The 2023 offseason has not panned out very well for the Green Bay Packers. For starters, the NFL Draft is a week away and no trade has been completed for Aaron Rodgers. The team also has lost contributors in the likes of Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, and Jarren Reed. To make matters worse, Brian Guteknust and the front office have not addressed any major needs, although that should not come as a surprise to anyone. The feeling all around should be that Green Bay is rolling into the 2023 season with the team that they have and will attempt to fill in roster gaps via the draft. The situation the Packers are in may actually not be as bad for certain players who are needing to make a jump on the roster. Let’s take a look at five players who need to make a jump in 2023:
Josh Myers
Josh Myers was selected in the second of the 2021 NFL Draft. He has been an average, but not great center and has not been the best at his position in his draft class. Myers has not done anything to lose his job, but the Packers could certainly benefit from an upgrade. To Josh Myers’ defense, he has the expectation live up to previous centers such as Corey Linsley, Scott Wells, and Frank Winters. The other thing that does not help Myers is that there are very intriguing draft prospects at his position that will go off the board early day two. I honestly would not be surprised to see Green Bay possibly sniffing out players such as Joe Tippman, Luke Wypler, and John Michael Schmitz. While I would rule that out, I do think there are other positions of greater need that have to be addressed. For now, Myers is safe this season. But, if there is no improvement by season’s end, Josh Myers could find himself batting for his spot in 2024.
Josiah Deguara
Josiah Deguara is in quite a conundrum. The fourth year tight end from Cincinnati was a part of the highly criticized 2020 Packers’ draft class that has widely underachieved from top to bottom. On the other hand, Deguara is doing exactly what Matt LaFleur drafted him for, and that is to be Green Bay’s H-back. The biggest question that I have for Deguara is whether not the H-back position is a necessary position. If that is the case, can he be an every down tight end? I do think, however, that Degaura is a prime candidate to have a breakout season in 2023 mainly due to his connection with Jordan Love. Will that be enough to show his worth and earn him an extension? Or if Green Bay drafts more than one tight end next week, will he drop on the depth chart? No matter the case, Josiah Deguara is on thin ice in 2023.
Rasul Douglas
Rasul Douglas burst onto the scene in 2021 when he was acquired off the Arizona Cardinal’s practice squad. His impressive play earned him a $21 million contract to stay in Green Bay. Douglas, unfortunately, could not live up to the same standard as he dropped down in production in 2022. He was not as sharp on his ball awareness and struggled with coverage throughout the year. One bad year does not constitute discussions of being released. However, a second consecutive year of declining production sure does. One thing that will help Rasul Douglas is finding out where he serves best on the defense. Is he a true cornerback? Slot cornerback? Safety? Once he can establish where he will play, he can then focus on improvement. Needless to say, Rasul Douglas cannot afford another slip-up season. If we see that in 2023, chances are that he will a prime roster cut candidate in 2024.
Joe Barry
Obviously Joe Barry is not a player, but, he is another person who is in hot water in 2023. The majority of Packer fans believe that the third year defensive coordinator should have never been retained by Matt LaFleur. The hiring in of itself still does not make any sense whatsoever. To Barry’s credit, the defense played much better the last month of the season; to the standard that it should have all season long. The offense is going to sputter this coming season and will be a work in progress all year. One way to help give Jordan Love some confidence is having a stout defense that takes pressure off him. This is where Joe Barry struggled tremendously last season. He had elite talent at all levels of the defense and still finished in the bottom half of overall defensive rankings. Matt LaFleur will need to stop covering for Joe Barry and hold him accountable for how his defense performs. If we see a mirror image of what the defense looked like last season, Joe Barry will certainly not last another year in Green Bay.
Quay Walker
Quay Walker lived up to the hype of a first round rookie last season. He improved as the year went along and showed great strides week by week. Why do I then have him on this list? The reason being is that if he is expected to be a leader of the defense in 2023, he is going to need to work on his maturity. Walker was ejected two times last season for shoving an opposing player from Buffalo and shoving an opposing medical assistant from Detroit. To be completely blunt, if this happens again this season, I would be shocked and disappointed if the NFL did not get involved and handed down a punishment. I do hope that we are not going to see this happen again in 2023, but this would obviously be worse-case scenario. If we do see another case of this, the question is how will Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst address it with Walker and the team. The most important thing for Quay Walker will be to learn from those mistakes and move on to succeed in his second season.
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