After a less than stellar 2015 season, the Green Bay Packers’ offense looks to regain its swagger and just judging from the early vibe of the players and coaches involved, they are on the right track. In a revolting turn of events the Packers were just awful on offense for most of last year and because of it lost their grip on the NFC North Division.
Since then the Packers have signed tight end Jared Cook, drafted the speedy Trevor Davis and welcomed the return of injured recievers Jordy Nelson and Ty Montgomery. The betting public is a believer. If you look at NFL lines the Packers are early favorites to win their opener in Jacksonville, and according to the futures, have the third best odds to win the Super Bowl.
I have a feeling this offense could be one of the best of the Mike McCarthy-Aaron Rodgers era. All the tools are in place and barring another season of devastating injuries, the Packers will once again have an embarrassment of riches. There are only so many passes to go around but I’m guessing Jordy and Cook will be the Packers top two receivers this year. Randall Cobb will again be right there, however, as he returns to the slot in which he is so explosive.
It will be interesting to see if guys like Jeff Janis and Jared Abbrederis can improve enough to keep Davis at bay and even press Davante Adams for playing time opposite Jordy. And what kind of role will Montgomery play in the offense? Last year he looked a lot like Cobb and was explosive with the ball in his hand. Finally, can Davis do enough to force the Packers to keep seven receivers on the roster or do the Packers make a choice between Janis and Abbrederis. The Packers won’t be able to sneak Davis to the practice squad I don’t think.
Of course everything starts in the trenches and the Packers addressed that as well, drafting tackle Jason Spriggs in the second round and offensive lineman Kyle Murphy in the sixth. This is another unit that suffered injuries and the return to health of David Bakhtiari, T.J. Lang and Bryan Bulaga will certainly help them return to form.
Finally, last, but certainly not least, is the return of McCarthy to play caller. By committing last offseason to Tom Clements, McCarthy wasn’t able to change much after demoting Clements late in the year after it was clear Clements was in over his head. This year it appears McCarthy has overhauled the playbook, with even Rodgers saying he has been staying up late trying to absorb all the changes.
I think the offense will be right back to normal in 2016, and if the defense can continue it’s climb, this could be a team to be reckoned with right from the start. Still a long way to training camp, but so far I like this offseason a lot more than last offseason.