\u2014 Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n But they can\u2019t do it alone. Receivers need breathers. Receivers get hurt. Remember, neither Watson, Reed nor Golden have played 50 percent of the snaps over the entirety of their careers; Reed\u2019s 63.2 percent in 2024 is the highest individual season. All three will be asked to play more this season.<\/p>\n So, when one of the so-called Big Three is on the sideline, who will make that key third-down catch in the first half? Who will make a big play in a do-or-die 2-minute drill at the end of the game?<\/p>\n Dontayvion Wicks essentially was Green Bay\u2019s No. 4 receiver the past three seasons. He caught 108 passes for 1,328 yards and 11 touchdowns. That\u2019s 36 catches for 443 yards and about four touchdowns per season.<\/p>\n Contrast that to Green Bay\u2019s other candidates, who combined for 19 catches last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Drafted in 2022, Bo Melton has 28 catches for 416 yards and two touchdowns in his career. He caught 4-of-13 targets last season, when his practice time was mostly spent at cornerback. Savion Williams had 10 mostly irrelevant catches as a rookie third-round pick last year. Skyy Moore had five catches in 23 games the past two seasons (all last season). Nobody else on the roster has caught a pass in the NFL.<\/p>\n As important as it\u2019s going to be for Jordan Love to build chemistry with Watson, Golden and Reed, he\u2019s going to have to get a lot of work alongside everyone else to determine who else can contribute.<\/p>\n Green Bay Packers wide receiver Savion Williams carries the ball during the win against the Bengals. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n 3. Figuring Out Starting Cornerbacks<\/p>\n Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Nate Hobbs, to state the obvious, were not good enough last season. Combined, they gave up 14 touchdowns with only one interception, according to Pro Football Focus. All three were charged with passer ratings allowed of at least 105.<\/p>\n General manager Brian Gutekunst went to work to right his wrongs from last offseason, when he signed Hobbs to a four-year, $48 million contract and didn\u2019t draft a cornerback until the seventh round. This offseason, he released Hobbs, signed veteran Benjamin St-Juste \u2013 a superior player at a fraction of the price \u2013 and drafted Brandon Cisse in the second round and Domani Jackson in the sixth round.<\/p>\n Nixon almost certainly will start. That means it will be Valentine vs. St-Juste vs Cisse for the other spot. Valentine has covered pretty well in his career. The playmaking disappeared, though, and he remained a bad tackler. St-Juste will be starting from scratch after missing the offseason practices due to injury. Cisse is going to have to survive a trial-by-fire training camp.<\/p>\n Especially with the questions with the pass rush, Green Bay\u2019s going to need better play from its cornerbacks in terms of limiting completions and making plays.<\/p>\n 4. Is Trey Smack the Answer?<\/p>\n The Packers in 2023 drafted Anders Carlson in the sixth round to replace Mason Crosby. He had a bad rookie season, culminated by a key miss in the playoff loss to the 49ers. In the 2025 playoffs, Brandon McManus missed two field goals and an extra point in the loss to the Bears.<\/p>\n This year, the Packers drafted Trey Smack in the sixth round. They\u2019d no doubt love to hand him the job and enjoy a Crosby-style run of long-term kicking success. The offseason practices, however, showed that\u2019s far from a certainty. In what should have been a relatively stress-free transition to the NFL, Smack missed far too many kicks \u2013 including too many easy kicks.<\/p>\n Maybe Smack will get into a groove and be on his way. But if a kicker is missing kicks with no fans in the stands in May and June, how\u2019s he going to handle a potential game-winning kick at the Vikings in Week 1?<\/p>\n This will be a huge training camp, to state the obvious. Coach Matt LaFleur and special teams coordinator Cam Achord must do everything possible to give Smack as many big kicks to see if he\u2019ll be ready for primetime. The talent is there. Now, it\u2019s time to split the uprights.<\/p>\n 5. Improving the Running Game<\/p>\n The offseason focus on Josh Jacobs took away the focus from the big question about the Packers\u2019 run game.<\/p>\n What went wrong last year, and how can it be fixed for this year?<\/p>\n The Packers in 2024, which was Jacobs\u2019 debut season with the team, ranked sixth with 4.75 yards per carry. The Packers in 2025 ranked 24th with 4.14 yards per carry. That\u2019s a 0.61-yard downturn.<\/p>\n So, it wasn\u2019t just that Jacobs\u2019 rushing total took a 400-yard nosedive last year. It was a team-wide problem, and Jacobs was the least of the issues. Jacobs went from 4.4 yards per carry to 4.0 and Emanuel Wilson went from 4.9 to 4.0 and Chris Brooks went from 5.1 to 3.9.<\/p>\n Packers coach Matt LaFleur wants to run the football to set up the rest of the offense. Thus, to set up the offense as a whole for success, the run game must get back on track.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s better scheme and less predictability. Maybe it\u2019s better play from an offensive line with Jordan Morgan at left tackle and Sean Rhyan in Year 2 at center and Anthony Belton in Year 2 at right guard (and Year 2, period). Maybe it\u2019s the addition of MarShawn Lloyd after two seasons lost to injuries.<\/p>\n Whatever the formula, the Packers need a consistently strong running game to unleash everything they want to do on offense.<\/p>\n The debut of the Packers Roster Lock-O-Meter. \u2b07\ufe0fhttps:\/\/t.co\/7Rby0Ce8YL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Green](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01kyg89p2xm45s61bbp2.jpg\" "\\"Green")
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