A lot of Wisconsin wildlife shuts down in the winter, I on the other hand, annually hibernate over the first three weeks of July. A couple of novels, a few day trips and plenty of tee times are in the books, vacation’s over and here comes the 2021 Green Bay Packers season.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur’s third training camp welcomes rookies and first year players on Friday, the vets report early next week and the first camp practice hits Ray Nitschke Field on Wednesday, July 28.
Needless to say, this is going to be one wild summer. The unresolved Aaron Rodgers dilemma will dominate the Titletown District but as nearly every NFL coach says about this time of year, “the train is leaving the station.” If the reigning MVP is aboard, fine. If not, well the train must roll on.
This will be the 42nd training camp I’ve covered and it will be the second straight that won’t at least initially house players at McCormick Hall on the campus of St. Norbert College. The pandemic resulted in a virtual off-season a year ago and this summer, league protocols call for conducting all team business during camp at team facilities. Another noticeable change from the two-a-day sessions of days long gone by, the Packers have a grand total of 13 practices scheduled, including Family Night on August 7 at Lambeau Field. Finally, NFL teams used to play six exhibition games prior to a 12 game regular season slate, this year marks the first season of just three pre-season tune-ups with 17 games that count.
So much for the prelude, part one of my camp preview will examine the offensive side of the ball and what we can expect, position by position. LaFleur’s offense led the league in scoring a year ago with an MVP quarterback, All Pro Wide Receiver, Left Tackle and Center with a Pro Bowl running back to boot. Can the arrow keep pointing up?
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love, Blake Bortles, Kurt Benkert, Jake Dolegala.
Nearly every single day since the #12 bomb detonated on draft night, I’ve been asked, “will he or won’t he?’ Less than a week from camp, I still can’t say. My hunch is Rodgers will stay away until late August and ride into town for one final go. I just don’t believe he’s willing to sit out a full year that will have him turn 38 in December over principles. If he does? The Jordan Love run begins by default. Love will continue to get nearly every rep with the ones at every practice. He needs ’em. He needs game reps even more to hasten the mental processing of the pro game, the physical tools were the reason the Packers traded up to draft him and those will get refined. Bortles is purely a veteran ear to bend for Love and would be a desperate plan C if the team needed him to play in September. Benkert and Dolegala are this year’s version of Tim Boyle (circa 2018). The muscular Benkert and angular Dolegala are interesting kids who just hope to find a way onto the practice squad to keep learning.
Running Backs
Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, Dexter Williams, Patrick Taylor, Kylin Hill
Jones could have broken the bank by signing elsewhere but he’s committed to the Pack and the front office believes they retained the number one running back on the free agent market. His fit with LaFleur’s offense should continue to produce big numbers. Dillon will be the thunder to Aaron’s lightning and while no one is expecting Tennessee yardage every week, more touches will bring consistent results. The battle for runner number three will be interesting, Williams is now in year three and he’ll be pushed hard by Taylor, an interesting practice squad player from Memphis and Hill, a back who will have to go all out on special teams to earn a spot.
Wide Receivers
Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Devin Funchess, Equanimeous St. Brown, Reggie Begelton, Malik Taylor, Juwann Winfree, Amari Rodgers, DeAndre Thompkins, Chris Blair, Bailey Gaither.
Adams is not the type who will change a thing heading into the final year of his contract with a massive new deal in the works. His work ethic vaulted him to the top of his, and the NFL’s game at wide receiver. The bigger question becomes who among the rest will develop into a consistent playmaker? Lazard is first in line, MVS for all the home runs he hit, has to increase his catch count and lower the drop count. Will the opt out lost season hurt Funchess? When the top five stayed away during the OTA’s, EQ, Begelton, Taylor and Winfree got a lot of snaps but without much fanfare. The wild card here is Rodgers. The third round pick is going to get every opportunity to be in the mix and I’m hard pressed to think he won’t pile up touches in his rookie season.
Tight Ends
Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis, Josiah Deguara, Jace Sternberger, Dominique Dafney, Issac Nauta, Bronson Kaufusi.
A student in very good standing at Tight End University, Tonyan belongs in the fraternity with the likes of Kittle, Kelce and the others who train together every off-season. His 11 touchdowns last year were no fluke and he wants to get even better. Lewis, the wise old sage will continue his mentorship for one more year. Deguara showed promise early last season before the injury and Dafney showed promise late when given a chance. Sternberger, as a third round pick three years ago, may be caught in the middle and in the crossfire unless he has a big game. Kaufusi is a bulky prospect who bears watching
Offensive Line
David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, Billy Turner, Lucas Patrick, Josh Myers, Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan, Simon Stepaniak, Royce Newman, Jake Hanson, Cole Van Lanen, Zack Johnson, Jon Dietzen, Ben Braden, Jacob Capra, Coy Cronk.
The biggest issues for a line that lost Corey Linsley to the Chargers will be the continuing remarkable recovery of Bakhtiari from knee surgery and whether another Ohio State Buckeye, Myers, will be up to that task to replace Linsley at center. Both seemed to be passing with flying colors in the spring. The other front liners will be fine, no matter what position they play. The versatility of Jenkins, coming off his Pro Bowl season starting at four different spots, Turner and Patrick is comforting for whomever plays quarterback behind them. The collection of second year and rookie linemen will make for a spirited fight for backup jobs. Runyan handled his spot duty snaps with aplomb last year. Van Lanen is the feel good local story of course but the coaching staff really sang the praises of Braden during the OTA’s and mini-camp. He could find himself at the front of the line for the swing tackle job.
I’ll drop Part Two of the camp preview, talking defense, on Thursday.
