Here we go! The first practice of the Green Bay Packers 2024 season kicks off tomorrow, Monday, July 22nd! About time! A lot of things have changed for this team since the Packers last suited it up. And that’s what we have been looking at the past two weeks in these “Training Camp Primers.” Last week, we discussed the Packers Defense and the week prior to that one we took a dive into the Packers Offense.
Finally, with this last training camp primer, we will look at the Rich Bisaccia-led special teams. So, real quick, let’s talk about Coach Bisaccia. Since Matt LaFleur took over as head coach in 2019, the Packers have ranked as an average of just under 28th in special teams according to Rick Gosselin’s Special Teams Rankings. Green Bay’s worst season was in 2021 when they ranked dead last in the league at 32nd and their best ranking was the following year when they ranked 22nd in the NFL.
After 2021, the Packers let go of then special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton and replaced him with highly sought after Rich Bisaccia who was and is well respected in the league. And of course, the Packers special teams improved in 2022. I mean the only way to go was up… However, they did move up the rankings to 22nd. This was their highest since LaFleur took over. They jumped a whole ten spots! The expectation was for continual improvement. That didn’t happen as they fell to 29th.
Is Bisaccia’s Coordinator Seat Hot?
This might be an entire article of its own in the future, but I’m going to say he is pretty safe for now. Bisaccia is still building the special teams in his image and last year was probably an anomaly as Green Bay was being very, very, patient with a certain rookie kicker. So, what will his special teams unit look like in 2024? I don’t know but we can certainly try and guess.
Here’s what to look for with special teams in Packers training camp:
The Lock of Training Camp
Out of the three specialist positions, punter is the one position that currently doesn’t have any competition. The Packers one and only punter is Daniel Whelan.
As a first year punter in 2023, Whelan won the training camp battle against Pat O’Donnell, averaged a punting distance of 46.2 yards, had a long of 68 yards, and had only five touchbacks compared to having 18 punts land within in the opponents twenty. In the wildcard round against the Cowboys, Whelan had four of his three punts land inside the Cowboys twenty. Whelan proved to be a weapon for Green Bay. Look for him to continue to improve in 2024. If you want to know more about Whelan, checkout Jack Kurz’s article on the Packers punter.
The Long Snapper Competition
The other two specialist positions aren’t so lonely in comparison to Whelan. After a rocky 2023 from Matt Orzech, the Packers elected to add an undrafted free agent long snapper. Peter Bowden, out of Wisconsin, will compete for the starting job against Matt Orzech. According to Dane Brugler of The Athletic, Peter Bowden was the best and only draftable long snapper available in the 2024 NFL draft. He and Matt Orzech will battle it out for the long snapper spot. Speaking of battles…
Training Camp Kicking Battle
Packers training camp will be filled with some fantastic position battles. As I mentioned in the offensive primer, I believe the offensive line will be a fantastic one to watch and from the defensive primer, the cornerback battle will be high stakes. However, the positional competition that will be the most anticipated will take place with kickers.
Why is that, you ask? Well, as Rich Eisen would say, “kickers are people too.” That and Packers fans understand the importance of the kicking game. One could argue that the Packers missed out on a chance to the NFC Championship game due to an Anders Carlson miss. Because of recency bias, many people will be looking forward to this competition to see if a.)Anders Carlson has improved any and b.)will someone replace him?
I also think it will be the most anticipated training camp competition because it is the easiest to track a score. Greg Joseph made this many kicks, and James Turner made this many compared Anders Carlson. Kicking battles are seemingly much more objective. So, it’s easier for fans to follow along with.
Who wins this battle? I for one believe Anders Carlson still has this in the bag as I wrote in “Anders Carlson: Is the Packers Kicker on a Hero’s Journey.“
One Last Training Camp Thing?
Yes, yes, there is one more special teams thing that needs to be mentioned. The kickoff changes are happening and they are very real. What will Coach Bisaccia do? Will there be any exotic wrinkles? I believe every special teams coordinator and head coach in the NFL are scheming up all sorts of possibilities that could take place with the new kickoff rules.
Another question that needs to be asked is, who will be taking the job of kickoff specialist? It isn’t guaranteed to be the winner of the kicking competition. It could be a player that can kick the ball far enough and has experience as a safety or corner. I made the prediction that it will be Keisean Nixon. He is like a Swiss Army knife, capable of so much! What’s your prediction? Who will be doing kickoffs? Will it be one of the kickers or someone else?
Either way…
Go Pack Go!
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Damon is a diehard, fully-immersed cheesehead who currently lives in southern Missouri. He teaches at a local high school and has a family YouTube channel about all things Packers. You can follow him on twitter at @packersfamily and on YouTube at The Packers Family.
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