Packers: Three reasons to be excited about the 2020 season

3. Packers have elite players at most important positions

No team is perfect. All 32 franchises have weaknesses that they were unable to address in the offseason, or areas they don’t yet know are weaknesses. In a passing league, there are positions that carry more importance than others. To find success in today’s NFL, you need to be able to pass the football, protect the quarterback, rush the quarterback and defend the pass.

The Packers have elite players at each of those positions.

Aaron Rodgers is still an elite player who continues to add to his Hall-of-Fame resume. His offensive line ranked in first place of ESPN’s pass block win rate metric last season. Much of that success was due to the Packers’ four-time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari, who ranked first among tackles in the same metric.

While there are certainly questions to be asked about the depth of the wide receiver corps, it is led by a superstar in Davante Adams, who has three straight Pro Bowl selections to his name.

Rushing the passer? No problem. Za’Darius and Preston Smith, who form “The Smith Bros.”, had more sacks than any other pass-rushing tandem in football last season. They both made the top 10 in ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric in 2019.

Pass defender? Jaire Alexander is a rising star and is now entering his third year in the league. Last season, he led the Packers with 19 passes defended and he also intercepted two passes. Pro Football Focus ranked the NFL’s top 25 cornerbacks through Week 17 at the end of the regular season, with Alexander coming in at No. 11.

There are certainly some glaring areas of need for the Packers, even after the draft, but they have excellent starters at the most important positions.