Why I Love The 2026-2027 Green Bay Packers

[CarryTheG14]

The Rams are a great team on paper. This is The NFL though. Injuries happen and it's a 1 game season in the play-offs.

 

[OldSchool101]

For an initial disclaimer I understand injuries happen and also not every player is going to take a leap. Obviously the positive there is ALL teams deal with this.

I’m excited for Green Bay because I look at production like a balance sheet. Imo Lukas Van Ness is Rashan’s replacement. I think he’s a high floor guy with potential to surpass Gary impact, but likely he’ll be similar to Gary (call it 6-10 Sacks with adequate + pressures paired above average Run Stop) I don’t expect to extrapolate LVN production perfectly across snaps either as he tires more at Full Time.

Parting with Enagbare and waiting on Micah with patience will push us to try a varietal of ideas for Rushing the QB. As an example 1 report is Edgerrin Cooper is lining up at Edge already. That guy is just good at everything he does and watching the Chicago playoff game showcased that. I witnessed him catch Rookie RB they gave at LOS and grab him and whip him backwards like a ragdoll. That RB is like 220lb and Edgerrin stalemated him with an arms tackle. I just forgot how strong Cooper was against the Run. Just a A grade athlete. Gannon sees what I see and that’s a player who needs to be more 2024 like involved upfront. We have enough Big Nickel types behind him who can cover the leagues increase in 12,13 personnel. Actually Oladapo is one candidate for some increase snaps when we go Dime.

Plus I actually Love our Depth at Edge. DDS was a STRONG draft selection. IMO he’s going to be Kingsley “JJ” ++. I felt that way when Cooper and Kraft dropped into our loving arms. Some prospects you just know that you know are good football players. I don't need a stat to display heart and raw instincts.

Oliver is going to be his disruptive self but limited this year. Then we have Cox Jr. who imo is an average + pass rushing DE. LIKE 46/114 type thing. He’s not going to wow with 14 Sacks. He will Wow to 7-8 Sacks and lots of pressures.

Sorrell was a good find in RD4 last year. I noticed he was constantly running Caleb out of the pocket in that Wildcard. More importantly he DIES NOT STOP. Barryn reminds me of Wyatt in that regard, he’s seen playing through the whistle and regular. I never noticed him until I watched that entire game again.

Any one of those 4 players could pop. That’s all it takes is 1 of 4 and I like my odds.

 

[OldSchool101]

I like Franklin. I think he fits better in GB over Indi. The Packers strength is Run and short pass support. Valentine is our only true weakness there. He’s solid against the Pass, but he’s terrible in Run Support or even tackling in the open field. Yet around him are McKinney, Bullard, Evan Williams and Nixon. I even like Oladapo as a depth piece. Keisean Nixon is a highly underrated Tackling and Run stoping player. His biggest concern is he can get a little grabby when he’s lined up against guys who can fiat outrun him. I think the physicality mitigates some big plays but also draws a few extra yellow flags also. I often find myself saying at least he didn’t give up a 50 yard play and Nixon does frustrate his opponent and that I actually don’t want to take away from him. Live by the sword die by the sword type thing. Nixon was like #6 ranked Run stopping CB in the NFL in 2024 per PFF. That’s not an easy task. It’s partly why our opponents were averaging 3.9 per play in lots of games last year. Him and Bullard were mopping up short throws.

I think St Juste or Cisse are going to do battle at Starter opposite Nixon. imo. St Juste in particular played really good under Harbaugh, granted he was more a rotational but he performed really good. That’s what caught Brian’s attention imo.

Franklin is more like our former LB, Eric Wilson but a better in pure run stop and worse in coverage. Both are well above average at coming downhill and causing issues for Offenses in Run support or Rushing the Passer. Franklin’s weakness is dropping into coverage, although that’s been our weakness since Quay suited up also. I don’t see any notable regression there off 2025. Tbh, Q sucked in pass coverage also so nothing really changes imo. I noticed Q would get tangled with OL and wasn’t very good at shedding blocks. He used pure athleticism to make up for some lack of technique. Franklin is so quick with burst that he just flat runs right around blockers. You don’t log a league leading 170+ tackles unless you are a magnet.

 

[tynimiller]

FTR I pray Juste and Cisse are the starters and if Nixon is playing it is more the slot where he excels IMO. He bites and attempts to swing for grand slams way way too much at outside CB IMO

 

[OldSchool101]

FTR I pray Juste and Cisse are the starters and if Nixon is playing it is more the slot where he excels IMO. He bites and attempts to swing for grand slams way way too much at outside CB IMO

It’s not inconceivable. I always end up asking Where would you move Bullard?
Might be a good problem they like to use lots of Big Nickel and Dime so maybe gave Nixon in the Slot and Bullard as another DB all on the field together.

 

[CarryTheG14]

NO way dude! They're really moving to Indiana! LOLOLOLOLOL

https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/2062930409793462312?s=20

 

[CarryTheG14]

It’s not inconceivable. I always end up asking Where would you move Bullard?
Might be a good problem they like to use lots of Big Nickel and Dime so maybe gave Nixon in the Slot and Bullard as another DB all on the field together.

You can't move Bull from the nickle. He was one of the top guys there last year.


" I think St Juste or Cisse are going to do battle at Starter opposite Nixon. imo. St Juste in particular played really good under Harbaugh, granted he was more a rotational but he performed really good. That’s what caught Brian’s attention imo."

They're my wild cards of the year. If these two can play, it changes everything. Makes the D elite of elite.

And I love Cisse's makeup and pray that St. Juste is a very good zone CB. I think there's a shot theyre the boundary corners late this year.

 

[OldSchool101]

You can't move Bull from the nickle. He was one of the top guys there last year.


" I think St Juste or Cisse are going to do battle at Starter opposite Nixon. imo. St Juste in particular played really good under Harbaugh, granted he was more a rotational but he performed really good. That’s what caught Brian’s attention imo."

They're my wild cards of the year. If these two can play, it changes everything. Makes the D elite of elite.

And I love Cisse's makeup and pray that St. Juste is a very good zone CB. I think there's a shot theyre the boundary corners late this year.

Well Gannon uses some unconventional style of play. I think he is an above average DC and he seems to get the best out of the talent he has. That goes for Babich also.
I’m not thinking of removing Bullard I’m more thinking using both Bullard and Nixon simultaneous. Nixon is a very underrated Run Defender, he scored better against the Run than Bullard in 2024 (in the Top 6 of the NFL)
Keisean ranked from #2–#36 of 114 Qualified CB’s in 9 of 11 PFF metrics used to measure CB play. Even his worst Pass yards given up per play was #66/111, which was actually still respectable. Nixon overall Run grades (67% rated at #40/111 and pass grades (69% rated #34/111 were both hanging around the top 1/3 of the NFL. So all due respect but a pretty reputable metric has them very similar with Nixon slightly better. Bullard was #31/98 pass grades and #88/98 Run D grade.