For the last few years, the biggest question surrounding the Green Bay Packers has been relatively simple. Are they talented enough?
That question doesn’t feel nearly as relevant anymore.
Jordan Love has established himself as the franchise quarterback. Green Bay has surrounded him with one of the deepest collections of young skill-position players in football. Josh Jacobs remains capable of controlling games on the ground. Tucker Kraft is back on the field. Matthew Golden looks ready for a larger role. Jayden Reed and Christian Watson give the Packers even more options.
Defensively, Green Bay isn’t lacking recognizable talent either. Micah Parsons will eventually return. Xavier McKinney anchors the secondary. Javon Hargrave adds experience up front. Zaire Franklin brings a different presence to the middle of the defense.
The Packers have pieces. Plenty of them. At this point, the bigger question might be whether all those pieces actually fit together.
The Packers Are Still Searching for Their Offensive Identity
Matt LaFleur has never lacked options. That might actually be part of the challenge.
The Packers can build around Jacobs and the running game. They can spread defenses out and put the ball in Love’s hands, create mismatches with Kraft. They can stretch the field with Watson and Golden. Reed can move all over the formation. There are worse problems to have.
But eventually, Green Bay needs to decide what it wants its offense to become. For much of the last two seasons, the Packers leaned heavily on Jacobs and the running game. That made sense. Jacobs gave the offense stability and took pressure off Love.
Now the roster might be pushing LaFleur in another direction.
Love has developed. Golden gives the offense another explosive receiver. Kraft’s return adds another weapon in the middle of the field. MarShawn Lloyd brings a different type of explosiveness out of the backfield. Green Bay doesn’t need to completely abandon what worked. It does need to figure out how everything works together. The best offenses aren’t simply collections of talented players. They have an identity. They know what they want to force defenses to stop. By September, the Packers need to know theirs.
The Offensive Line Could Decide Everything
Of course, none of those offensive possibilities matter much if Green Bay can’t settle things up front. The Packers continue to experiment with different combinations along the offensive line.
Aaron Banks has worked his way back into team drills. Jacob Monk and rookie Jager Burton have received opportunities. Jordan Morgan has moved into a more natural role at left tackle. Green Bay has continued moving pieces around as it searches for its best five.
That competition isn’t necessarily concerning in August. It becomes concerning if the Packers are still asking the same questions in September. An offensive line isn’t five individual players operating independently. Continuity matters. Communication matters. Knowing exactly how the player next to you reacts matters.
Green Bay doesn’t need to find five Pro Bowlers before Week 1. It needs to find five players who function well together. That distinction could determine just how aggressive LaFleur can become offensively. If Love trusts his protection, Green Bay can lean into its passing-game talent.
A line that consistently creates movement would allow Jacobs to keep punishing defenses and the offense to stay ahead of the chains. Without that stability up front, all of Green Bay’s offensive talent becomes much harder to maximize.
The Same Questions Exist on Defense
Green Bay’s defense is dealing with a similar puzzle. Parsons’ absence changes everything. Until he returns from his ACL recovery, new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon has to manufacture pressure in different ways.
Training camp has already offered clues. The Packers have shown a willingness to bring pressure from linebackers, safeties, corners, and nickel defenders rather than relying solely on the defensive front.
That could become one of the defining features of the defense early in the season. Again, though, it comes back to fit.
Does Green Bay have the cornerbacks capable of surviving when Gannon sends extra pressure? Can Brandon Cisse handle a significant role immediately? Can the defensive front consistently hold up while Parsons remains unavailable?
Those questions don’t mean Green Bay lacks talent. They mean the Packers are still figuring out exactly how to deploy that talent.
Talent Raises the Expectations
There is also another reality Green Bay can’t avoid anymore. This isn’t the inexperienced Packers team of a few years ago. The rebuilding excuses are gone. Love has now taken Green Bay to the postseason in each of his first three years as the starter, but the Packers have only one playoff victory during that stretch.
Eventually, promising has to become something more. The young receivers aren’t rookies anymore. Love isn’t learning how to become the starter. LaFleur isn’t trying to determine whether this core can compete. We already know it can. Now the Packers need to prove they can take the next step.
Ultimately, it requires Green Bay to become a team where the strengths of one player make life easier for another. Golden’s speed should create space for Reed and Kraft. Jacobs’ presence should make play-action more dangerous for Love. A successful pass rush should make life easier on an unsettled cornerback room. McKinney’s range should allow Gannon to become more aggressive elsewhere.
That’s what championship rosters do. The pieces don’t simply coexist. They complement each other.
The Packers Need to Find Their Best Version
There are still a few weeks before Green Bay travels to Minnesota for Week 1. That’s what the rest of August should be about. That means focusing less on preseason records, individual stat lines or declaring winners and losers after every practice.
The Packers need to use this time to figure out exactly what kind of team they want to be. Because there is enough talent in Green Bay to make another playoff appearance. There might be enough talent to do considerably more than that. But talent alone isn’t going to get the Packers where they want to go.
The biggest question surrounding this team isn’t whether Green Bay has enough pieces anymore. It’s whether Matt LaFleur and his staff can put them together the right way.
