Despite making the playoffs in the first two years of the Jordan Love era, the Green Bay Packers haven’t quite lived up to their full potential. Now, after going 1-5 against divisional opponents and being a one-and-done in the postseason, there’s a little more pressure on the Packers to deliver in a bigger fashion this year.
Of course, there’s more pressure on some than others.
Here are the three Packers with the most to prove this year.
Lukas Van Ness – Defensive end
While we aren’t ranking the three listed, it’s impossible to put someone on this roster who has more to prove in 2025 than Van Ness. A first-round pick in 2023 and the No. 13-overall selection at that, Van Ness has wildly underwhelmed in his first two seasons. His go-to move is straight bull rushing. And, while you can sometimes get away with being a one-trick pony in college, the NFL is a different beast.
Van Ness had only three sacks last season, despite appearing in every game. His production had dipped so much that by the end of the year, he was in a near-even split in snap-count totals with Brenton Cox Jr.
Cox had been a healthy scratch in the first 10 games of the season until the Packers dealt Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cox took advantage of his opportunities; Van Ness didn’t. Kingsley Enagbare and Rashan Gary out-snapped both down the stretch.
Van Ness will be a starter for Green Bay when the fall rolls around. It’s largely based on him being a former first-round pick who needs to show once and for all what he’s got, more than it’s merit-based.
General manager Brian Gutekunst has spoken glowingly of Van Ness all offseason and has done a good job of hyping up the former Iowa Hawkeye.
We need to affect the quarterback more in the front four, with just four players, and Lukas is a big part of that. He does everything he can. He is everything you want in a professional as far as his work ethic and what he puts into it, and I expect him to take a big jump this year.
He’ll need to make a big jump, or else the Packers will be faced with retooling up front at defensive end next year. There is nobody on this roster with more to prove than Van Ness entering his third season.
Jayden Reed – Wide receiver
If the season were only a month long, Reed would’ve been No. 1 material through the first handful of games in 2024. Two games with over 130 receiving yards and three total touchdowns in the first four games had everyone giddy about what Reed looked like.
Unfortunately, the production took a hit.
In the last eight games of the regular season, Reed eclipsed 49 yards only once and had five games with four or fewer targets. At times, he was invisible on offense.
There’s pressure on plenty of wide receivers for Green Bay this year. Still, as a former second-round pick in 2023, Reed is the one with the most to prove. He finished the year in the top-five in drops in the NFL despite having just 75 targets. He also occasionally struggled as a perimeter receiver lined up on the outside.
Nobody should be giving up on Reed. The potential is still sky high. It’s on Reed and the coaching staff to maximize his strengths and put him in advantageous situations.
The beginning of the 2024 season had people wondering if Reed would be the torch bearer at wide receiver for years to come. By the end of the season, he was lumped in with everyone else on the team, with many asking who would ever become the No. 1, go-to option.
Jordan Love – Quarterback
At the end of the 2023 season, it appeared the Packers had discovered their next superstar quarterback. One year later, many of those same people who had exclaimed that to be the truth went running to hide in the bushes.
Injuries played a factor in an odd 2024 campaign for Love. Additionally, the Packers being near the top of the list in nearly every category involving drops didn’t help the young quarterback.
Still, Love didn’t take a leap forward and build off his late-season heroics from 2023. Because of that, he has something to prove in 2025.
The Packers believe they have their future franchise quarterback. Many fans believe the same thing. Going out and stringing together an efficient season that results in another postseason appearance would go a long way in hammering home that idea. (Winning one of those postseason games would go even farther.)
Getting a pair of young receivers in Matthew Golden and Savion Williams will help. Time off to fully heal up, not to mention better injury luck, will help even more.
Is it lame putting the quarterback of the team in the category of someone who has the most to prove? Maybe. However, this isn’t to say we’re labeling Patrick Mahomes as someone who has the most to prove in Kansas City.
There’s still plenty of unknowns with Love. What he does in 2025 will tell a big part of his national and local narrative going forward.
