In just over a week, the Green Bay Packers lost three members of the 2021 draft class.
Eric Stokes suffered season-ending knee and ankle injuries against the Detroit Lions. Meanwhile, the Packers released Amari Rodgers on Tuesday following his latest devastating punt return fumble. They also cut running back Kylin Hill on Tuesday, weeks after he returned to the team from last year’s ACL injury.
NFL teams can’t be too reliant on rookies to become major contributors; most rookies aren’t good. But Year 2 is when you’d expect young players to take that next step to become valuable contributors. Unfortunately for the Packers, between injuries and underperforming players, Green Bay isn’t getting much from its sophomore class.
Four members of the 2021 class were expected to be valuable starters in 2022: CB Eric Stokes, C Josh Myers, PR Amari Rodgers, and OL Royce Newman (Green Bay’s first- through fourth-round picks). It hasn’t been a banner year for any of those players.
Stokes’ season may have ended due to an unfortunate injury, but his play hadn’t been great before his run-in with Ford Field’s awful turf. Despite his role as a starting boundary corner, Stokes had been one of the weak spots on defense and took a step back after his promising rookie season. After leading the team with 14 pass breakups in 2021, Stokes hadn’t recovered a single one in 2022.
As a whole, the defense has underperformed compared to the talent level, but it was unfortunate to see a promising player decline.
Myers has probably been the “best” of the 2021 class, settling into his role as a starting center and holding onto the job. But while Myers looked like one of the most consistent pieces on this struggling offensive line during the early season, he’s been mostly spotty since. Andy Herman, who grades every Packers’ snap, has Myers as his third-lowest graded offensive player this season. Herman also pointed out that PFF, who graded Myers more favorably than Herman’s system, still had Myers with an average 61.1 grade.
Myers hasn’t been detrimental, but you’d hope for more than fine with a second-round pick. It’s worth noting that Creed Humphrey, who the Kansas City Chiefs selected one pick later, is PFF’s No. 1-ranked center.
We all know about Amari Rodgers’ problems this season, and piling onto it feels like kicking a man when he’s down. Rodgers’ struggles as a returner and inability to find a role in a wide-open receiving role led to his recent release.
Newman started at right guard through most of 2021 and was the favorite to lock down the spot in 2022. His rookie season had ups and downs, but he looked to have a leg on the competition. After an uninspiring attempt at manning right tackle, Newman followed up with a poor showing back at guard. After a particularly damning performance against the New York Jets in Week 6, the Packers benched Newman midgame, but had to reenter after his replacement, Jake Hanson, got hurt.
Newman often looked lost in pass protection and gave up an alarming amount of pressure.
Green Bay hasn’t gotten much from the rest of the class, either. TJ Slaton hasn’t taken a step forward and is still merely a rotational player. Shemar Jean-Charles has been injured. Cole Van Lanen plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Packers released Hill, and it didn’t sound like a performance-related issue. Matt LaFleur alluded to Hill not living up to the Packers’ standard, implying the issue was interpersonal. A shame because Hill looked like a player with some juice who could have played a role on offense and special teams.
Linebacker Isaiah McDuffie has been the lone bright spot among the Day 3 picks. McDuffie has been a core special teams player and performed admirably in a bigger defensive role against the Dallas Cowboys, with injuries plaguing the inside linebacker group.
The jury isn’t out on these young players (the ones still with the team, at least). Many players have made the leap in Year 3 when the game finally slows down for them. But for a draft-and-develop team like Green Bay, you need to hit on your draft picks. So far, they haven’t done so with their sophomore class.
The Packers have struggled this season but had a promising win over the Cowboys. Perhaps the overall lackluster state of the team has led to these young players underperforming, and we know the coaching staff has claimed they need to do a better job putting players in a position to succeed. These players could turn things around, but they haven’t been great assets for the team.
