The narrative of so close, yet so far is partly the reason for Love’s belief moving forward, even as he’s determined to perform in a manner that eliminates the necessity for such regret in the upcoming season.
“There’s no more, ‘We’re a young team.’ There’s no more of those what ifs,” he said. “People know what we’re about now. Obviously, we’ll have that target on our back. People want to beat us. We’re hungry. I know everybody in that locker room is hungry and ready to get back. And obviously we added some key pieces with Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney. So I’m excited. We’re going to have some more pieces coming in with the draft, but I’m excited for me to be able to take that next step. Year 2. For a lot of the receivers, those rookies we had last year to take that step in Year 2.”
The addition of McKinney on one of the market’s few major paydays for a safety figures to be a boon to Jeff Hafley’s inaugural campaign as the team’s defensive coordinator.
It’s the offense, however, with its tantalizing combination of youth and talent, that could take the biggest collective step.
The potential impact of releasing Aaron Jones, now with the enemy Vikings, cannot be overstated. His career 5.0 yards-per-carry average trails only four other running backs, and although he missed six games last season with injury he also finished out his final five contests as a Packer with 584 rushing yards (5.7 YPC). The leadership is bound to look different without Jones, but Jacobs, a two-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro, is no slouch himself. By going younger at the position, the Packers are banking on seeing their RB1 fully healthy more often.
As for Green Bay’s pass-catching group, it appears to have become as deep as it is explosive in the span of just one season.
Jayden Reed, a 2023 second-rounder, led the offense with 64 receptions and tied Romeo Doubs for the team-lead with eight TD catches. He also paced Green Bay with 793 receiving yards on the season despite never collecting the most for the team in any month.
The Packers had a different receiving-yards leader for each page of the calendar during the regular season — Doubs, Christian Watson, Dontayvion Wicks and Tucker Kraft, who did so while subbing in as the primary tight end once fellow rookie Luke Musgrave missed extended time due to injury.
Both rookie tight ends finished with 30-plus catches and over 350 yards. There’s currently no WR with more than two years of experience on a roster that weathered a learning curve to produce the league’s 12th-best passing offense in Love’s first season as a starter.
There’s no guarantee Year 2 of Love and the young guns propels the Packers beyond where they finished in 2023, but he knows the potential is there.
“I think the only way to get that title back is to go win it, so that’s what we’ve got plans on doing this year,” the QB said of trying to return Green Bay to its status as NFC heavyweight.
2024-03-23 13:27:00
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