The Packers hit the field at Lambeau this evening for Family Night. It’s that amazing time of year when hopes are high, memories are short, and a Superbowl victory feels within reach.
The magic of Preseason.
Far be it of me to poo poo on the hype coming into tonight’s festivities. However, there’s one glaring question in my mind that I just can’t seem to shake.
Do the Packers have the depth to go the distance?
Packers Offensive Starters Look Lights Out
I firmly believe that when healthy, there’s not much that an opposing defense can do to stifle the play of the Packers starting offense.
Jordan Love is coming into his prime in year 7. As the longest tenured Packer, he looks poised to have an MVP caliber season. He has a host of weapons that are sure to confuse and derail most defenses.
Having everyone on the field is the biggest question though, as the Packers seem to struggle annually with injuries. Remember those CVS receipt length injury reports last year?
I love to see Tucker Kraft ahead of schedule. Matthew Golden is rising to the occassion opposite Christian Watson (who also looks prime). Jayden Reed has firmly locked down the slot. Josh Jacobs does still has his pending legal matters looming overhead. However, if he starts Week 1, he should have no issues taking the lions share of touches out of the backfield.
The issue is what may happen if/when the injury bug hits in 2026.
QB & O-Line Should Be Just Fine
While the offensive line has dealt with injuries, I think they have the depth to overcome the adversity. I also see Tyord Taylor as a PERFECT replacement for Malik Willis behind Jordan Love. With that in mind I will be omitting QB and O-Line from this discussion.
Packers Tight End Turmoil
The Packers have a top 3 Tight End on paper with likes of Tucker Kraft. Unfortunately he and his draft class partner Luke Musgrave have seemingly been unable to avoid injury.
It seems very possible that Luke Musgrave may have played his last down with the Packers.
If that wasn’t enough, the Packers also just released TE’s Luke Lachey and RJ Maryland due to injury. I, like many others, was really looking forward to seeing what Lachey was going to bring to the table. Following the release of Lachey and Maryland, the Packers signed tight ends McCallan Castles and Drew Biber this week. One can only assume they were signed as bodies to get through camp. They’ve also been rotating in Drake Dabney with the first team while Kraft ramps up to full participation. Dabney was signed to the practice squad last November and was elevated for Week 18 last year against the Bears.
While having some extra training camp bodies is never a bad thing, one hopes that Kraft stays healthy. I would again stake the claim that back up roll should belong to TE Josh Whyle. I think Whyle is very underrated, and showed a lot flashes last year. That being said, he isn’t not someone that can replace the production gap created by losing Tucker Kraft.
The Tight End role is pivotal to the success of this offense, and the depth at this position is definitely a cause for concern. Here’s an article I put out recently shining some light on the flashes showed last year by Whyle and the state of the TE room.
We all remember the collective shock and horror watching Tucker go down with his ACL tear last season.
Kraft was on a path to cement his name among the best in the league, and now seems dead set on not only returning to form, but building on where he was. I really hope he doesn’t see any regression, and I love to hear where his head is at.
“Number one regression candidate at tight end… Well I have something to say about that.”
While I am still sad to not have Romeo and Tay Wicks on the team, the trio of Watson, Golden, and Reed should keep opposing secondaries on their heels. Watson and Reed have grown alongside QB1 over the past few years, and Golden will now see more opportunities with a thinned out receiver room.
Unfortunately, Watson has been plagued with injuries his entire career, Jayden Reed has also missed significant time, and Matthew Golden is entering his sophmore year. Behind them there is Savion WIlliams who I’ve hyped up, but is certainly not a WR1. Skyy Moore may have some juice left in the tank, but I would prefer to see him utilized as a return specialist and have minimal wear and tear on the offensive side of the ball.
Then there’s Bo Melton who can hold is own as a rotational piece, and behind him is a host of rookies.
It does seem that J. Michael Sturdivant has certainly been turning heads as an undrafted free agent (UDFA), but it’s hard to see how they keep secondaries on alert should they lose Watson or Reed.
I can’t wait to see what Jordan can do with his full complement of weapons on the field together for the first time. I just hope they can stay on the field.
Josh Jacobs has been practicing seemingly as if he will hit the field Week 1. While we all hope the legal matters clear up, there’s still a solid chance that the NFL may impose a suspension. Behind Jacobs is Marshawn Lloyd who Packer fans are nervous about getting too excited about.
Behind Lloyd is Chris Brooks, who while capable of being an extremely effective rotational chess piece and 3rd down back, is not the answer for the full load of RB1.
There’s definitely a lot of hope that Jacobs and Lloyd could be the Packers new thunder and lightning combo out of the backfield. However, I think Rob Demovsky’s post says it all when it comes to the cautious optimism we all have about how good Lloyd is looking at camp….
Matt LaFleur had a smile on his face talking to MarShawn Lloyd after Lloyd did a backflip after a TD catch.
Impressive as the flip was, guessing LaFleur would rather him not do it, especially considering Lloyd’s injury history.
Now I personally am not as concerned as the growing population of Packer fans losing it over Trey Smack’s shakey beginnings at Training Camp. That being said, I’m a little perplexed on why the Packers released Lucas Havrisik and Lenny Krieg. If nothing else, some competition may have brought a little bit more out of Smack. One certainly would hope that we are not now facing the repeat offenses of Anders Carlson and Brayden Narveson.
Personally I don’t see this escalating, and even Matt LaFleur has acknowledged that there will be speed bumps.
Matt LaFleur said Trey Smack is “gonna be a work in progress.”
“This is not our first time with a rookie kicker. I know there’s gonna be some good and some he wants back.”
MLF confirms he told refs not to signal misses or makes. Joked he wanted to make the media’s job harder. pic.twitter.com/3jMFUaymp2
Hopefully the rookie finds his footing and this is a non issue come the regular season.
The Defense Needs To Step Up
Last but not least is the phase of football that will need to prove their depth right out of the gate in Week 1.
Setting The Edge
There’s dozens of pundits talking about how the Packers defense will overcome the absence of Micah Parsons. I absolutely love what Micah said recently regarding his return.
Micah Parsons: “People are worried about the knee. They should be worried about how I'm gonna play when I get back. The anger, the frustration, the things that I'm about to let out because of how long it's been since I've played. So I think that's what people should really worry… pic.twitter.com/RvK5AWvAVR
I’ve written a couple articles in recent weeks addressing where the Packers Defensive Line can find success before Micah hits the field. Check the links below to see where I think this defensive front will stack up.
My biggest depth question is honestly at corner. Carrington Valentine has already been absent from camp due to injury allowing my pick for the future CB1 of the Packers, Brandon Cisse, to get meaningful first team reps. I also will say again that I don’t see it taking long for Benjamin St. Juste to take over on the other side of the field.
The issue again is if any one of these guys go down as well, no amount of pass rush is going to deter quarterbacks from carving up the field. I won’t even get started on the Keisean Nixon situation.
Safeties Are Elite
Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, and Javon Bullard are lights out at Safety. MCkinney and Williams are in my mind the best safety tandem in football. Bullard does double duty, also flexing his talents as the most dependable corner on the team. While he may be listed on the roster as a Safety, he has sewn up the slot corner role, and has been turning heads all through camp.
New DC Shaking Things Up And Winning Over The Team
New Defensive Coordintator Jonathan Gannon has been putting together a crazy amount of different pressure schemes during training camp. He has been sending Defensive Backs as well as the likes of LB Edgerrin Cooper in on blitz packages consistently at practice. We’ll see how Gannon ends up optimizing this crew, hopefully finding ways to bolster the Packers secondary.
While we all will miss fan favorite Jeff Hafley, the squad has had nothing but praise for Gannon so far. Players like Edgerrin Cooper and Javon Bullard have said they like how “crazy” their new DC is, and seem to have embraced his attitude and leadership.
Here’s what HC Matt LaFleur had to say about his new coaching counterpart.
Packers HC Matt LaFleur on what has surprised him Jonathan Gannon since hiring him as DC:
"I wouldn't say anything surprised me. I had a pretty good idea of the man we were getting when we got him. He understands football. He understands offensive football, which is imperative…
At the end of the day, injuries are inevitable, and teams need to be adaptable when things aren’t falling their way. There are so many reasons to be excited about this upcoming season, and while the roster depth may be thin from our current perspective, who’s to say that there aren’t dozens of diamonds in the rough on the roster waiting for the chance to show their untapped potential.
For once in a great long while, I am not seeing any major holes in the Packers starting line up. Each position can hold their own, and many among them are elite in the NFL. So as to say, the roster may be thin, but the talent runs deep.
Should they find a way to weather the storm of bad luck and injury, there’s no reason why this group can’t bring that Lombardi Trophy back home to Lambeau. It should be a great Family Night practice tonight, and I can’t wait to see the squad hit the field under the lights again.
Football is back! Go Pack Go!!
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Nick Volkaitis
Packers owner born in the Fox Valley.
Writer / Musician / Nerd.
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