The outstanding 2020 Regular Season of the Green Bay Packers produced a division title, a number one seed and first round playoff bye. Great team accomplishments to be sure and the success also resulted in plenty of individual accolades. The Packers had seven players named to the NFC Pro Bowl roster, even though the game won’t be played this year. Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, Za’Darius Smith, Jaire Alexander were voted in as starters, Aaron Jones as a backup. This week, the Associated Press All Pro team, even more prestigious in my opinion, named six more Packers, 4 on the first team, 2 on the second, led by Rodgers, Adams, Bakhtiari and Corey Linsley with Smith and Alexander second team members.
Before the playoffs begin for the Pack, I thought I’d try my hand at coming up with a regular season honor roll for the team. And the winners are…..
Most Valuable Player
We’ll start with the big one and that’s Aaron Rodgers. Hitting 37 in December, Rodgers hit numbers he’s never achieved before. 48 touchdown passes, a completion rate of 70.7%. His passer rating of 121.5 is second best all time, behind only his 122.5 from his first MVP season in 2011. Rodgers also led the league with an interception percentage of 0.95% and his 48-5 TD-Int ratio was 9.60, tops again. Rodgers didn’t go above 300 yards passing down the stretch but still shared the league lead with 14 passes over 40 yards and led the league with 3, 70 yard bombs. His personal peace of mind, his enthusiasm for Matt LaFleur’s offense and his orchestration of it made for a remarkable year.
Offense Player of the Year
Davante Adams has now entrenched himself as one of, if not the best, wide receiver in the league. No one has had more than 100 catches and 18 touchdowns in a single season in NFL history. Adams hit the 18 and finished with 115 catches. Keep in mind, that came in 13 and a half games. He averaged a league best 8.2 receptions a game and 98.1 yards a game. That was over 100 yards a game until the final two weekends when teams tried everything possible to shut him down. Davante had four games with at least 10 catches and 2 scores, tying another NFL mark. Davante’s route running is exemplary, he beats man coverage, brackets and clouds. Magnificent to watch.
Defensive Player of the Year
It’s Ja Money time. Jaire Alexander said this was coming and it’s arrived in his third year. He’s among the best. He almost eliminated half the field with an opponents’ passing game and earned Pro Bowl and All Pro honors because of it. He scored points on opening day with his sack and safety of Kirk Cousins and then shut down receivers the rest of the way. Pro Football Focus said Alexander allowed 35 receptions among 563 coverage snaps this year. Just 4.9 yards per attempt was allowed by the brash and talented corner. Even more impressive was the list of number one receivers he not only covered, but shut out in games this year, Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Evans, Calvin Ridley, Will Fuller, T.Y. Hilton, Alshon Jeffrey and Allen Robinson. That’s 0 catches on less than a dozen targets, quarterbacks just quit throwing Jaire’s way.
Rookie of the Year
Shouldn’t be a surprise this award didn’t come from the draft class where number 1 Jordan Love was inactive every week, Josiah Deguara got hurt early and A.J. Dillon had but one shining moment against Tennessee. No, an undrafted free agent from UCLA is my choice for Rookie of the Year, linebacker Krys Barnes. He impressed enough in camp to make the 53, he was earning snaps every week until he hit the Reserve/Covid list but when he returned, he was a difference maker in the defensive improvement to season’s end. Barnes played 13 games with 10 starts, piling up 47 solo tackles, 31 assists to finish second behind only Adrian Amos on the team. He had five tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. Barnes also earned the right to wear the green dot on his helmet, taking in calls from the coaching staff and directing the checks for alignments. Barnes has a big future.
Most Improved Player
It went from Robert to Bobby, from TON-yun to TUN-yun. The third year tight end went from a project to prominent piece in the offensive success. He matched the franchise record for tight end touchdowns with 11, tying the standard set by Paul Coffman way back in 1983. Tonyan went from 10 catches for an even 100 yards with one score last year, to 52 receptions, for 586 yards (11.3 average) and the double digit scores in his breakout season. Even more amazing was how wide open Tonyan was on most of his scoring grabs. There’s a lot of very talented tight ends in the league, make room for this one. Honorable mentions for this award included Darnell Savage who went from making plays to making big plays this year and Elgton Jenkins, an all-rookie team member who became a Pro Bowler.
Comeback Player of the Year
He barely played for the Packers this year but the fact that he played at all makes 31 year old Billy Winn my choice. Winn went to injured reserve with a triceps injury, ending his season on December 9. He played in six games all told, getting credited with 2 solo stops, 4 assists and 6 total tackles with two passes batted down. That had to feel like Reggie White’s Super Bowl 3 sack show considering what he’s been through. He entered the league in 2012 but last played a game at the end of the 2016 season with the Denver Broncos. He blew out his knee in the 2017 pre-season opener, it took two years to recover, then a biceps injury in the 2019 pre-season wiped out another year but Winn kept working and hoping for another shot. It came with the Pack this year and he was forever grateful and getting just one more taste of the game.
Coach of the Year
Actually, it’s Coaches of the Year. The Offensive Line tandem of Adam Stenavich and his trusty aide Luke Butkus worked miracles with a diligent and unbelievably versatile group of linemen all year. There were six different starting combinations deployed by the Packers up front this year. Elgton Jenkins and Billy Turner both started games at three different positions, Lucas Patrick made starts at both guard spots. The group had to endure the loss of first team All-Pro’s at left tackle for 4 games and at center for three. The revolving door never kept spinning yet the OL still pushed forward in the run game for a top 10 finish and 4.8 yards per attempt, and protected the franchise on over 520 pass attempts allowing just 21 sacks. Remarkable job by Stenavich and Butkus to keep this group producing amidst so much change.
