What NFC North Roundtables reveal about how the Packers are viewed and where they truly stand in 2025 originally appeared on A to Z Sports.
Over the past few weeks, we have done several NFC North roundtables here at A to Z Sports involving the NFC North teams. We shared our opinions around several topics for the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Chicago Bears. This is a compilation of topics that Packers fans will want to read about—and to have access to the full opinions, check out the links below.
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12-5
It may feel like the Packers regressed last year after reaching the divisional round in 2023, but the team was actually better. They had two extra wins (11 total) and were fourth in DVOA, including a top 10 offense and top 10 defense. That was with an injured version of Jordan Love, essentially three games of Malik Willis, and throwing out the Week 18 game since the playoff spot was clinched.
Materially, the Packers didn’t lose much in the offseason. Jaire Alexander barely played anyway, and the only other significant loss was defensive tackle TJ Slaton. With the additions of left guard Aaron Banks, moving Elgton Jenkins to replace Josh Myers at center, and cornerback Nate Hobbs in free agency, plus Matthew Golden in the draft, it’s realistic to expect one more win—especially with a healthier Jordan Love on the field and another year of experience for the young roster.
Jordan Love
When Love is healthy, he showed down the stretch in 2023 and during a relatively short period in 2024 that he can be an elite quarterback. Jared Goff is a good quarterback for sure, but he’s older and more dependent on his surroundings. Caleb Williams might have a higher ceiling, but there’s little proof of concept, and J.J. McCarthy hasn’t played. So the answer has to be Jordan Love.
Jordan Love will be a Pro Bowler for the first time
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Love is more experienced, he fully knows the system and has grown as a leader within the offense. Also, the Packers have been investing much more in that side of the ball, getting two wide receivers and an offensive lineman in the first three rounds. There’s a clear path for the offense to be elite—they were fourth in DVOA last year with all the problems, so imagine what it can be under the right circumstances.
The Packers still have a young roster, so it would be unwise to say it’s Super Bowl or bust for this team. Last year, Green Bay had two more wins than it had in 2023, but it felt different because the offense played worse down the stretch and they didn’t win a playoff game—not that losing to the Philadelphia Eagles was any egregious sin. Either way, the Packers have to show better signs of sustainable development from their young pieces, including Jordan Love, the wide receiver group, and the defensive front. This will be Year 3 of this current version of the roster, so there has to be material results of the expected rise from the group as a whole.
New York Giants EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux
He is an edge defender, at a premium position where the Packers have a clear need, is only 24 years old, and is a former top-5 draft pick with a track record of success in the NFL. Also importantly, he is slated to make around $25 million over the next two seasons, so the financial investment is fairly reasonable. Thibodeaux could easily become the best edge rusher on the roster, and at worst he would be a non-expensive rotational edge rusher behind Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness.
Matt LaFleur
LaFleur has already led two completely different versions of the Packers to excellent results, and this is the tiebreaker to me. He took over an old roster with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, and made the veteran play some of his best seasons ever, winning two MVP awards after down seasons in the final few years with Mike McCarthy. Then, LaFleur led the transition to Jordan Love and the youngest roster in football for two consecutive years. Guess what, the Packers went twice to the postseason anyway. Matt LaFleur has proved he can be a good head coach under basically any circumstance, and this is something the others haven’t done yet to the same degree.
RT Zach Tom
The right tackle was third in All-Pro votes at his position last season, and he truly is an ascending star. Outside of quarterback Jordan Love, Tom is probably the most valuable and irreplaceable player on the roster, and it would be smart to give him a new deal as soon as possible. He’s 26 and is still entering the prime of his career, so the more the Packers wait, the more expensive it tends to become.
LB Edgerrin Cooper
He was unbelievable as a rookie in 2024, but in a limited role. Off-ball linebacker is a rough position to play in the NFL these days, and Cooper needed to learn more about where he should be on the field, especially in coverage, to be viable. Initially, Jeff Hafley used him as a role player to stop the run and blitz, and he was impressive. Throughout the season, Cooper played more and more, and the results were better and better. He made the All-Rookie Team and was impactful in all areas of the game, with 11 pressures, 3.5 sacks, 35 stops, a forced fumble, an interception, and two pass breakups.
Is the cornerback room good enough?
The Packers are basically betting on a premise that CB is a weak-link system, presuming that Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, and Carrington Valentine are all viable starters. There are obvious risks with that approach, especially if one of them gets hurt—and Hobbs, the significant free agent addition, has some injury history. The good news is that Jaire barely played over the past two years anyway, and losing Eric Stokes and Corey Ballentine isn’t a big deal. With a similar group, and even without Hobbs, Jeff Hafley made it all work last year. The point here is how sustainable that is.
Offensive consistency
Since Matt LaFleur took over in 2019, the Packers have finished every season in the top 10 in weighted DVOA. Yes, even when the team looked cooked in 2022. LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love offer both a high floor and a high ceiling by themselves, and the performance of the rest of the group decides which one they will tap into in any specific year.
Everybody’s job is nobody’s job on defense
The Packers had serious problems upfront last year, and hopefully secondary play could help give that extra half second for the edge rushers to get to the quarterback. But the team also has significant questions at cornerback, especially after it released Jaire Alexander, and ideally the pass rush could make life easier for the defensive backs. You see where I’m going with this. If both the pass rush and the cornerback group disappoint at the same time, Jeff Hafley will have to be super creative for things not to implode.
TE Tucker Kraft
He was the ninth tight end in PPR points last season, and he’s well ahead of players with more hype like David Njoku, Hunter Henry, Kyle Pitts, Isaiah Likely, and Cole Kmet. Kraft is still super young at 24, and there’s obvious room for improvement.
In his second NFL season, Kraft had 50 catches, 707 yards, and seven touchdowns. He led the NFL among tight ends in yards after the catch per reception (9.3) and was also top 5 in passer rating when targeted last year. His passer rating when targeted was 121.7 in 2023 and 134.6 in 2024—and this includes basically three full games with Malik Willis at quarterback.
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This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Jul 29, 2025, where it first appeared.