It’s a new era of football in Green Bay. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, and tight ends Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis have departed. The Packers find themselves with a young, inexperienced core on offense. In the projected starting lineup, left tackle David Bakhtiari is the only player who has entered his 30s. Newly promoted starting quarterback Jordan Love turns 25 in November. Jeff Cotton, 26, is the oldest receiver on the active roster.
Green Bay’s youth movement is in full swing.
This season presents its own set of challenges for the Packers. There is a sense of urgency for younger players to step up as vocal leaders in the locker room, making their voices heard during inevitable times of adversity. Game-planning around the personnel that maximizes their strengths will be essential to Green Bay’s chances of success. A transition from a four-time NFL MVP in Aaron Rodgers to a first-year starter with little playing time experience in Jordan Love allows the Packers to finally follow Matt LaFleur’s playbook to its true extension. Growing pains will be the unit’s main theme. Everyone from players to staff needs to come together as the group learns the little details that make LaFleur’s system run smoothly.
It can be tricky for the coaching staff to come up with a game plan that fits players schematically, raises their level of play, and doesn’t put young guys in tough situations. However, LaFleur can look at the tape and find an answer in one of his tendencies from last year. Going back to 2022, the Packers lined up in 12 personnel 29% of the time, according to Sports Info Solutions. The formation was an important part of Green Bay’s offense back in 2020 and 2021 when Rodgers ranked among the top of every statistical passer ranking and earned back-to-back MVP honors.
How can the 12 personnel help this new, rejuvenated offense succeed?
LaFleur and his staff will face an immediate challenge in getting Love ready for constant playing time. As natural as growing pains will be, LaFleur needs to protect his young quarterback. The Packers have an elite running back, Aaron Jones, who ranked first in yards per catch three times in the last five years. They also have a solid backup in A.J. Dillon, who is entering a contract year. This allows the Packers to focus on the run game, stacking two tight ends on the offensive line and providing space between the gaps as well as better opportunities for the likes of Jones and Dillon.
When it comes to the tight end group, the Packers have an unproven, albeit interesting, room. Rookies Musgrave and Kraft have yet to make their NFL debuts. Josiah Deguara has not seen much playing time since entering the league in 2020. However, he showed valuable chemistry with Love when they were second-stringers. Expect LaFleur to rotate these guys based on situational football and looks provided by opposing defenses.
Getting Musgrave and Kraft on the field as much as possible is important. As rookies, both will face, embrace, and learn from growing pains. Blocking assignments, adjustments, and a vast route tree filled with details are a few of the many challenges that a rookie tight end faces in the transition from college to the pros.
Generally, when game-planning around 12 personnel, one tight end is more of a pass catcher, and the other has a bit better blocking skills. LaFleur can scheme the most experienced pass catcher in Deguara as the receiving threat and focus on improving the blocking abilities of Musgrave and Kraft. If LaFleur designs a play for both rookies, expect them to rotate between roles.
Musgrave has already shown an impressive combo of size and speed during OTAs and minicamp:
Efficiently passing the ball is key for the modern NFL offense. That will be no different in Green Bay, despite the uncertainty on key positions. However, LaFleur and Stenavich need to take some pressure off Love. Lining up in 12 personnel allows the Packers to keep the defense honest without over-taxing their first-year signal caller.
Opponents will look to neutralize running threats, Jones and Dillon, by bringing a safety down to the box, will prioritize single-high coverage instead of two-high in the back end. That opens opportunities for receivers to exploit one-on-one matchups on the outside and sets up the play-action pass for success. In this particular scenario, Love can take advantage of Christian Watson’s athleticism on deep shots and Romeo Doubs’ route-running techniques on throws that require timing.
There are many variables in 12 personnel that LaFleur and Adam Stenavich can work with. They can scheme one tight end as a blocker and another as a receiving threat. Have both tight ends block for improved odds of a successful run game, or line them up as receivers to add to the number of threats in the passing game.
The 12 personnel doesn’t give away a tendency to defenses. Defenders can’t go all in on the run or the pass because offenses can use both effectively. This formation helps offenses keep defenses off pace and off balance. Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich shared his thoughts on what the formation brings to the table and how defenses look to neutralize it: “Depends on what defense you’re playing. But sometimes, when you get into 12 personnel, they put their base defense … in the game, you cand kind of dumb down the defense.”
Lining up in 12 personnel can bring great benefits to the young Packers offense. However, it’s unrealistic to believe in a scenario where Green Bay plays mistake-free football. Some bumps will be inevitable in the process of building chemistry among largely untested players. Matt LaFleur is a savvy offensive mind, and he will scheme up plans to put his youngsters in a position to succeed.
