Including Javon Bullard, Edgerrin Cooper and Jordan Morgan, the Green Bay Packers had five selections in the Top 100 in the 2024 NFL Draft. Who will make the biggest impact as a rookie?
The Packers drafted 11 players this year, including five in the first three rounds. It’s easy to make a case for four of those players. Here’s my ranking of those Top 100 picks.Based on the offseason practices, Hopper will be far down the linebacker depth chart when the team practices for the first time in training camp on Monday.
Injuries can change the equation, obviously, but there’s no reason to believe the Packers won’t line up with Quay Walker at middle linebacker and Isaiah McDuffie and rookie Edgerrin Cooper on either side. Veteran Eric Wilson is a solid next man up. The importance of the Hopper pick isn’t so much about this season but next season, with McDuffie and fellow veterans Wilson and Kristian Welch playing on expiring contracts.Veteran addition Josh Jacobs had only nine runs of 10-plus yards last season. He should have an easier time getting going this season given the power of the Packers’ passing game but, even when he led the NFL in rushing in 2022, he ranked 24th out of 42 backs with 100 carries in percentage of rushing yards on runs of 15-plus yards, according to PFF. Last year, he was 35th out of 49 in what PFF calls breakaway percentage.Last year, 142 FBS-level running backs had at least 100 carries. Lloyd ranked fourth in breakaway percentage. So long as he doesn’t fumble, Lloyd is going to have a key role.There’s at least a chance Morgan won’t even be a starter as a rookie. Capped by his performances against Micah Parsons and Nick Bosa in the playoffs, Rasheed Walker had a promising first season at left tackle. Sean Rhyan’s power in the run game and overall progress kept him on the field at right guard for the run to the playoffs. But, being a first-round pick, the Packers no doubt will want to get Morgan on the field. His daily usage at training camp will be worth watching. Will he be so good that he’ll force his way into the lineup?There’s little doubt the starting linebackers in the base 4-3 defense will be Walker, McDuffie and Cooper. But the NFL’s universal base defense is nickel, which means two linebackers and five defensive backs. The No. 2 linebacker could be on the field for 90-plus percent of the defensive snaps this season. The No. 3 linebacker might get only 20 percent of the snaps. With three years in the NFL, McDuffie will bring experience to the competition. He was mediocre in coverage last year, but all of Green Bay’s linebackers were mediocre in coverage. Cooper will bring his explosive athleticism to the competition. In the long run, the defense will be better with Cooper on the field. Can the Packers afford to be patient through growing pains, though?. The Packers need him to play and play well from the start. After all, there is no Isaiah McDuffie-style player on the safety depth chart to ease the transition. It’s practically Bullard or bust. With Xavier McKinney locked in at one safety position, the only other safety with any real experience on the roster is Anthony Johnson, a seventh-round pick last year who had one interception and the worst missed-tackle percentage among NFL safeties. Johnson should be better in Year 2, but Bullard has the toughness and athleticism to be a weapon. Bullard is going to start. He’s going to play every snap. If McKinney performs as expected and Bullard is a hit,Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packer Central, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.
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