Packers: 10 players who surprised in 2019 season

A look at 10 Green Bay Packers who had surprising seasons in 2019.

A wildly successful debut regular season has just wrapped up for Matt LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers.

Which players pleasantly surprised us this year, and which ones fell short of expectations?

Let’s take a look at a few.

Disappointing seasons

Josh Jackson and Tony Brown

Hopes were high for Josh Jackson when the Packers snagged him in the second round last year, but he hasn’t yet managed to live up to the hype. After playing around two-thirds of the defensive snaps last season, he played just over 10 percent this year (snap counts from Pro Football Reference).

Jackson has had some nice reps when on the field, but it seems that defensive coordinator Mike Pettine doesn’t really value what Jackson is best at—zone coverage on the outside. There’s two years left on Jackson’s rookie contract, so he still has plenty of opportunity to develop into the playmaking star he was at Iowa.

Tony Brown, meanwhile, was one of the few bright spots of the end of last season. He played fast, aggressively, and instinctively. But this year, the top corners remained healthy, and Brown couldn’t sniff the field. He played just 47 snaps on defense, and the team released him last Saturday.

Oren Burks

As a 2018 third-round pick, the Packers hope that Oren Burks can one day become an every-down player for them on defense. He’s a small linebacker but has excellent speed and athleticism for the position, which would theoretically allow him to match up well in coverage against tight ends and running backs.

Thus far, it hasn’t materialized for Burks on defense, where he played just 57 snaps this season. The preseason pectoral injury that forced him to miss Weeks 1-4 certainly didn’t help. His most natural shot at playing time appeared to be dime linebacker, but Ibraheim Campbell has assumed that role.

Burks did play the second-most special teams snaps on the Packers this year, and his contributions there shouldn’t be discounted. Hopefully, he can become a regular contributor on defense in 2020.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Geronimo Allison

After the departure of Randall Cobb, these receivers entered 2019 as the starters behind Davante Adams. Neither have lived up to expectations.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling has made some big plays due largely to his excellent long speed, most notably against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, the Denver Broncos in Week 3, and the Oakland Raiders in Week 7. But he hasn’t managed to master the finer aspects of receiver play, including tracking deep balls and controlling his body along the boundaries.

He hasn’t played more than 50 percent of snaps since Week 9, and he’s the only player with more than four targets on the season to catch less than half his targets (stats from FoxSports.com).

Geronimo Allison is a very different type of receiver, relying more on his veteran savvy and chemistry with Aaron Rodgers than raw athleticism. But he dropped five passes this season on just 55 targets, by far the worst rate on the team. Rodgers continues to trust Allison and he’s made some clutch plays this season (on third down especially), but his lack of reliability has been disappointing.