2023 NFC North Division Preview: Green Bay Packers Finally Begin The Jordan Love Era
The 2023-24 NFL season kick-off is almost here! OutKick is unveiling its team-by-team preview series. Last week, we covered the AFC and NFC West. This week, we're tackling the AFC and NFC North, continuing with last year's third-place finisher in the NFC North, the Green Bay Packers.
Green Bay Packers 2022-23 Record: 8-9
Green Bay Packers 2023-24 Win Total Over/Under: 7.5
Offseason Moves
Talk about turnover! Perhaps no NFL team is going to look more different in 2023-24 than they did in 2022-23. Gone is future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. So are some of his main pass-catchers in Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis.
Also gone are defensive back Adrian Amos and defensive linemen Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry. And the team elected to stay quiet in free agency, signing just three players: safeties Tarvarius Moore and Jonathan Owens and long-snapper Matthew Orzech. Not exactly inspiring stuff.
Instead, the Packers decided to focus on the NFL Draft. They had four picks in the first three rounds, taking Iowa edge rusher Lukas Van Ness with their first-round pick. Van Ness is raw, but highly-talented. He might not be an immediate impact player at the NFL level, though.
The team possessed two second-round selections, grabbing Ohio State tight end Luke Musgrave to help replace Tonyan and Lewis and Michigan State wide receiver Jayden Reed to help offset the losses of Lazard and Cobb. Then, the Packers grabbed ANOTHER tight end in the third round, SDSU's Tucker Kraft. Clearly, the team knows it needs to restock its nearly bare cupboard of offensive weapons.
The team also added a ton of depth in the later rounds of the draft, too, picking twice each in the fifth and sixth rounds before making FOUR selections in the seventh round. All told, Green Bay added 13 rookies via the NFL Draft.
Season Outlook
All of that offseason work is well and good, but nothing matters more than new starting quarterback Jordan Love. Love takes over for Aaron Rodgers after three years on the bench watching from the sideline. He's attempted 83 passes in his entire NFL career, but should double that mark somewhere around Week 3 this year.
The Packers struggled last year in Rodgers' final season in Green Bay, posting a losing season after three-straight 13-win campaigns. They lost more than they added during the offseason and turn the keys over to an unproven quarterback.
The Green Bay Packers finally turn their team over to quarterback Jordan Love but can he do enough in his first starting NFL season to make the team competitive in the NFC North? (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The best news for the Green Bay Packers is that the NFC is much less difficult than the AFC and they have a relatively easy schedule -- especially to start the season. Still, it's hard to see how this team gets over its win total, since they'd have to essentially replicate last season with a worse roster.
There's an argument to be made that Rodgers threw in the towel, but is Jordan Love really going to be that much better in his first real season starting than Rodgers was last year? I find it hard to believe that this virtually brand-new roster and virtually brand-new quarterback are going to be a smashing success this season.