WK

26

31

41

20

21

22

23

24

29

39

1

82

97

23

90

13

 

90

10

 

56

2

100

100

4

98

77

 

100

 

 

34

3

100

100

19

 

100

 

100

 

 

63

4

100

100

27

 

100

10

60

30

 

83

5

100

100

28

63

97

1

 

39

 

87

6

51

100

61

 

100

5

 

15

85

75

7

100

100

24

 

100

17

 

19

81

85

8

100

100

22

 

100

0

 

0

100

100

9

100

100

15

100

 

0

 

 

100

82

10

100

100

46

33

98

2

 

0

69

100

11

100

100

14

37

90

0

 

0

77

59

12

100

100

31

 

100

0

 

0

100

100

14

100

100

37

5

100

0

 

0

95

90

15

100

100

1

19

100

0

 

0

100

80

16

100

100

16

 

100

 

 

0

100

74

17

100

85

15

20

100

17

 

15

85

65

18

100

64

36

19

97

8

 

24

76

69

Ave

96.1

96.8

24.6

46.6

92

8.6

87.5

21.7

89

76.6

PFF

59.7

75.9

42.6

70.6

66.3

45.5

75.1

31

73.5

55.0
 
26: Darnell Savage was okay, but I had hopes that he would improve to the elite level this year.  He was good to very good last year, so I cannot help but feel a little disappointment.  Yet, he was close a number of times to making a big play.  It seems certain that the Packers will exercise his fifth year option after the season and before May of 2022 to lock Savage up for 2022 and 2023.  OTC projects Savage's fifth year option in 2023 at $7.9 million, so that decision is easy.
31: Adrian Amos might have been Gute's most efficient free agency signing in 2019.  He has been a godsend.  He has been durable and good.  He can play deep in the traditional free safety position and also as the strong safety.  He is wonderful at limiting gains by coming up quickly and making a solid tackle - no herding the ball carrier out of bounds for Amos.
41: Henry Black did not improve.  One can only surmise that the Packers hoped Vernon Scott would make a jump and/or expected Will Redmond to be the primary backup.  Redmond was fine deep, though he just was not meant to be a hybrid ILB.  [By the way, per Ken Ingalls, Redmond has filed an injury grievance against the Packers for the last 7 weeks of base salary.  He went on IR but the two sides could not reach an injury settlement.  The Packers released Redmond after 11 weeks, presumably when he passed a physical.  Redmond contends he was not healthy.  40% of the amount in question counts against the 2021 salary cap until an arbitrator decides the issue.]  Black was a liability in every department and was immediately targeted when he was on the field.  I am thankful that Savage and Amos stayed pretty healthy.  The biggest problem is that Black is not just backing up Amos and Savage; rather it is that he is the player called upon when the Packers want to go to a 3-safety look.  He is thus part of the rotation.
20: Kevin King overall played pretty well.  His PFF grade of 70.6 might surprise many.  However, that should be taken with a grain of salt.  When he was playing full time early in the season, before the Packers trusted Stokes and had acquired Rasul Douglas, his grade was lower.  It is not uncommon for a player's grade to rise when his role is limited to certain situations.  King missed 7 games altogether and was limited for others.  Those who did not like the signing were not wrong.  Of course, one could argue that the quality of his play could correlate with the state of his health rather than his role/usage.
21: Eric Stokes played early, played a lot, and played well.  Most importantly, he improved over the course of the season.  His future is bright.  Per Zach Kruse's article, Stokes and Douglas had 28 forced incompletions/interceptions in 2021, despite Douglas playing just 11 games for the Packers.  Last year, King and Sullivan as the number 2 and 3 cornerbacks forced 11 incompletions/interceptions.  Stokes and Douglas combined for a passer rating under 70 when targeted.
22: Shemar Jean-Charles played sparingly and only if necessary.  The zeroes in his column mean that he was active (he played special teams) but received no defensive snaps.  The jury is out on him.
23: Jaire Alexander got hurt in week four.  His return is greatly anticipated.
24: Isaac Yiadom played more snaps than he should have.  He was terrible and thus was limited to special teams usually.  Still, at least he could do that, so the trade of Josh Jackson for Yiadom was a net positive.
29: Rasul Douglas was signed on October 6, the week leading up to the Bengals game (week 5).  The Packers gave him that week to acclimate and started him on October 17 against the Bears (week 6).  They have been richly rewarded.  He became entrenched as the full-time starting boundary cornerback.  With the return of Jaire Alexander, the Packers now have options.  Douglas has the size and toughness to perhaps be the third safety in a 3-safety look (getting Black off the field) or as the slot cornerback.  It will be interesting to see how Joe Barry decides to juggle the pieces he has been given.
39: Chandon Sullivan gave fans much to hope for in 2019 when he played quite well in 350 snaps as Tramon Williams' backup.  Unfortunately, when he played regularly (729 and 827 snaps in 2020 and 2021) opponents found things in his game to exploit.  His PFF grade dropped from 73 in 2019 to 62 to 55 this year.  Still, I have no doubt he will be playing in the NFL in 2022.
Safeties Innis Gaines, Shawn Davis, and Vernon Scott all played special teams snaps in week 16.  Vernon Scott also played on special teams during week 18.  However, none of them played any defensive snaps.  This is Scott's second season.  Leapfrogging Henry Black should not have been a high bar.
The Packers missed 93 tackles in 2021 (5.47/game) after missing 132 in 16 games in 2020 (8.25/game).  39 fewer missed tackles can make a noticeable difference.
 

WK

6

10

12

49

81

84

85

89

27

28

32

33

1

 

26

74

33

9

 

49

26

 

28

25

49

2

 

5

95

 

45

 

43

55

 

29

8

69

3

 

0

100

 

27

 

73

40

 

29

0

73

4

 

0

100

 

33

 

78

49

 

40

0

62

5

 

0

100

 

20

6

59

45

 

33

3

69

6

 

0

100

 

25

0

63

68

 

42

0

59

7

 

0

100

 

20

2

68

38

 

23

9

73

8

 

0

100

19

22

0

48

42

 

40

0

66

9

 

100

 

40

24

2

 

46

2

38

 

63

10

 

0

100

 

34

16

 

57

4

49

 

46

11

 

2

98

27

46

5

 

29

25

75

 

 

12

 

0

100

24

43

4

 

40

0

51

 

49

14

3

 

97

11

57

14

 

55

3

54

 

45

15

 

0

100

 

56

31

 

50

0

37

 

63

16

 

0

100

5

56

22

 

42

0

44

 

56

17

 

16

84

25

40

43

 

17

16

52

 

41

18

 

54

46

22

43

35

 

29

46

54

 

 

Ave

3

40.2

93.4

22.9

46.2

16.4

60.1

42.8

16

42.2

8.7

58.9

PFF

 

36.2

90

68.1

58.6

59

54.6

78.8

79.8

87.4

55.5

82.6
6:  Kurt Benkert knelt down a couple of times in week 14 and looked very competent doing it.
10: Jordan Love played a full game in week 9, a loss to the Chiefs, knelt down a few times in two other games, and played a half in the loss to Detroit.  It should be valuable experience for Love.  I need write no more since CHTV has published multiple articles assessing Love's play and there have been plenty of comments about it.
12:  Aaron Rodgers should win the MVP award.  On average the ball game out of Rodgers' hands in 2.59 seconds, the fastest time in his career.  That helped the Packers survive the loss of Bakhtiari, Linsley, Wagner and Jenkins.
49: Dominque Dafney played in just 9 games as a role player.  But make no mistake, when healthy, he fulfilled his role quite well.  He looks like a player LaFleur and Hackett know how to use.
81: Josiah Deguara played in all 17 games.  He is a player with multi-faceted skills.  He can block on the move, run and catch.  This is essentially his rookie season since injury robbed him of most of his 2020 season.  Deguara's snap count numbers increased as the season unfolded as did his productivity.  He only had 8 receiving yards in the first 7 games, but added 238 receiving yards in the last 9 games.
84: Tyler Davis was signed off the Colts practice squad leading up to week 4.  The former 6th-round pick looks intriguing.  He appears to have the ability to play in-line.  Davis might well make some noise during the playoffs.   
85: Robert Tonyan played in 8 games before a knee injury landed him on season-ending injured reserve.  He was less productive in 2021 than he had been in 2020.  112 of his 208 receiving yards came in his last two games, so perhaps he was coming around.
89: Marcedes Lewis had another good season for the Packers.  
27: Patrick Taylor was signed from the practice squad for week 9 after Kylin Hill was placed on injured reserve.  Taylor looked like he had the makings of a complete back in the season finale.  
28: AJ Dillon looked very good all year, so good that many wondered why he did not get more snaps and carries.  Moreoever, he looked like a complete player: he was very good as a receiver, catching 34 passes out of 37 targets and looking competent in pass protection.  He still gained over 1,000 yards from scrimmage.
32: Kylin Hill looked better than his statistics and playing time would suggest.  He only played 26 offensive snaps, and gained 24 yards on the ground and 5 more as a receiver.  His playing time is to be expected on a team that has Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.
33: Aaron Jones had another fine year.  Jones also gained over 1,000 yards from scrimmage.  He and AJ Dillon both averaged 3.18 yards after contact per carry.  The running backs forced 81 missed tackles.      
 
FESSING UP:
Time to fess up.  I was crushed when Greg Newsome was selected with the 26th pick and underwhelmed when Gute selected Eric Stokes with the 29th pick.  No, I did not want to trade up and I did not dislike Erick Stokes as a prospect.  I had Stokes as worth a pick in the early to mid-forties.  As it turns out, Mr. Stokes played very well.  PFF named Patrick Surtain and Newsome to its all-rookie team, while noting that Stokes was under consideration.  I do not understand the slight to Stokes, since his overall PFF grade was slightly higher than Surtain's.  I guess "overall grade" has a different definition for PFF than the one I ascribe to the phrase.  Not the biggest mea culpa in the world, but one I owe to Eric Stokes.
Josiah Deguara can play in the NFL.  I did not like this pick at 94.  I thought the Packers should have taken Lucas Niang, who was selected 96th.  I could taste it.  Frankly, I thought Niang had starting-level ability and that the Packers needed a swing tackle more than a move tight end or H-back.  Tackles are more valuable than H-backs.  Niang was the starter for the Chiefs when healthy (he played well in 9 starts).  Either player would have been a good pick.  This is not the biggest mea culpa in the world because I still think Niang would have been the better pick.  However, as kind of an old school purist on TEs, I did not think Deguara could block in-line and did not think he was dynamic enough to qualify as a receiving tight end.  No, my mea culpa is to LaFleur because I did not have the flexibility of mind to fully envision the utility and value of a player like Deguara in LaFleur's offense.
I was not enthusiastic about the hiring of Joe Barry.  However, I did not have a better candidate in mind after Jim Leonard apparently decided to stay with the Badgers.  At the least, I would have to say he did a very respectable job in 2021, especially given the loss of Jaire Alexander and ZaDarius Smith for most of the year.  It is true that Brian Gutekunst acquired some nice players in Rasul Douglas, DeVondre Campbell, and Whitney Mercilus.  Joe Barry came up as a linebackers coach, so I am inclined to give him some credit for the jump in quality of Campbell's play over his prior years.  He also seemed to know how to use Douglas and Mercilus.  I am not completely sold on Joe Barry so perhaps I am being premature, but since I am fessing up in general, this seemed to be a good time and place.     
I seem to be doing a fair amount of fessing up lately.  Please feel free to join me in fessing up in the comments.
 




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