Nobody can argue that the Green Bay Packers are one of the most perennially competitive teams in the NFL over the past decades, and even moving out of the eras of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers have seen the franchise experience a strong amount of winning. Offensively, a lot of this is to do with great skill position players and above-average offensive line play. Recent metrics by Pro Football Focus indicate that not only has Green Bay had strong supporting casts over the years, they have some of the best in the NFL.
What PFF Quantifies as Supporting Cast Data for the Green Bay Packers
PFF does a yearly measurement of “supporting cast” analytics that include the following four metrics: average team PFF ratings for rushing, receiving, run blocking, and pass blocking. These ratings are meant to quantify how much support the team’s quarterback is and essentially boils down to how effective the offensive line is, how effective the running backs are, and how effective the receivers are. PFF ratings come with the obligatory asterisk of not being 100% accurate, but they are nonetheless informative and interesting.
NFL writer Ian Hartitz has compiled the supporting cast analytic rankings over the past five seasons to reveal which team, and more accurately, which quarterback(s), have had the most help over the past half-decade. Here are the results:
NFL ranks in “Supporting Cast Rating” in terms of average team PFF rush, receiving, pass blocking and run blocking grades (everything except passing) over the past five seasons: pic.twitter.com/om7um8ytyE
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) March 4, 2025
The Green Bay Packers rank 5th over the past five years and have one of the top marks in the league. In fact, the Packers have never ranked lower than 12th in any single year over that time, proving they are consistently fielding great talent on offense to surround their signal-caller, which over this time period has been Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love.
How Accurate are the PFF Supporting Cast Rankings?
For any of those that are skeptical about the merit of these measurements, consider how accurate the rankings are when compared to the “eye test.” The San Francisco 49ers ranked 1st on the list. Is it plausible that they have some of the best skill position players in the league and an incredible offensive line? Absolutely. Many of the accomplishments of Niners QB Brock Purdy have been chalked up to being more about the supporting cast than his ability.
The New York Giants and the Jacksonville Jaguars rank as the two bottom teams. This definitely makes sense as well, as the Giants have long been criticized for having the league’s worst offense, particularly the offensive line, while the Jaguars have continually splashed big money on skill positions and offensive linemen but to almost negligible results outside of one playoff win (where they ranked a modest 20th in the league).
The Green Bay Packers Supporting Cast Has Remained Consistently Great
The Packers are one of the few teams with high-level consistency in this department. Even though fans, and even Rodgers himself, have criticized the team for lack of investment in receivers, they still have far above-average marks in this category. This is of course fueled by the likes of Davante Adams, but even now, the torch continues to be carried by the smattering of skilled wideouts like Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, and Dontayvion Wicks.
In the rushing category, the Packers have been blessed with top backs like Aaron Jones, the current RB1 in Josh Jacobs, and even a few good seasons from AJ Dillon.
The biggest chunk of the PFF calculation is of course the offensive line, which accounts for 50% of the averaged data (run and pass blocking). The Packers have not only had great offensive linemen like David Bakhtiari and above-average veterans like Corey Linlsey, Lucas Patrick, and Josh Myers, but also big names of today, specifically Elgton Jenkins and Zach Tom, playing at a high level. Tom was even named as one of the highest-graded players in the league at any position last year.
There are plenty of Packers fans who are keen to upgrade at WR through a big trade, and others who debate the necessity of bringing back Myers, who is a free agent this summer, but even if fans debate the ideal moves going forward, they should all have an appreciation for the quality the Packers routinely assemble on offense year after year.
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