As the Packers stand on the precipice of another season, a few players are prepared to make a serious run up the team’s all-time leaderboards.
Honestly, this process is a bit more interesting this year than in the past. With Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams and Aaron Jones as the main offensive engines, there really wasn’t all that much movement at the tip-top of the leaderboards. They were chasing the very best of the best in Packers’ history, interesting in its own way, but not as fun as someone really flying past bunches of names.
Most of this year’s movement will definitely be in the latter category. A few players will be reaching rare air sooner than later, but nobody on this year’s team is quite there yet.
On offense, the headliner in terms of all-time rankings moves is Jordan Love. Love is just 3,381 yards behind Tobin Rote for fifth all-time in passing yards on the Packers’ leaderboard, meaning he’ll almost assuredly finish the year ranked among the team’s most productive passers. Of course, it’s quite a climb from there; Lynn Dickey is in fourth place with 21,369 yards and Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers are lightyears beyond that figure. But a top-five finish is a top-five finish, and Love is pretty close to getting there.
There’s also a chance Love could crack the top five in passing touchdowns this year, but that would take some serious work. With 60 passing touchdowns to his name, Love is already eighth in Packers’ history, but Tobin Rote in fifth place has 89. Love would need 30 to pass him. Not impossible, but a much bigger ask than the yardage number he needs to hit.
Elsewhere in the Packers’ backfield, Josh Jacobs is set to make a huge jump up the Packers’ rushing leaderboard. After putting up 1,329 yards his first year in Green Bay, Jacobs already ranks 38th in Packers history in rushing yards, one spot ahead of Bart Starr. And it’s not that I expected Starr to have some monster rushing total, it’s just funny that Jacobs jumped by him in a single season when Starr played in Green Bay across three different decades.
Anyway, if Jacobs has a similar season this year, he’ll probably finish the year around 16th all-time on the rushing leaderboard. James Starks currently occupies the 16th spot with 2,506 yards, and he seems like a reasonable target for Jacobs. It would take a pretty remarkable season for Jacobs to get to 15th this year; Eddie Lee Ivery is 15th as of right now with 2,933 yards.
Scoring-wise, Jacobs crossed the goalline for 15 rushing touchdowns last season (16 touchdowns total), landing him in a tie with Bart Starr and Terdell Middleton. If Jacobs scores 10 times this year, he’ll tie Gerry Ellis for 15th in Packers history. Another 15-touchdown season would nudge Jacobs past John Brockington and Tobin Rote for the ninth spot on the list (both scored 29 rushing touchdowns).
Nobody’s threatening the very top of the receiving leaderboard this year, but with 1,700 and 1,650 yards, respectively, Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed are likely going to pass some notable names. If either player manages to pass 2,300 career yards this year, they would pass Edgar Bennett (1,920 yards), Gary Knafelc (1,930), Aaron Jones (2,076), Dorsey Levens (2,079), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (2,153), Allen Lazard (2,236), John Jefferson (2,253), Mark Chmura (2,253), and Bubba Franks (2,300). If they get to 2,500 yards, they’ll pass Ed West (2,321), William Henderson (2,409), and Javon Walker (2,444), earning themselves a berth in the top 25 all-time in the process.
As a bonus fact, Matthew Golden has yet to record a reception for the Packers, but he already has more career receiving yards than seven players in team history who finished their tenures with negative receiving yards. Brett Favre (-7) and Aaron Rodgers (-11) are among them, with Rodgers technically holding the dubious honor of being the least productive pass catcher in Packers history.
On defense, nobody is really primed to make a huge splash, but there’s still some climbing to be done.
Sacks have only been an official sack since 1982, so the annals aren’t terribly well populated (at least the official ones; Pro Football Reference has more extensive numbers on sacks thanks to a boatload of independent research). Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark, with 39 and 35 sacks in their respective careers, are already eighth and 10th on the team’s all-time list. Aaron Kampman’s 54 for fifth place is probably out of reach for both, but six sacks from Gary would put him past Preston Smith (44 sacks) and hot dog king Ezra Johnson (41.5) for sixth place. Clark, meanwhile, has averaged 4.3 sacks per 17 games in his career to date, and if he’s able to collect at least four sacks this year, he’ll pass Tony Bennett (36) on the leaderboard.
It’s worth adding that no Packers player has ever led the NFL in sacks. If Gary really wants to make a run for greatness in Green Bay, that would be a very worthy goal.
Finally, Xavier McKinney probably can’t count on a date anywhere near the top of the Packers’ all-time interception leaderboard any time soon (Charles Woodson and LeRoy Butler are tied for fourth with 38), but even five interceptions from the All-Pro safety would result in a pretty significant jump. Five interceptions would give him 13 for his career, tying him with four other players (including safety Chuck Cecil) for 35th and jumping Jaire Alexander (12), Doug Evans (12), Atari Bigby (10), Rasul Douglas (10), Damarious Randall (10), Nick Barnett (9), and Morgan Burnett (9) along the way.
Of course, he could always take a shot at Irv Comp’s team record of 10 interceptions in a season, which Comp collected in his rookie season of 1942. 11 interceptions this year would still only get McKinney to 25th in team history, but what’s that compared to immortality for one incredible season?