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Voluntary OTAs have come to an end for the Green Bay Packers. These Organized Team Activities lasted three weeks and consisted of eight practices, three of which were open to the media. Next up for the Packers is mandatory minicamp, which will take place from June 13th through the 15th.
With OTAs, it’s always worth keeping front of mind that the pads aren’t on yet, and the purpose of these practices is to go through the basic offensive and defensive installs, so each unit can then build upon those during training camp, and as Matt LaFleur mentioned, it’s an opportunity for the young players to learn how to practice together. So while everything we hear and see needs to be taken with a grain of salt, it’s not as if these practices don’t mean anything either. Eventually, roster and depth chart decisions will have to be made, and what was learned over these last few weeks provides LaFleur and the coaching staff with additional data points that will be a part of that decision-making process.
After attending those open OTA practices, I wanted to take some of your questions to answer what was on your mind and to share my observations and takeaways from what I saw.
If there’s any position on the Packers that could use a boost from a free agent signing what position and free agent should/would the Packers target based off OTAs? – @Padgett_josh1
Based on what I saw at OTAs, there isn’t a position group that I feel differently about when it comes to making a free agent addition. With that said, all offseason, I have been fairly adamant that signing a free agent tight end is a move that should happen. Both Kraft and Musgrave looked very good when on the practice field, but the truth is, history tells us that there is a very steep learning curve at the tight end position, and most won’t make significant impacts right away. Matt LaFleur would even say earlier this offseason that after the quarterback, the jump from college to the NFL is the most difficult for a tight end because they have to know route concepts like a receiver and blocking technique, in both the run and passing games, like an offensive tackle, along with being able to do all of that from a variety of alignments. If a veteran addition was made, Musgrave and Kraft would still play major roles, but it could add some stability to the position while the rookies inevitably go through the ups and downs that come in a first season. At this stage of the free agent process, there really aren’t any names that leap off the page at you, but some of the top remaining options, according to NFL Trade Rumors, are MyCole Pruitt, Maxx Williams, Geoff Swaim, Marcedes Lewis, Eric Tomlinson, and Cameron Brate.
Offensive personnel grouping you’re most excited to see this season (for me, it’s 12 personnel with Watson, Reed, Musgrave, Kraft, and Jones)? – @GolfSThompson
I have to agree with the 12 personnel, although, more often than not, I expect to see Doubs in there for Reed. The reason that this grouping has me most excited is because of all the possibilities that can come from it from a play-calling standpoint. One big difference between this year’s Packers offense and the 2022 version is the added versatility. You can read more here, but in short, the ability to move players around and have them all fill a variety of roles is going to open up the playbook for Matt LaFleur and help him achieve the ‘illusion of complexity’ we hear him refer to. By running the same play from a variety of personnel or like plays that end differently, it keeps the defense off-balance, guessing, and makes it a lot more difficult to decipher pre-snap what is going to take place. Also, an important aspect for this year’s inexperienced offense is that this versatility will allow LaFleur to keep the concepts simple yet still be deceptive to the defense.
What non-drafted rookies have put themselves on the radar to make a push for a roster spot? – @thdirsch
I’ll give two names: wide receiver Malik Heath and edge rusher Brenton Cox.
Heath has made at least one impressive catch during team drills in each of the practices that I was at. As of now, I would consider five roster spots at receiver locked up between Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Samori Toure, and Dontayvion Wicks. If the Packers keep six receivers on the 53-man, I still believe Grant DuBose is the favorite for that spot as a draft pick, which LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst have favored during their tenures when making these final roster decisions. However, DuBose is yet to practice during OTAs or rookie minicamp, potentially opening the door for Heath, Jeff Cotton, or Bo Melton.
Cox, in my opinion, is the most likely UDFA to make the roster, and he’s caught the attention of LaFleur as well. Following Tuesday’s practice, LaFleur named Cox, along with a few other defenders, as one of the young players who has stood out through OTAs. If the Packers keep five edge rushers as they often have and Rashan Gary begins the season on the PUP list, that leaves two roster spots at the position open if we assume Preston Smith, JJ Enagbare, and Lukas Van Ness are locks. Cox would absolutely be one of the favorites for those two roster spots in this scenario. On the flip side, if Gary is available for Week 1, then Cox will be competing with Justin Hollins for that final roster spot, and at least based on what I saw from Hollins and how he was utilized during OTAs, often playing with the starters, leaping him on the depth chart may be a tall task. Hollins was very consistent against both the run and pass last season, with pass rush coordinator Jason Rebrovich saying that he took on a leadership role in the edge rusher room as well. Cox will have to show that it’s worth rostering his upside over Hollins’ reliability, which could be more attractive to Green Bay as they find themselves in a transition year with Jordan Love at quarterback.
Could Caleb Jones force a rethinking of the Tackle depth chart this year? Or is he a year away? – @Toast_Patterson
One of my standout performers from this OTAs was Caleb Jones, who took his fair share of snaps with the starters, especially during the most recent practice, when David Bakhtiari wasn’t a part of team drills. As one would expect with a second-year UDFA, he took some lumps, but playing him with the starters does go to show what the coaching staff thinks of him. This season should be another developmental year for him, something offensive line coach Luke Butkus talked about a few weeks ago. However, there becomes some uncertainty at offensive tackle in 2024 with Yosh Nijman being a free agent and the team potentially moving on from Bakhtiari in favor of salary cap savings. At that point, Jones could be competing for a starting job in his third NFL season, which would match the trajectory of Nijman, who was a 2019 UDFA.
The biggest question is the right side of the line. I’m assuming Nijman and JRJ. – @JamsMom04
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich has told us that we are going to see Zach Tom taking snaps at both right guard and center. Through OTAs, Josh Myers and Jon Runyan have still been starting, but I saw Tom going through individual drills as a center, and he also played right guard with the twos. If I were to guess right now, while there will be a lot of movement and experimenting this summer with different offensive line configurations, I expect that Myers and Runyan continue to start in their respective positions, with Tom at right tackle. In part, I haven’t seen near enough to assume otherwise and will value Myers and Runyan’s starting experience. Tom, however, is absolutely one of the best five offensive linemen, and in the very small sample size that I’ve seen, I do think he’s held up better at right tackle than Nijman through OTAs. Now, to throw out a different potential configuration, if the one I just mentioned doesn’t happen, I would guess Myers at center, Tom at right guard, and Nijman at right tackle, just based on what we saw from 2022.
Love consistently throws wobblers on the run that are often inaccurate. Do you think he can fix this after showing the same issue each year or is that just who he is? – @poppassleft
There have been instances during OTAs where there is a noticeable difference in how the ball looks leaving Jordan Love’s hands when he’s in the pocket versus on the run–which have produced some wobbly throws. At this stage of his career, in regards to just about every aspect of Love playing the quarterback position, because we’ve seen so little of him and he’s still developing, I don’t think we can say that’s who he is. I know he is entering Year 4, so this may be a bit of an easy answer, but I think time will tell. A lot of that has to do with mechanics, which he is still refining. And if, on the run, he doesn’t zip the ball as tightly, that doesn’t mean he still can’t be successful. Following Tuesday’s practice, Rob Demovsky asked LaFleur about this, and he had this to say:
“You always continue to work on the mechanics, a smooth throwing motion. It’s about being accurate, throwing on time, making the right decisions, putting the ball in the right spot. I’ve been encouraged, especially over the course of this last week. One of the things we talk about in that room is how important is the process of playing quarterback. I’m less concerned about the end result right now, but I do believe that if the process is correct, he is going to be more consistent. So within that is the footwork, the mechanics, keeping a base in the pocket, being able to throw at any point in time. I think just the rhythm and the timing, that’s something we’ve really stressed. I think he’s done a good job, in particular, this week of making some really significant strides.”
(Jeff) Cotton had a decent OTA, but do you see him or any of the UDFA making the roster over any of the draft picks from the last two years? – @PackerFanWyo
As I already mentioned, I still think that Grant DuBose is the favorite for the sixth wide receiver roster spot. But if I were to pick a challenger, I would choose Bo Melton. I just wrote about this topic recently, but with Melton’s 4.34 speed, he is someone who could carve out a specific role as the motion/gadget-type player. With Love at quarterback, I expect to see more snaps under center and more motion overall within the offense, making this motion role more prominent. The obvious benefit of having a playmaker at that position is the big play potential, but there is a positive trickle-down effect to the rest of the offense as well with the attention that gadget player draws, which can create opportunities and mismatches for others while taking some of the burden off of Love.
(Who are the) biggest losers of OTAs in Green Bay? – @lambeaulabo
It’s too early in the process to say that there were any losers. It’s also too early to say that there were winners as well. But what I will share is who stood out to me during the few practices that were open to the media.
— Caleb Jones took some snaps at left tackle with the ones.
— Tarvarius Moore was taking starting snaps at safety along with Rudy Ford. If I were putting together the safety depth chart right now, I would have Moore third, behind Ford and Darnell Savage.
– Lukas Van Ness’ power was on display as he spent one practice living in the backfield. That day he also played the run well.
— Colby Wooden has been taking first-team reps along the interior defensive line and had a practice with multiple “pressures.” Devonte Wyatt had a similar performance during Tuesday’s practice as well. Karl Brooks also got a shoutout from LaFleur for his performance over the last few weeks.
— Jeff Cotton had a pair of touchdowns on Tuesday, and as already mentioned, Malik Heath seemingly makes an impressive catch each day.
— Carrington Valentine had a pair of red zone pass breakups on Tuesday while covering Romeo Doubs. LaFleur said that he has done an “unbelievable job.” And speaking of Doubs, he was Love’s go-to target throughout OTAs. The two worked together often during the offseason, and there very much has been some chemistry that has developed, according to Doubs.
— Tyler Goodson continues to impress with the ball in his hands, displaying good vision and an ability to make defenders miss. He is also being utilized in the passing game out of the slot.
