blocker and dropped Jameis Winston for a loss of 7.

With 5 minutes left in the second quarter and the ball on Green Bay’s 38, Van Ness joined Eric Stokes for a tackle for loss on second-and-2 and paired with Isaiah McDuffie for another TFL on third-and-3 to thwart that drive.

DT Devonte Wyatt

When Jeff Hafley was hired as coordinator with an eye on building an attacking defense, one player seemed to be the prime beneficiary.

Wyatt.

A first-round pick in 2022, Wyatt’s game is about athleticism and penetrating, not two-gapping and eating up blockers.

Like Van Ness, Wyatt has had an excellent training camp. On the first drive of the game, he tossed aside his blocker to stop Jerome Ford for a gain of 2. One play later, it was Wyatt’s pressure that set up Van Ness’ sack. On the next play, Wyatt’s instant pressure forced an errant throw.

Officially, Wyatt doesn’t show up in the defensive stats. In reality, he was a high-impact player.

S Evan Williams

The ball has found Williams throughout training camp.

On the Browns’ first play of the second half, Williams found the ball. More specifically, his shoulder found the ball. His hard shot on running back John Kelly forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Kristian Welch. The Packers turned that into a field goal to extend their lead to 20-3.

“We just talked about the importance of getting the ball back in the locker room,” Williams said. “During the play, it was a little screen pass, dump down. Just saw a clear path and thought, OK, I’ll probably be the one making this play. I put my shoulder in a good spot. I think my arm and shoulder combo was able to knock it out.”

Williams had a team-high six solo tackles.

CB Kalen King

The Packers used the third-to-last pick in the draft to add King. You know his story. King earned All-America honors in 2022 with three interceptions and 21 passes defensed. In 2023, he had zero interceptions and two passes defensed. A poor Scouting Combine sealed his draft fate.

The Packers took a flier because, well, why not. It’s too early to anoint King a steal of the draft or future starter in the slot. But his instincts and aggressiveness have been apparent throughout camp. On third-and-2, Kelly caught a checkdown and was immediately taken down by King.

Backup Offensive Linemen

The Packers’ starting five should be solid but the depth, no doubt, will be tested.

Former Eagles first-round pick Andre Dillard, who had a rocky start to training camp, had a strong performance (aside from a false start). He is clearly more comfortable at left tackle; the coaches need to keep working him on the right side.

Rookie fifth-round pick Jacob Monk, who played all three interior positions, and Sean Rhyan, who started at right guard but played mostly center, had good days, as well. Now in Year 3, Rhyan’s pass protection has come a long way. That will be the long-term key for Monk.

Losers

RB MarShawn Lloyd

That Lloyd exited with a hamstring injury after just two touches and 14 snaps on Saturday wouldn’t be disconcerting had Lloyd not missed the start of training camp with a hip injury. Or had he not been limited to only 32 games in four collegiate seasons.

As scouts like to say, injured players get injured.

Lloyd’s obvious explosiveness as a change-of-pace back alongside Jacobs won’t do a bit of good if he can’t stay on the field.

“That is disappointing,” coach Matt LaFleur said, “but he’s going to have to get healthy because we’ve seen what he’s capable of doing in practice, you’d just like to see it in a real game.”

RB AJ Dillon

One of these things is not like the other.

Jarveon Howard averaged 5.5 yards on eight carries. Wilson averaged 5.2 yards per carry on 13 carries. Lloyd gained 8 yards on his only carry. Jacobs gained 7 yards on his only carry.

Dillon averaged a half-yard on four carries. Of course, Howard, Wilson and Jacobs received better blocking than Dillon. Still, starting with a second-and-1, he got the ball three consecutive times and failed to get the first down.

Dillon has said he’s in the best shape of his life, which is obvious at even a casual glance. Still, one of the worst yards-after-contact backs in the league last year didn’t get it done after contact at Cleveland, either.

WR Bo Melton

Through 13 practices of training camp, Melton looked much closer to roster lock than roster bubble. He routinely got open and caught the ball in the passing game and used his explosive speed in the jet-sweep game.

Against the Browns, he caught 1-of-4 targets for 12 yards. A tough grader would give him drops on all three of the incompletions. Two of them came on third down, including third-and-2 from the Browns’ 15. Also, in the first quarter, a jet-sweep handoff between Sean Clifford and Melton wound up on the ground, with a fortuitous bounce letting Melton turn disaster into a gain of 10.

Melton probably remains a front-runner for a roster spot, but next week’s practice and game at Denver will be especially important.

2024 NFL Draft Class

The Packers had five top-100 picks. First-round offensive lineman Jordan Morgan (shoulder), second-round linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (hip) and third-round linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper (ankle) didn’t play and Lloyd (hamstring) got through only two touches.

Tie

S Anthony Johnson

Defense is an 11-man sport. On first-and-10 late in the first quarter, the gamebook states Colby Wooden tackled Pierre Strong for no gain. The reality is Johnson, who was lined up in the box, came flying up and blasted the lead blocker, rookie guard Javion Cohen, who was pulling to the left. That allowed Wooden to come free and make the play.

It was a big-time play by the second-year player. He also had an excellent tackle on kickoff coverage.

If only he hadn’t missed a tackle on a third-and-9 completion that allowed the Browns to move the chains. No safety in the NFL had a worse missed-tackle percentage last year than Johnson.

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

Emanuel Wilson was a force last preseason.
Grant DuBose has been a force at training camp.

They were two of the stars for the #Packers against the Browns. ⬇️https://t.co/gGfG6slWMc

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 11, 2024

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