GREEN BAY PACKERS
1. Romeo Doubs breaks out
The Romeo Doubs hype from this time last year wasn’t a mirage; it just came a year too early. Doubs has been tearing up training camp and joint scrimmages, as well as playing solid in preseason games. He is a good receiver, but the expectations last preseason spiraled out of control and he couldn’t meet them — particularly not after suffering injury. This season, Doubs will break out as an excellent receiver and a reliable target for Jordan Love.
2. Luke Musgrave threatens 1,000 yards as a rookie
Rookie tight ends don’t tend to get 1,000 receiving yards, even in this era of 17 games and expansive passing games. It’s happened twice,, and one of them was Mike Ditka in 1961. Musgrave likely won’t surpass 1,000 yards, but he might push it very close, judging by how the team has been deploying him in training camp and his receiving skill set. He has all of the physical tools, and the Packers have been using him on things like jet sweeps that typically aren’t drawn up for tight ends. Musgrave averaged 3.4 yards per route run across just two games last season at Oregon State before injury shut him down, but he looked primed for a monster year.
3. Green Bay’s defense improves into the top ten
A season ago, expectations were that it would be the best Packers defense that Aaron Rodgers had ever played with. Instead, the team finished 21st in expected points added per play allowed and 26th in yards per play. The underlying reasons for optimism are still there, however, and there’s every chance that the unit dramatically outperforms the results from a season ago. The Packers have multiple capable edge rushers, cornerbacks and linebackers and can make impacts against the run and the pass. This is a unit that has top-10 potential.