The Packers are heading into the season with a familiar question hanging over everything: how much should Matt LaFleur trust Jordan Love?
Green Bay already spent the offseason dealing with the fallout from a rough finish, one that included five straight losses and an ugly collapse against the Chicago Bears in the Wild-Card Round. The organization responded by extending LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst after a long negotiation process, but the bigger football issue hasn’t gone away.
This team has an identity problem.
The Packers’ decision to trade for Micah Parsons also reshaped the roster in a major way. Green Bay moved on from multiple starters in the trenches on both sides of the ball, along with receivers Dontayvion Wicks and Romeo Doubs. On offense, the plan has been built around Josh Jacobs and the ground game, with Love asked to make plays when the situation calls for it.
That setup is exactly what ESPN’s Seth Walder targeted on Monday when he ranked the Packers No. 10 in his offseason roster rankings. Walder called LaFleur’s usage of Love the team’s “X factor” and made the case that Green Bay would be better off leaning harder into the passing game.
"Despite designing one of the league's most efficient passing games, coach Matt LaFleur's weakness has been leaning too heavily on running the ball," Walder wrote. "In 2025, the Packers recorded 0.21 EPA per play on designed pass plays (second best) and minus-0.02 EPA per designed run (16th).”
"Despite that huge gap in efficiency, the Packers ranked 26th in pass rate over expected, per Next Gen Stats. If Green Bay puts the ball in quarterback Jordan Love's hands more often, it should win more games."
The question is whether LaFleur is holding back because he doesn’t want to overload Love, or because he doesn’t fully trust the protection in front of him. That concern matters more now after the Packers lost Rasheed Walker and Elgton Jenkins, which could make pass protection a lingering issue.
Still, the bottom line is hard to miss: Green Bay needs more from Love. If he had been able to stay in rhythm against Chicago, the Packers likely would have taken the Wild-Card Round.
In Other News...
Chris McClellan Is Already Giving Packers Fans A Reason To Revisit That Pick
Chris McClellan is already making the Packers feel a little better about a draft choice that raised some eyebrows in the moment. Green Bay took the defensive lineman at No. 77 overall, betting on his college production over the raw athleticism of other options, and the early returns from offseason work have been encouraging enough to keep that conversation alive in a different way.
Defensive line coach Vince Oghobaase said McClellan was picking up technique and scheme faster than expected during the first two days, and he has also been getting first-team reps in the offseason program. For a team looking to fortify the interior, especially with Micah Parsons set to miss the start of the season, that kind of early progress matters, even if the real verdict on the pick will take much longer to come into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Suddenly Face A Brutal NFC North Reality
The early look at the 2026 NFC North is not exactly flattering for Green Bay. Bleacher Report analyst Moe Moton has the Packers pegged for a last-place finish, a projection built on worries at both ends of the roster and the kind of uncertainty that can make a division race turn quickly. Even before camp opens, the offense has already taken hits with Romeo Doubs departing in free agency and Dontayvion Wicks getting traded away, leaving Jordan Love with fewer proven targets to work with.
The bigger concern is that the Packers could be forced to navigate the season with more questions than answers in key spots. Josh Jacobs status remains unsettled because of an ongoing legal case and possible league discipline, while the defense is waiting on Micah Parsons as he works back from a torn ACL with meniscus damage. In a division where every game tends to matter, that combination is enough to make a once-promising roster look a lot more fragile than it did a few months ago. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Suddenly Have A Season Defining Question Around Josh Jacobs
Josh Jacobs enters the Packers offseason with more uncertainty than anyone would have expected just a year ago. Green Bay is letting the legal process play out, and the league is doing the same, but the situation alone has turned one of the teams most important offensive pieces into a major storyline as the 2026 season approaches.
The football questions are piling up, too. Jacobs was already dealing with lingering ankle and knee issues late last season, and at 28, he is at the age when running backs start to face the usual durability and decline concerns. Even so, there remains a belief in league circles that he can still be a productive back, which is why the Packers suddenly have a real decision to make about how much they can count on him moving forward. [Read more 🡒]