Rebuild? Regress?
Hardly. Try restock, reload and continue chasing greatness.
Green Bay traded away future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in April, 2023, then fielded the NFL’s youngest roster a year ago.
Most believed the Packers — who missed the postseason in 2022 — would take another step back in 2023. Instead, Green Bay reached the playoffs, upset Dallas in the Wild Card round and had eventual NFC champion San Francisco on the ropes before fading in the divisional playoffs.
Now, with the overwhelming majority of that ascending roster back, a gifted quarterback in Jordan Love, and some key offseason additions, the Packers will return as one of the favorites to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIX.
“I’ve been so close so many years and I’ve been a part of some really good teams. Some great teams,” said Kenny Clark, a defensive tackle who has played in three NFC Championship games, but has been on the losing end each time. “But this group is really coming together, really connecting.
“They’ve got a lot of love for each other. It’s built the right way. It’s hard to win in this league, but I think if we take the same approach we took last year, we’ll make some noise and hopefully we can get to that game (the Super Bowl).”
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Green Bay’s first training camp practice is July 22. Between now and then I will count down the ‘30 Most Important Packers’ heading into the 2024 campaign.
At No. 8 is left guard Elgton Jenkins.
No. 8
Elgton Jenkins, LG
Last season
Jenkins, who bounced around the line early in his career, stayed at left guard last season and excelled. In 1,019 snaps (including playoffs), Jenkins didn’t allow a sack. He did allow 12 pressures and seven quarterback hits, but became the leader of this young unit after left tackle David Bakhtiari lasted just one game due to a knee injury.
Career to date
Jenkins has appeared in 70 games with 68 starts in his first five seasons. He’s started games at four different positions on the line — 51 at left guard, eight at left tackle, six at right tackle and three at center.
Jenkins was named to the Professional Football Writers Association All-Rookie team in 2019 after appearing in all 16 games with 14 starts at left guard. Jenkins became just the second Packers guard to earn such honors since 1974 (Daryn Colledge, 2006),
Jenkins was selected to his first career Pro Bowl in 2020, becoming only the third offensive lineman in team history to be named to the Pro Bowl within his first two seasons in the NFL (Deral Teteak, 1952; Charley Brock, 1940). He started games at three different positions in 2020 — 12 at left guard, three at center and one at right tackle — becoming the first Green Bay offensive lineman to start a game at guard, center and tackle in the same season since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
Jenkins tore his ACL midway through the 2021 season, then struggled early in 2022 when the Packers played him at right guard. Jenkins regained the form that made him a 2020 Pro Bowler when the Packers moved him back to his natural left guard spot later in the 2022 campaign.
In Dec., 2022, the Packers rewarded Jenkins with a four-year, $68 million contract that included a $24 million signing bonus and $24 million guaranteed.
Outlook
Jenkins has the skill set and is flexible enough to play multiple positions on the line. But after Jenkins shined at left guard last season, it would seem foolish for the Packers to move him.
“I think Elton's pretty entrenched,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said of Jenkins. “And, again, he's so versatile. And you guys know that we like to try to acquire the guys that can play multiple spots. So, we'll continue to do that, but when a guy has a lot of success at one spot, it's tougher to pull him out of there.”
Comments
“We’re coming. We’re coming with a purpose. We want to win it all. Feel like we could have did it (in 2023) but (this) year I’m very optimistic. We’ve got the guys in the building. We’ve got everything that we need to get it done. We’ve just got to go do it. We set a good foundation … we’ve just got to go win.” — Jenkins on the 2024 Packers
“Elgton is the ultimate competitor. We've all been around Elgton enough to know that he is one of the most competitive guys. Now, it's his chance to get up and speak and be more vocal. That might not be Elgton's strong suit, wanting to be able to talk in front of the whole group but, in the O-line room, what he's been doing is helping the young guys and he's been more vocal, so he's constantly working on that, just trying to bring that competitive nature and trying to help him become the leader that we all know he is.” — Packers offensive line coach Luke Butkus on Jenkins
“I think any time you get a player of the caliber of Elgton Jenkins, that’s huge for you. Definitely has played a lot of ball at a high level for us and brings a mentality to our line that I think that we need.” — Packers coach Matt LaFleur on Jenkins
“I feel like just being yourself. Especially with the talent that we’ve got in each room on our team, just play football, just trust the process, make sure you’re doing the little things right, and let everything else take care of itself. The standard is going to be the standard, the expectation is going to be the expectation. As long as you’re getting better individually, we can be better as a whole.” — Jenkins on expectations for the 2024 Packers
THE TOP 30
• No. 30 — RB AJ Dillon
• No. 29 — LB Isaiah McDuffie
• No. 28 — CB Carrington Valentine
• No. 27 — TE Tucker Kraft
• No. 26 — LB Edgerrin Cooper
• No. 25 — DE Lukas Van Ness
• No. 24 — Keisean Nixon
• No. 23 — WR Dontayvion Wicks
• No. 22 — OL Jordan Morgan
• No. 21 — DL T.J. Slaton
• No. 20 — OL Sean Rhyan
• No. 19 — DL Devonte Wyatt
• No. 18 — OL Rasheed Walker
• No. 17 — S Javon Bullard
• No. 16 — CB Eric Stokes
• No. 15 — C Josh Myers
• No. 14 — TE Luke Musgrave
• No. 13 — LB Quay Walker
• No. 12 — DE Preston Smith
• No. 11 — WR Christian Watson
• No. 10 — WR Romeo Doubs
• No. 9 — RT Zach Tom
