To overcome its youth and inexperience, the Packers offense requires heavily tailored game plans from head coach Matt LaFleur. Of late, he has fallen short.
Don’t you guys think GB would like to have Love on the roster next year? I think this is playing out well in the sense that it’ll be humbling for everyone, they’ll be able to re-sign Love more cost effectively, and we’ll have a better draft position in April.
I don’t think we talk enough about just how unacceptable this group of pass catchers would have been for Rodgers. If you told 12 that he was headed into a season with 5 guys straight off the college quad and Romeo Doubs, he’d have retired! I mean, with more WR help than that, he still insisted on adding Randall Cobb!
Now pair 5 college kids and Doubs with a 1st year starting QB, no Aaron Jones, an inexplicably worse AJ Dillon, two stellar O Linemen hurt, and here we are.
They don’t have the experience to overcome the inexperience, much less the injuries. That may sound silly, but teams need a “critical mass of experience”. If there isn’t some “experience” floor: enough guys that are assignment-sound to where you know the team is capable of going out there and handling the basics, then chaos ensues. I think that’s partly where we are at… Too many guys that are still learning the scheme (that are not fluent yet). They lack the institutional knowledge that veterans possess to be able to just go out there and get it done.
Love didn’t step into a veteran offense with experienced guys. He stepped into an offense with 3 offensive lineman, a 2nd year WR2, a bad running back and 5 rookies. So he’s not only trying to figure his stuff out, he’s worried about everyone else figuring it out too.
There’s a lot of growing to do. I think once things begin to click for *everyone*, this offense will gain consistency. Then, and only then, will we see what they’re capable of.
The defense is an unpardonable sh*tshow, and there’s just no excuse.
1. As I wrote in the story, it remains too early to make any long-term judgments about Jordan Love. But if his play doesn't improve meaningfully and the Packers decided to pivot, they're not extending him. He's already under contract through 2024 and they wouldn't commit more financial resources to him.
2. As it pertains to the receiving corps, the Packers wouldn't have leaned this far into youth had Aaron Rodgers stayed for 2023. The front office fully leaned into this direction only after the Rodgers decision.
3. The inexperience across the offense is a major factor in the Packers' struggles, but that doesn't explain away everything. Peter and I have written for weeks about how Matt LaFleur can play into the strengths of these skill-position players. He did that well during the first few games but, as I detailed in the story above, that hasn't happened for a few weeks.
Maybe I’m using the youth and inexperience to explain away too much, but it seems like they DO try things and plays get busted, passes get dropped, mistakes get made (Wicks missed block on the jet. But then, why do they have Wicks responsible for an edge?). You can absorb a mistake here and there when you have a solid group of veterans to steady the ship, but I think it’s just too much inexperience all around for GB. The only thing that will help is time (and the belief that they can improve).
I like Love’s temperament in that regard. I don’t think he’ll let bad play prevent him from improving. He seems to have a really resilient mindset.
Don’t you guys think GB would like to have Love on the roster next year? I think this is playing out well in the sense that it’ll be humbling for everyone, they’ll be able to re-sign Love more cost effectively, and we’ll have a better draft position in April.
I don’t think we talk enough about just how unacceptable this group of pass catchers would have been for Rodgers. If you told 12 that he was headed into a season with 5 guys straight off the college quad and Romeo Doubs, he’d have retired! I mean, with more WR help than that, he still insisted on adding Randall Cobb!
Now pair 5 college kids and Doubs with a 1st year starting QB, no Aaron Jones, an inexplicably worse AJ Dillon, two stellar O Linemen hurt, and here we are.
They don’t have the experience to overcome the inexperience, much less the injuries. That may sound silly, but teams need a “critical mass of experience”. If there isn’t some “experience” floor: enough guys that are assignment-sound to where you know the team is capable of going out there and handling the basics, then chaos ensues. I think that’s partly where we are at… Too many guys that are still learning the scheme (that are not fluent yet). They lack the institutional knowledge that veterans possess to be able to just go out there and get it done.
Love didn’t step into a veteran offense with experienced guys. He stepped into an offense with 3 offensive lineman, a 2nd year WR2, a bad running back and 5 rookies. So he’s not only trying to figure his stuff out, he’s worried about everyone else figuring it out too.
There’s a lot of growing to do. I think once things begin to click for *everyone*, this offense will gain consistency. Then, and only then, will we see what they’re capable of.
The defense is an unpardonable sh*tshow, and there’s just no excuse.
Several things.
1. As I wrote in the story, it remains too early to make any long-term judgments about Jordan Love. But if his play doesn't improve meaningfully and the Packers decided to pivot, they're not extending him. He's already under contract through 2024 and they wouldn't commit more financial resources to him.
2. As it pertains to the receiving corps, the Packers wouldn't have leaned this far into youth had Aaron Rodgers stayed for 2023. The front office fully leaned into this direction only after the Rodgers decision.
3. The inexperience across the offense is a major factor in the Packers' struggles, but that doesn't explain away everything. Peter and I have written for weeks about how Matt LaFleur can play into the strengths of these skill-position players. He did that well during the first few games but, as I detailed in the story above, that hasn't happened for a few weeks.
Maybe I’m using the youth and inexperience to explain away too much, but it seems like they DO try things and plays get busted, passes get dropped, mistakes get made (Wicks missed block on the jet. But then, why do they have Wicks responsible for an edge?). You can absorb a mistake here and there when you have a solid group of veterans to steady the ship, but I think it’s just too much inexperience all around for GB. The only thing that will help is time (and the belief that they can improve).
I like Love’s temperament in that regard. I don’t think he’ll let bad play prevent him from improving. He seems to have a really resilient mindset.
Time will tell. Good stuff as always.