Packers mailbag: LaFleur's ceiling, Love's development, free agency, and more
It's Friday, so it's Green Bay Packers mailbag time at A to Z Sports. And that was a hell of a week, with the press conference of new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and a lot of draft content, which I hope you enjoyed. We are going to talk about the draft, free agency, Matt LaFleur, […]
It's Friday, so it's Green Bay Packers mailbag time at A to Z Sports. And that was a hell of a week, with the press conference of new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and a lot of draft content, which I hope you enjoyed.
We are going to talk about the draft, free agency, Matt LaFleur, and more.
It's hard to put a ceiling on a coach, because there's no physical limitation to his growth like there is for a player. Matt LaFleur has been a good play-designer and playcaller for a long time, and in 2023 he showed he is much more than a guy who could run an offense with Aaron Rodgers — but he had been that for some time, it was just an opportunity to show it.
The most impressive thing to me is how the offense grew during the season, and that happened in large part because of LaFleur's ability to ask players to do what they are good at, and that includes quarterback Jordan Love.
Every coach says it was to adapt their systems to their players, but practically doing that is much harder, especially with such a young roster. The Packers have a good one.
That's a good question, Edu, because that's the next step in Jordan Love's development. Can he be an elite quarterback when the defense knows what he's good and bad at? For what he showed us in 2023, I absolutely think he can be — if not elite, at least a really good quarterback.
And that's because it's not just the physical ability and the upside as people expected before the draft in 2020. Love has significantly developed as a processor of the game, and that capacity is extremely important when defenses challenge your weaknesses.
Dan, I would probably add another off-ball linebacker and take one defensive back off of your list. I would be fine with one cornerback, two safeties, and two linebackers. The offensive line might need three, yes, but it will depend on what happens with David Bakhtiari.
But each group here demands a different approach. It's hard to find good offensive linemen in free agency, and the Packers have a great track record finding them in the draft. So I'm pretty sure Brian Gutekunst will get multiple linemen in April. That's mostly the same approach I would have with cornerbacks.
For safety and linebackers, the potential surplus value in the draft isn't so pronounced, and the risk is high because the Packers need immediate starter for a new system — and a system that puts a lot of stress on linebackers in particular, and with safeties who play a lot differently than they did under Joe Barry.
As safeties and linebackers tend to be relatively cheap in free agency, that's most likely the route I would take — and it doesn't need to be expensive options.
About the running backs, I would love Saquon Barkley as a complement to Aaron Jones. I'm usually not a big fan of spending on the position, but the Packers' offense is so cheap everywhere else and the difference between Aaron Jones and the rest was so obvious in 2023 that I would be willing to open an exception here.
As I mentioned earlier, Victor, I would use free agency to find at least one piece. Azeez Al-Shaair seems like the perfect target, because he has played under Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans for the San Francisco 49ers, and they ran a similar scheme to what the Packers will under Jeff Hafley. He was inexpensive and solid for the Tennessee Titans in 2023.
That doesn't mean you can't draft an off-ball linebacker late on day 2 or on day 3, but I don't like to use high draft resources on non-premium positions, especially when the Packers already took Quay Walker in the first round and it hasn't panned out.
As I've said multiple times, I don't like drafting kickers process-wise. But now that the Packers have already used the pick, Anders Carlson deserves a chance to compete again. But he doesn't deserve a guaranteed roster spot after an up and down season at best. For the most part, I like the Packers approach of adding Jack Podlesny, another young kicker. They will compete, and the better will get the job.
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