Is the Packers Roster Better in 2024?!

[Music] what's up friends happy Saturday welcome into a all new episode of the pack aay podcast I'm your host Andy Herman you can follow me on Twitter at Andy Herman NFL you can follow the podcast at paday podcast a fun breezy episode today I've done this the last couple years it's always fun we know the 53 man roster now so let's go back and look at the 53 the initial 53 man roster as they went into week one against the Chicago Bears last year comparing it to the week 1 53 man roster as they get set to go to Brazil and face the Eagles this year and see which one is better and I like to think that I'm a a fair judge here and will try to be uh not biased towards the current version over the last version and there's going to be some very interesting discussions that take place so we will see what positions they are better at which they are worse at which ones maybe remain to be seen and which ones where maybe we just easily call it a stalemate so let's start right away at the quarterback position relatively easy last year was Jordan love and Shan Clifford this year is Jordan love and Malik Willis now let's start with the backup first that's probably a little bit easier here uh just because obviously it's Jordan love to Jordan love but you had sea Clifford last year rookie fifth round pick probably was not quite ready to be the backup and we probably know that even better now because he's not ready to be the backup now in year two in fact he's now on the practice squad in year two so that was probably a bit aggressive to have him as the true backup in 2023 now we don't know quite yet what Malik Willis will be as a Green Bay Packer he just was acquired by the team he had a pretty nice preseason in Tennessee I think you would be hardpressed to say that rookie Shan Clifford was a better backup than current Malik Willis I don't know that anyone would want to make that argument if you want to say hey it's one unknown versus another unknown let's call that even okay I would still go pretty aggressively in the direction that year three Malik Willis with all of his athletic ability is probably going to be a better backup than rookie Shan Clifford and the reason I'm even more convicted in that is because the Packers had the choice between this Malik Willis or seconde sha Clifford and they very clearly went with Malik Willis so I think the Packers backup quarterback at least in some capacity is slightly better than it was last year and then let's talk Jordan love Jordan love first year starter had no idea what to respect you saw some early struggles through the first half of the Season both with him and of course the offense as a whole but now we saw the vision with Jordan we know what he is capable of he is expected to be the Jordan love that we saw at the second half of last season it is always going to be that perfect probably not but we know that that exists and I think we would probably be expecting more of that second half of the Year version of Jordan love than what we saw early on so I would say pretty easily that this Jordan love with just more experience more snaps more repetitions more confidence is probably better than 2023 Jordan love and obviously we already went over the backup quarterback that we take Willis over Clifford so for me quarterback a huge check in the 2024 version running back's interesting this is a tough one to parse out the only player that is still on the roster from 2023 at the running back position Emanuel Wilson didn't see that coming if I would have told you last year at this time of Aaron Jones AJ Dylan and Emanuel Wilson that only Emanuel Wilson would be on the roster in 2024 not sure you probably would have believed me but gonor Aaron Jones and AJ Dylan Dylan obviously on season ending n Aaron Jones a member of the Minnesota Vikings in are Josh Jacobs and Marshon Lloyd third round pick so would you rather have Aaron Jones and AJ Dylan or Josh Jacobs and Marshon Lloyd we can make the small argument that 2024 Emanuel Wilson with a bit more experience is better than 2023 version they're both both still pretty raw and inexperienced they're both talented I think we'll just call that one a draw at this point the Marshal lyd versus AJ Dylan one is interesting let's start there I would argue that you take the upside of Marshon Lloyd there but AJ Dylan much better pass protector can catch the ball to the backfield although Lloyd certainly can do that as well Lloyd is definitely an upside unknown meaning we know what we think he's capable of but we don't know what he's going to be we don't have any real feel for what type of running back he's going to be in the NFL whereas AJ Dylan the upside wasn't there but he was a known commodity you know what you're going to get you're not going to get a dynamic running back but you're going to get somebody who does everything pretty well catches the ball to the Back Field okay can run between the tackles a little bit and then is pretty darn good at pass protection how you want to weigh that out is up to you I would probably rather have and and you guys know how I feel about this I want Playmakers at the playmaker positions and Martian lyd is more of a playmaker so I know he's a bit more of an unknown but I'll give me the unknown with higher upside that I think can maybe impact this offense a little bit more than what we saw from AJ Dylan or even were expecting out of AJ Dylan in 2023 so I will go Lloyd there the Jones Jacobs conversation we've had before it's a difficult conversation to parse out do you want the Aaron Jones that we saw and knew that we were capable of getting in 2023 that was super Dynamic could make things happen out of nowhere and really was the engine of the offense or do you want somebody that maybe that we know is capable of that I will say this once again Josh Jacobs 2022 was better than any year that Aaron Jones has ever had but Aaron Jones through the entirety of his career was just constantly really freaking good but he had three injuries a season too obviously we didn't know that at the beginning of 2023 but he was getting a little bit more up there in age whereas Josh Jacobs a little younger little healthier and a little bit more of that bcow I'm going to I think ultimately call this one a draw just because again Aaron Jones we know like we know every year what you're going to get out of him and I would probably take 2023 Aaron Jones out of you know a little bit more of a mystery box of 2024 Josh Jacobs I'm okay with the the Dylan Lloyd uh you know swap knowing that Dylan can give you that pass Pro and Emanuel Wilson is the same but I mean if you want to go here 2024 Packers and say Jacobs is going to be again more that bcow can everything is going to be healthier more I will absolutely understand and accept that argument if you want to say Lloyd's going to be better than Dylan I will absolutely expect that aru uh respect and accept that argument and I will absolutely accept that Wilson could be better in 2024 than what he was in 2023 as well so uh I think again I will call it a draw for the sake of this I think you could make a strong argument though for 2024 and I I I think you probably could make an argument for 2023 based on Aaron Jones and just how talented is but I think that's a little bit harder to do so I'm still going to go draw here because I have so much reverence and respect for Aaron Jones and what he is capable of and what he can do at any given moment but um we'll we'll call this one a draw wide receiver there's only one change Watson Reed Wick dos and Heath all on the opening roster last year and on the opening roster this year the only change is Sor Tay to Bo Melton this is a very clear and obvious 2024 answer right Melton is better than Tay and again we know that because they just had that choice and chose Melton over Tay and that was not even a close comparison and everyone else you're expecting to be a step better in 20124 Watson hopefully healthier and better Jaden Reed better in year two Wicks better in year two dobs looks better in year three Malik keath looks better in year two so everyone should hopefully fingers crossed continue to progress and Melton is just a better number your I guess new guy than what samor tur was in that sixth roll a season ago tight end it's another one where you've got three of the same Luke Musgrave Tucker craft and Ben Sims all the the same players the only difference is you had you ji aguara last year no Jai aguara or any replacement for him this year I'm still going 2024 here uh first of all I don't think Lan ji aguara is actually a negative here no disrespect meant but I I think that they can fill those snaps with guys like Tucker craft and Ben Sims or others and get a better result out of that I think they're going to have more Playmakers on the field which I think is a good thing and I expect mrave to be better in year two I expect craft to be a lot better in year two from where he was early last year CU we saw it in the second half of last year I think Ben Sims can take and will take a step as well so this is another one there where even though there's one fewer player and just justu is no longer on the team uh I'm going to go with the 2024 version because I do expect all three of those guys that are returning to be better than their 2023 counterparts offensive line another really interesting discussion so Zack Rasheed Walker joshh Myers Elton Jenkins and Shawn Ryan are all back so five of the 10 are apples to apples now Zack Tom was really good last year he's going to be I think even better this year but at least the same Rasheed Walker is going to take a pretty big step from where he was as a a second-year player last year where you didn't know what you had and early in the year it was a struggle and now he looks like a really good left tackle Myers is probably the same Elton Jenkins is probably the same Shawn Ryan I think is going to be better uh in year three than what he was in year two so I think there's progress with the players that are carried over from 2023 to 2024 as a whole so here's your question the other five David bakari John runan Jr Royce Newman Yash nyman and Caleb Jones those are your five now we cannot for the sake of argument here go back with the benefit of hindsight and say Well bakari only played one game we didn't know that we don't know maybe this year there's going to be a player that's an absolute stud on this team that only plays one game not would hopefully not but we don't know what the injury situation is going to look like so we can't hold the Bak tiari injury against it for the sake of this debate as you go in with the 53 man roster right if we're just basing it on initial 53 so Bak tiari is a pretty big player to have that's no longer there in this for again for the sake of this argument Royce Newman I don't think anyone's losing any sleep over that loss Caleb Jones same thing Yash nyman I would even argue I don't think there's a I think he was overrated in Green Bay he's a fine you know semi- rotational offensive tackle swing tackle I think I think they can replace that relatively easily and then John runan Jr starting caliber player really struggled the vast majority of the season did play better towards the end uh had a little bit of an up and down career in Green Bay but was uh at times a starting caliber player for the Packers meanwhile the five that those players are or the the five replacement players are Andre Dillard Jacob monk Jordan Morgan Kadeem telfor and Travis Glover and that's just a hodg podge of a mystery box Andre Dillard can he be the Yash nyman yeah I think he can maybe be a little bit of that Yash nman maybe a little bit worse but let's just say that's Apples to Apples can Jacob monk be John ran Jr maybe I would probably take runan over that but I think that's maybe closer than what people would say Kadeem Telford or is probably the new Caleb Jones so no question there um I will rather have Travis Glover than Royce Newman I know that they're different positions but I'll take that and then you have David Bak tiari versus Jordan Morgan and as much as we're expecting from a first- round pick in Jordan Morgan and think he can be good we're just taking bakari in that conversation now you can add into the argument that bakari's had a ton of injuries and you don't know what you're going to get out of him going into that season right you didn't know if you would get one game or 16 games or anything in between you've probably thought maybe somewhere in the middle but you were probably expecting a decent amount amount of games overall I I would just say I think with bak tiari nyman and runan being a little bit more of known Commodities versus anything that you're getting out of Dillard monk Morgan tord or Glover I've got to go the 2023 offensive line I do think it's close I don't think it's a massive downgrade by any stretch of the imagination and of course it's not really a downgrade at all if we're being real with the benefit of hindsight because bakari only played one game and you take bakari out of that equation and it's just easily easily easily 2024 so in in the sake of this argument cuz again if we're taking it just at the initial 53 and saying hey bakari was there then I'm going 2023 but in reality we know bakari was you know basically Fool's Gold he didn't really exist more than one game and for that reason I would go 2024 but again for the sake of this we will go 2023 so on offense we had quarterback 2024 running back even wide receiver 2024 tight end 2024 offensive line 2023 with a little bit of an asterisk next to it defensive line this is just basically a draw here is the exact same five people Slayton Brooks Wyatt wooden and Clark now if you want to make the argument with this new defense that guys like Devon Wyatt Carl Brooks kobby wooden all of them maybe are going to step up and be better in 2024 I would absolutely listen to that would I also listen to that Brooks Wyatt and wooden and maybe even Slayton should be better with a year more of experience yeah I would buy that argument as well Kenny Clark I would be willing to bet you is probably almost The Identical player that he was this past season he is a one year older but I don't think there's really any signs of slowing down there for Kenny so if you want to say 2024 be my guest and that's that's probably a little bit more the right answer just because you're expecting some progression here but since it is the exact same five players I'm going to go break even but Devonte Wyatt could really be the one that takes that into the 2024 category you know what screw it I'm going slight Edge to 2024 in large part to Devonte Wyatt in this new defense so slight Edge 2024 Edge last year ran Gary Preston Smith Kings Ley and igari LVN and brenon Cox all the same guys and then Justin Holland was the sixth this year outside of the five that we just discussed that are all the same Aaron Mosby is the new guy so they basically swapped out Justin Holland for Aaron Mosby I think we would take Mosby in that situation but again you don't know what to expect from Mosby you didn't really know what to expect out of Justin Hollands last year so you can do that more of a tossup should Brenton Cox be a little bit better in year two yes should LVN be better in year two yes enari better in year three yes I would back the same Preston Smith and hopefully ran Gary not coming off the ACL should be better in 2024 and that to me is the big one that sets it towards 2024 also playing in this new defense so think some of these younger players should improve and I also think ran Gary just not coming off the ACL will be much better as well so 2024 gets the edge at Edge linebacker same players qu Walker Isaiah McDuffy and Eric Wilson those are your three carries carryovers from 2023 to 2024 dandre Campbell is gone he's the only player from the linebacker group that is gone and in are Tyron Hopper and Edan Cooper now I would say that qu has looked better in 2024 than what I saw in 2023 but maybe ever so slightly I would say McDuffy looks much better playing in this Jeff Halley defense and I would say that Eric Wilson looks like a legitimate potential base starter where last year he was just a special teams guy so the carryover I would actually give a slight advantage to now dandre Campbell for Tyron Hopper and Edan Cooper is a more interesting discussion you get this vetan player that knows the defense at least last year's defense and has been a first team or first team All Pro just a couple years before you're hoping that he's going to have a big 2023 he didn't but that was your hope meanwhile you've got Tyron Hopper and edrian Cooper who are unknowns we don't exactly know what they're going to provide in 2024 they're not starters at the moment but I think if you look at it from a talent standpoint the 2024 group is better they have the additional player the returning players look better and dandre Campbell even going back we we won't use the benefit of what we saw from the season even going back to 2022 and what we saw in Camp in 2023 dandre just looked a step slower he did not look like himself from when he won that first teaml pro for all of those Reasons I'm going 2024 you're hoping the influx of Hopper and Cooper add some speed and playmaking to this defense and right now the other three all look better and Campbell just looked like still a shell of himself from where he was prior to that so again I'm going 2024 here as well Corner Jer Alexander keesan Nixon Carrington Valentine all crossover so all the three of those are the same you have Corey Balentine on the roster this year you only had four corners on the roster last year so that's an additional ad Cory Balentine was on the practice squad last year and then the big difference last year you had rosul Douglas this year you have Eric Stokes and Stokes was on remember pup to start the year last year and you know never was able to get back really he he played a couple games towards the end of the year but was not himself was really working off some rust from being out for so long this is an interesting one now again we can't use the benefit of hindsight here so Jer we were expecting to be really good last year we're expecting them to be really good this year kesan we didn't know really what you would get in the slot out of kesan as a full-time player this year we have a little bit better idea but I would still call that pretty much a tossup Carrington Valentine I would actually say I was maybe a little bit more excited about Carrington in 2023 than I was in 2024 most because we just haven't seen car kingon Valentine lately he's been out injured so I will still call that one a tossup although I do expect and hope that Valentine can take a small step in 2024 Balentine is nice to have on the roster but remember he was on the practice squad last year so they could and did call him up when needed and eventually obviously he made it to the roster so that this really comes down to would you rather have 2023 RZ Douglas or 2024 Eric Stokes I've really liked what I've seen out Eric Stokes so far I think he looks back like himself he looks looks like a starter his speed is there his strength is there he's got everything but I'm going to go with 2023 rosul Douglas on this one he came in Camp was awesome last year started the season strong like I know he ended up traded obviously but I would go you know with you the the more proven and known player that I think rou was in 2023 it's close could you make an argument for 2024 here I think you could but I think with rou I just give a slight nod to the 2023 version and then safety is just laughable it is absolutely laughable what if I told you last year too the only safety that would be on the roster for both years was Zayn Anderson if Zayn Anderson got released and they um you know just kept four safeties they would have completely made over the entire room but Darnell Savage Rudy Ford Jonathan Owens Anthony Johnson Jr dalon levit and Zay Anderson were the six safeties that were on the roster last year they're not going to miss any of those guys I mean Anthony Johnson Jr might be the player that they missed the most and they had the opportunity to keep them and they released them and of course a Anderson's your carryover new for Green Bay xaver mckin Javon Bullard Evan Williams katano aapo we don't even need to break this one down it is laughable how much better the 2024 version is I have said this all offseason it might be the most improved positional group in the entire NFL like that's how good I think the Improvement might be maybe uh quarterback in Atlanta you know going from Desmond Ritter to Kurt Cousins and Michael pennick like that's a pretty decent upgrade just cuz it was so bad last year but still uh there's not many uh position groups in the NFL that you could make an argument for that have made that big of an upgrade and you know Rudy Ford's not on a team right now Jonathan Owens is a backup in Chicago Anthony Johnson Jr is a backup in New York D lit's not on a team Darnell Savage will start for Jacksonville even still I know some of those guys are still hanging around and whatnot but this is a massive massive Improvement in 2024 so on the defensive side of things defensive line slight win for 2024 Edge slight win for 2024 mostly due to ran not being or coming off of an injury linebacker I would say slight win for 2024 Corner slight win for 2023 and safety massive win for 2024 as far as specialist goes kicker I who knows this is just a coin flip we're going to call we're going to break it even here Anders Carlson we didn't know what to expect going into 2023 Bren narvon we don't know what to expect back going into 2024 so neither probably ideal situations but both of them are just complete unknowns Daniel whan I would argue uh a slight Edge to 2024 just because again he's a little bit more known a little bit more reps and experience but that's basically a uh even uh status and then Long Snapper Matt oric to Matt Orek even there as well so no real changes on the specialty side of things other notes last year on the pup list was Eric Stokes on IR designated to return was Luke Tuda and some key practice squad players included B Melton Patrick Taylor and Cory Ballentine this year no pess players one IR designated to return Jonathan Ford and maybe one key special teams guy Robert relle it's tough a lot of their I think what they were hoping to be key special teams guys got picked up by other teams so it's a little bit on the lighter side right now but I do think Robert relle could be somebody that comes in and helps the team at some point this season all right so what do you think 2023 Packers or 2024 there's not many of these that you can make the argument for 2023 maybe running back right maybe offensive line if you're including Bak tiari in it maybe Corner uh roul over Eric Stokes I think that's it I think those are the only three that you could say maybe 2023 is better there are no groups in which you can say definitively yep 2023 was much better than this group and you could I think even running or uh sorry running back you can make the argument for 20124 I think offensive line if you take baktiar out for sure you make the argument for 2024 even with him I think could make maybe a slight one but it probably just leans 2023 and then um you know corner I think you could make an argument for 2024 there especially with this new Jeff Halley defense so every way you look at it it is almost impossible to make an argument that the 2023 roster would be better which is what we would have expected going into this conversation but it is very apparent that Green Bay has done a very nice job of continuing to develop the talent that they already had on this team keeping the right players on the roster and then bringing in some fresh new faces like a Josh Jacobs a Marshon Lloyd um you know obviously some of the offensive lineman like Jordan Morgan and Jacob monk uh Tyron Hopper edrian Cooper Eric Stokes coming back is huge xaver mcken Javon Bullard Evan Williams and then we'll see what happens with Braden narvon as well but thank Goody's done a really nice job of upgrading this roster in some key places they should get better just by the fact that these guys have played a lot more snaps and are a lot more experienced and it should be a roster that if you're looking at it on paper and games are not played on paper this is a team that went to the divisional round and gave the 49ers in San Fran all they can handle and probably should have won the game and now they have even even better team in 2024 that should give everyone a lot of reason for optimism and excitement as we get ready for Packer Packers Eagles on Friday and a 2024 campaign that has all the right in the world to be an insanely fun season that is going to do it for me today hope you guys enjoyed this episode make sure to like subscribe comment give those five reviews and of course check out those pack aay podcast YouTube memberships as well lot of great content out there for members including extra q&as extra content uh or extra videos I should say uh access to the pick them pool that all members are uh you know given access to so uh definitely now is a phenomenal time to become a pack aay podcast YouTube member that's going to do it for me for now but until next time and as always go Paco