Three Packers players that saw their stock rise despite loss to Raiders
The Green Bay Packers may have dropped the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders, but there were still really some strong performances that stood out among everything else. So, without further ado, let's talk about the three guys that saw their stock rise after Monday night's game. OLB Preston Smith Hey, it's not Smith's fault […]
The Green Bay Packers may have dropped the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders, but there were still really some strong performances that stood out among everything else.
So, without further ado, let's talk about the three guys that saw their stock rise after Monday night's game.
OLB Preston Smith
Hey, it's not Smith's fault he was put in coverage against Davante Adams. Who knows why the Packers didn't call a timeout on that play, but what's done is done. It's time to move on.
Smith easily had the best game of the young season on Monday night. He recorded his a sack, a tackle for loss, two quarterback hits, and a pass deflection. The sack, TFL, and PBU were all firsts in 2023.
One must wonder if Rashan Gary's increased role played a part in his big night. Gary played a season-high 30 snaps, which came out to 47% of the Packers' total defensive snaps.
Either way, it was nice to see Smith get things back on track. And, if Gary did play a role, things should get even better as he continues to see his snap count increase throughout the year.
RB A.J. Dillon
Speaking of their best game of the year, the same can be said for Dillon. He finished the night with a season-high 76-yards and a rushing touchdown on 20 carries, but it wasn't the final stat line that defined his performance.
Dillon ran tough and hard all night. He also showed off a couple nice moves while displaying very good vision on a consistent basis. The fourth-year player looked like the guy the Packers have needed since Aaron Jones' hamstring injury.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has said the team needs to go back and reassess what they're asking their guys to do in the run game and he also mentioned there was self-reflection over the mini-bye. It wasn't earth-shattering and it's only been one game, but the running game did look better against the Raiders.
LaFleur also said after the loss that the coaching staff will reassess even more during the bye week. If they can continue to improve the run game, then maybe this offense can finally get on track. If so, Dillon will certainly be a big part of it.
CB Rasul Douglas
It seemed like Douglas was in the Raiders' huddle at certain points during the game. Especially on both trick plays. The veteran corner sniffed out both plays and prevented big gains, which helped keep the Packers in the game.
Per Pro Football Focus, Douglas allowed just two receptions for 11-yards on four targets: One to Jakobi Meyers for six yards and one to Davante Adams for five yards. He finished with the best coverage grade (91.0) out of all CBs with at least 30 coverage snaps in Week 5 and Jimmy Garopolo's QB rating of 56.3 when targeting Douglas was the sixth-lowest QB rating among the 54 qualifying corners. He also played well against the run, adding a tackle and a stop.
There were a lot of good performances on defense, but Douglas' and Smith's stood out the most. It's a shame the Packers couldn't pull off the win because the defense certainly did its part.
