It’s that time of year again. Here are three burning questions for the Green Bay Packers.
Is this the beginning of the end?
Exposed as the Packers’ biggest weakness as the season wore on and into the playoffs, the lack of depth at wide receiver was a clear area that needed to be addressed this offseason. Thus, leading up to the draft, speculation suggested that the team would draft targets for their future Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers.
However, come the draft, not only did they not draft a single wide receiver but they went as far as to draft his potential replacement in Jordan Love. Oddly enough, exactly 15 years earlier, Green Bay drafted Rodgers to replace then future hall of famer Brett Favre.
While it is not something Packers fans will openly admit, it had to happen sooner or later.
The question that remains is “when?”
When will Love get his shot? Will Rodgers (similarly to Favre) finish his career somewhere other than Green Bay? It happens to the best of them. Joe Montana finished his career in Kansas City, Peyton Manning chose Denver for his swan song, and Tom Brady left New England for Tampa Bay.
This will be an underlying topic all season in Green Bay.
Can Aaron Jones move further up the ranks among league running backs?
In his third NFL season, Jones carried the ball effectively. He achieved his first 1,000-yard rushing season and found the end zone 16 times on the ground. After battling both injuries and fumbling issues in his first two seasons, Jones showed what he can do through an entire season. He also tallied nearly 500 yards receiving and three touchdowns through the air.
If he can have a similar season, Jones could very well find himself included among the top six or seven running backs in the NFL.
What about the defense?
The defense was a unit that played very well last season—in large part thanks to the success of the linebacking duo of Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith—and rattled more than a few quarterbacks. The team replaced Blake Martinez (signed with Giants) with Christian Kirksey, who is a very similar inside linebacker.
The defensive front will be just as successful this season. It doesn’t hurt to have guys like cornerback Jaire Alexander and safety Adrian Amos behind them who allow the front to be aggressive.
The success of the linebackers coupled with the superb secondary play of Jaire Alexander and co. should continue into the 2020 NFL season.
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