When the Green Bay Packers started training camp in July, there were some clear weaknesses on the roster. People were concerned about the depth that they had compiled, or lack thereof, at a few position groups. Those position groups were all on the defensive side of the ball.
Defensive line lost a lot of veteran leadership with Dean Lowry and Jarran Reed departing in free agency. The Packers would be relying on a lot of youthfulness to join Kenny Clark in the trenches.
In the back end of their defense, the safety position was argubaly the weakest on the depth chart. Darnell Savage Jr., who was benched at points in 2022, was the closest to a surefire starter the Packers had.
Alas, those weaknesses have been figured out in some capacity. The defensive line was great as the youngsters look to be taking steps forward in their development. No one failed to step up in the safety position battle, but at the same time, things didn’t get worse, which was a win in itself.
Instead, the biggest weakness facing the Packers is an overarching storyline for the entire roster. In the opinion of Rob Demovsky of ESPN, it is the lack of experience overall. More specifically, the group of pass catchers that the team has surrounded Jordan Love with.
“Experience. This will be one of the youngest — if not the youngest — group of receivers and tight ends in the league. Their most experienced receivers are second-year pros Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson. Their No. 3 receiver will likely be rookie Jayden Reed. They have only one tight end with NFL experience (Josiah Deguara), and he’s more of a fullback/H-back. Their other two tight ends are rookies (Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft).”
The Packers are making a bold decision with how they handled the skill positions. They are going with a full youth movement, resetting the clock on salaries in the process. There isn’t a single player with more than one season of NFL experience at wide receiver and tight end entering the season.
That is a huge risk as a lack of veterans could ultimately be their undoing. But, there is no denying the talent that this group has. They are short on experience but have the skill sets to more than make up for it.
There could be some bumps in the road early on, but the Packers have a strong coaching staff to help lead the way. They will ensure the young players are in the best positions to succeed while leaning on the few veterans they have in place.
