Pro Football Focus ranked the roster of every team, including strengths, weaknesses, and X-factors. What does the PFF staff think of the 2022 Packers?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – For years, the Green Bay Packers have entered the season as a championship contender because of Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers is back and, as usual, the Packers are back among the top Super Bowl contenders. With the start of training camp just 20 days away, they have the fourth-shortest championship odds at SI Sportsbook.
What is unusual is Green Bay’s championship resume isn’t filled solely with offense-related bullet points.
Green Bay’s depth charts are loaded with high-quality players at just about every position group. In a pre-training camp ranking of team rosters by Pro Football Focus, the Packers rank fifth.
The strength of the team, in PFF’s estimation, is what could be a powerful defense. The hype is built on last year’s playoff performance against the 49ers, the re-signings of De’Vondre Campbell and Rasul Douglas, and the additions of Jarran Reed and first-round picks Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt.
“There aren't going to be many weak points for opposing offenses to attack,” Ben Linsey wrote.
True, but the Packers will have to live up to the hype. Lost in the glow of their no-touchdowns-allowed smackdown of the 49ers is the fact that this was one of the worst defenses in the NFL down the stretch.
Over the last seven games of the season, the Packers allowed 28-plus points five times – tied for the most in the NFL. Rather than peaking, Joe Barry’s defense ranked a woeful 28th in points allowed, 32nd in touchdown passes, 28th in yards allowed per carrying, 24th in total defense, and 22nd on third down during that span.
However, the addition of Walker with the 22nd overall selection opens some intriguing possibilities for Barry.
The biggest weakness is obvious. There isn’t a true No. 1 receiving anywhere in sight, though Rodgers has a lot of belief in Allen Lazard, and the Packers will be counting on Sammy Watkins (whose one 1,000-yard season came in 2015) and three draft picks to help offset the trade of Davante Adams.
The X-factor is offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins. A Pro Bowl left guard in 2020, he was a standout at left tackle in place of David Bakhtiari until suffering a torn ACL in November. When will he be healthy? And, when he is healthy, where will he line up?
“That uncertainty surrounding his availability and position qualifies him as an X-factor,” Linsey wrote, “but it's probably a safe bet that he'll perform at a high level wherever he lines up, which includes right tackle — his likeliest landing spot — where Jenkins has played just 33 snaps in his NFL career.”