At the risk of sounding like a bears fan, I think we have a lot to look forward to next year. Last week I did the negative overlook of what we need to accomplish this offseason, so why don’t we go through some bullet points of how good the team already is this year. Try to feel a little better after that annoying game.
- – The defense was really good. Better than it has been in Matt LaFleur’s tenure (by far). And probably better than any year since the super bowl year. And that was with regression in the defensive line room and an injury-riddled cornerback room. Add a veteran cornerback and someone with juice to the d-line and they’ll be cooking with gas next year.
- – You can argue that every position except d-line, QB and WR was better this year than last.
- You might need to make some hard decisions on the d-line and the WR room definitely needs a number one receiver. As far as quarterback goes, they’re tied to Jordan Love. Love Went through a lot of injuries this season still had some great flashes at times.
- – They have a ton of cap space this offseason. I don’t think they’ll trade the first-round pick because the draft is in Green Bay, but I could see some huge moves in the trade and free agent markets. Maybe even in the coaching market to bring in a good d-line coach.
- – There are some legitimate criticisms of Matt LaFleur’s game management this season, but he still put together and amazing offensive season, all things considered. There are very few head coaches who I’d rather have.
- – Players like Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs, Zach Tom and Edgerrin Cooper are true stars and none of them were starters for the Packers two years ago. You can add impact players quickly and Gutekunst knows how to do it.
- – The defense was good without star level play from Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, Jaire Alexander, Devonte Wyatt, Lukas Van Ness or Quay Walker. All first round picks and some on massive second or third contracts. What are the odds that you have six first-round picks on your defense and they all have bad years. And six that you picked! I can’t imagine we’ll get this little production out of those six players next year. And if a couple of them are let go, it means we used the cap space on someone better.
- – Speaking of unproductive draft picks, Jordan Morgan and Marshawn Lloyd both missed practically the entire season because of injury. I would expect bounce back years from them as well.
There are certainly plenty of things to be positive about for next year and we should have a fun offseason. Sadly, we’ll more than likely be back here performing this same exercise next year. Football is hard. We had a QBs with generational talent for almost thirty years and won two super bowls. Jordan Love will probably never reach those peaks of QB play and the NFL is so random anyway. Journey before destination.
Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan currently living in Utah. You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.
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