Packers Q&A! Packers NFC North Chances, Jordan Love Talk, Packers Secondary

Happy tuesday! Time to answer some questions

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Hey everybody! Let’s get into the questions you guys had for me today. 

“Hi Luke,

Based on the lack of excellence in the NFC North next season, are the Packers that far away from potentially competing for the NFC North title?

Thank you, Kate from Ohio”

I honestly don’t think competing for an NFC North title in 2023 is necessarily out of the question. Most of it boils down to how good Jordan Love really is. It’s hard to predict the 2023 season just because of the simple fact that we’ve barely seen Jordan Love play. That’s why 2023 is so unpredictable. Personally, I’m very confident in Jordan Love. 

The Packers wouldn’t have been willing to trade away Rodgers if they were afraid that Jordan Love couldn’t carry the team after Rodgers left. They have high hopes for Love and I do too. He’s had 3 years under the best thrower of the football in NFL history. 

This past year he got to learn under quarterbacks coach Tom Clements who was one of the coaches that Rodgers gives lots of credit to making him into the QB that he is today. Matt Lafleur mentioned in his past rookie camp press conference that Clements has brought a lot out of Love in the past year. Then throw in the fact that Love has been learning Matt Lafluer’s scheme for 3 seasons and I don’t know if any QB in recent history has had the opportunity that Love has had when it comes to mentors and coaches. He’s had the best of the best teaching him how to play. 

That’s why I don’t think it’s that crazy to imagine him being much better than most NFL fans assume he will be in his first season. And that’s the reason that the Lions, Vikings, and Bears may not be as safe as they may think. There is a lot that needs to come together for the Packers especially considering all of the young talent here in Green Bay. That could cause some growing pains in year 1.

 The question really is how long will it take for things to start clicking? I wish I knew but we will have to wait to see. If Love is as good as I think he is, the Packers are a borderline playoff team in 2023. If I had to guess a team like the Lions or Vikings realistically will finish ahead of the Packers in the NFC North this year. But I don’t see why the Packers couldn’t go 9-8 and sneak in as a wild card team. There’s a lot of young talent on offense and defense, and it’s hard to really know what to expect until the season begins and we see how everything meshes together. 

“Hi Luke,

I’m rooting for Jordan Love. But what would the Packers do if Jordan is a bust?

Thank you, Joel from Arizona”

Hey Joel. I appreciate the question. If Jordan Love is a bust that’ll be very unfortunate and the Packers will have a few different options if things don’t work out. 

One, they could go after a mid tier free agent QB. It seems like every off-season there are a few vets who get signed by teams that are in desperate need for a QB. This off-season we had Derek Carr sign with the Saints and Jimmy Garappolo sign with the Raiders. While those aren’t elite QB’s they can still make a team successful if the rest of the roster is built out. 

I assume the Packers will give Love both 2023 and 2024 before they move on. So let’s say we get to the off-season after 2024 and Love ends up being a bust, they could look to the free agent market to see if there are any QB’s to their liking. If the rest of the roster is solidified then a free agent veteran QB could be just fine for Green Bay. Not going to lie, it would be weird as a Packers fan not to have a top tier elite QB considering that’s been our experience for the past few decades with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. But, from time to time we see teams get far with lesser QB play. For example, Jimmy Garapolo. 

The second option is of course drafting another young QB. The Packers do have 2 first round picks in 2024 as long as Aaron Rodgers plays 65% of his snaps with the Jets in 2023. If Love really struggles they could trade up and try to take one of the top QB prospects in the 2024 draft. They could still give Love one more shot, but have a potential QB ready in case things don’t work out. If Love took a huge jump in 2024 they could trade away that drafted QB at some point in the future. If Love didn’t take a jump they could consider moving to the 2024 QB taken in the draft. 

Oh, and I guess there is one more option. 

The Packers drafted Penn State Sean Clifford in the 5th round. The Packers clearly see something in him if they drafted him. While most times 5th rounders don’t come in and become legendary QB’s, it does happen from time to time. Let’s hope the Packers can develop Clifford in the next couple seasons and who knows, maybe he’ll end up being better than most draft experts thought. Every draft expert was wrong about Tom Brady. You never know what could happen. 

“Hey Luke, I would like your objective opinion on TE Tyler Davis. I saw he flashed some skills at the collegiate level. In pre-season last year he had a few drops but seemed to have favor with the coaching staff. He saw very little action in the regular season. With Kraft and Musgrave added to the squad I'd like to throw them both in the fire and watch them grow with Jordan Love and the new offense. Thanks!!” John OLeary

Last off-season I remember Bryan Gutekusnt mentioning that he saw potential in Davis. He’s occasionally made some nice plays but I would assume that after 3 seasons if he really had what it took to be a top tier tight end he would’ve made some more noise by now. I’d love for him to take a big jump this next year, but I assume that it won’t take too much time for Musgrave and Kraft to push themselves ahead of Davis on the depth chart. They’ve got too much athletic ability to be on the sidelines for long. 

“How sad are Bears fans going to be when they still can’t beat the Packers even without Favre or Rodgers?” Kyle K

They are going to be very very sad when they realize that Jordan Love will carry on the tradition of hall of fame QBs in Green Bay. Their former owner Aaron Rodgers has moved on but I heard a rumor that he handed over the keys to Jordan Love on his way out. They don’t yet know that Love is the new owner but they should find out very soon. 

“How do you feel about the secondary of the Packers defense? And how do you think they will hold up?” 2WickedBabbi

I’d say our corner room is pretty stacked with Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, and Eric Stokes. The bigger question really is in the Packers safety room. 

I am curious to see what happens once Stokes is fully healthy. He suffered a pretty serious ankle injury last year but I’d assume he should be back when the 2023 season starts. The Packers will have to decide if they will start Rasul Douglas or Eric Stokes at outside corner along with Jaire Alexander. Lafleur mentioned earlier this off-season that the plan was to play Rasul outside. I’m not sure if that’s just until Stokes is fully healthy or if Rasul will play outside regardless as to whether or not Stokes is healthy. I’d assume it’s just until Stokes returns. 

In the past 2 seasons Eric Stokes has played as outside corner 90+ % of the time. Before he got injured in 2022 he wasn’t playing at the same level as he was his rookie season. If we just look at his passer rating when targeted it went from 78.8 in 2021 to 125.8 in 2022. Hopefully he can bounce back and look more like his rookie self. 

Before Eric Stokes got injured Rasul Douglas spent most of his time in the slot. It was only after Eric Stokes went down with his ankle injury that Douglas played more outside in 2022. I would assume that when Stokes is fully healthy the Packers would play him outside and send Douglas back inside as the slot corner. We’ll have to wait and see what happens when Stokes returns to know exactly what the coaches plans are. 

Kesean Nixon is another guy who has the potential to play slot corner. Last year in 244 slot snaps he only allowed 214 yards and a passer rating when targeted of 83.6. The main reason the Packers signed him to a $6 million deal this off-season was because of his top level kick return talent, but the fact that he can also play slot is a cherry on top. 

The safety position on the other hand is up in the air. If the season started today I assume Darnell Savage and Rudy Ford would be starting. Losing Adrian Amos hurts no doubt. There’s also a chance 7th rounder from Iowa State Anothony Johnson could be a sleeper that has a chance to take one of the 2 starting safety jobs. Savage struggled at times last year and the Packers even benched him for a portion of the season. 

That is all for today! 

I appreciate everyone who sent in questions for today’s Q&A. If I didn’t get to yours today feel free to ask one before my next Q&A and I may end up getting to it. Before each Q&A I get a good amount of questions and I pick a few each time. I’m planning on doing another Q&A friday so if you have any questions between now and then feel free to send them my way.