The Green Bay Packers bounced back from their Week One embarrassment with a Week Two thumping of the Detroit Lions. As one would expect, the Packers graded very well according to Pro Football Focus’ system, with numerous young players making a positive impact on the game. Here, we present you with some highlighted performances and grades from both sides of the ball.
Eric Stokes: CB2
Kevin King was one of the poorest gr
aded defensive players (again) with a 57.0 PFF grade. In the second half of the game, King saw his playing time decrease. Eric Stokes, the Packers’ first round draft pick, received more playing time and the difference was notable. In the first half of the game, the Packers gave up 17 points. With Stokes in on more snaps in the second half, they gave up 0.
Stokes was the Packers’ fourth-highest graded defensive player last night with a 72.1. Only Kenny Clark (85.8), De’Vondre Campbell (81.0), and Preston Smith (74.1) were graded higher. This is not just a one-week thing for Stokes either. When his grades from last week are taken into consideration, he is the ninth-highest graded cornerback in the entire NFL!
#Packers rookie CB Eric Stokes ranks 9th among the 104 NFL cornerbacks who have played at least 40 snaps in @PFF overall defensive grade.
He is 1st among rookies.
They charged the Cephus miscommunication TD to his coverage.
Outside of that: 0 rec on 3 other targets w/ 2 PBU pic.twitter.com/GqMZIzbdch
— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) September 21, 2021
With as good as Eric Stokes has been, it is a wonder that Kevin King is still getting the playing time that he is. It will certainly be interesting to see what Matt LaFleur and Joe Barry decide to do with the other starting cornerback position next week against the 49ers.
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A Couple Surprises on the Offensive Line
Rookie guard Royce Newman was one of lowest graded (52.8) Packers’ players on the offensive side of the ball. However, two other young linemen performed extremely well against the Lions.
Jon Runyan Jr.
With Lucas Patrick returning from concussion protocol, Jon Runyan Jr., a sixth round pick last year, was given the opportunity to start. He played very well and was the Packers’ fourth-highest grade offensive player (79.6). On Aaron Jones (88.1), Davante Adams (87.4), and Randall Cobb (79.9) were graded higher. Patrick has long drawn the ire of Packers’ fans, and Runyan’s performance could remove Patrick from the starting lineup.
Packers LG Jon Runyan didn't give up a pressure and was the offense's fourth-highest graded player overall against the Lions, per @PFF.
New starter.
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) September 21, 2021
Josh Meyers
When Corey Linsley left via free agency, the Packers believed there would be a learning curve with their young replacement. However, Josh Meyers has been amazing so far this year. Not only has he played well enough to make the loss of Linsley painless, he has been outplaying Linsley this year.
PFF grades after 2 weeks:
Josh Myers: 74.1
Corey Linsely: 52.0
— Bruce Irons – Packers FTW (@BruceIronsNFL) September 21, 2021
Myers did not crack the top five graded offensive Packers last night. Nonetheless, he played incredibly well and is the fourth-highest graded center in the NFL this season.
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