Three important Packers storylines emerging from the NFL Combine (and it's not just about the NFL draft)
The NFL draft isn't the only reason to worry about what's said coming out of Indianapolis over the last week. We dig into stories that affect the Packers related to free agency, trades and the draft.
Good morning!
We made it through another NFL combine. Hopefully, everyone got their fill of horseradish-centric shrimp cocktail (personally, not me), and we can turn our attention toward the start of the new league year in under two weeks.
Oh, and by the way, the Green Bay Packers have a new special teams coordinator!
In today’s free Monday newsletter, we dig through five storylines that came out of the combine that affect the Packers, whether they’re potentially relevant to the draft, the Packers specifically, or league trends that could matter in Green Bay.
Thank you for reading and supporting our coverage. You can also support our work by following us on social media:
Jason B. Hirschhorn: @by_JBH on Twitter / @byjbh@bsky.social on Bluesky / @by_jbh on Threads
Peter Bukowski: @Peter_Bukowski on Twitter / @peterbukowski@bsky.social on Bluesky / @peter_bukowski on Threads
The Leap: @TheLeapGB on Twitter / @theleap.bsky.social on Bluesky / The Leap's YouTube channel
If you appreciate thoughtful, independent coverage of the Packers and NFL, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support allows us to serve this community with the stories and reporting it deserves.
As always, thanks for making The Leap a part of your day.
Matt LaFleur tabbed Cam Achord to be Rich Bisaccia’s replacement. So, what will we change?
Peter Bukowski: The reality here is we don’t actually know. Anchord once coached the best special teams unit in the NFL back in 2020, but after that, the New England Patriots were middling-to-bad, depending on what rankings and statistics one chooses to prioritize.
Matthew Slater, the best non-returner special teams player of his generation, insisted the Patriots’ struggles, such as they were, did not reflect on Achord, but instead on the players for failing to execute what was being clearly articulated by the coaching staff.
Far be it for me to argue.
On the other hand, some have suggested nothing will change with the Packers’ special teams until the team gives more than one or two damns about personnel and practice. Green Bay does not prioritize practicing things like field goals in practice at full-speed. They generally don’t bend their rules at cornerback or receiver to accommodate drafting retutners.
Except when they did it with Amari Rodgers, it went terribly. One could argue Jayden Reed’s profile worked for the Packers, at least in part, because he could return punts, but they took him off that job because of his own struggles as well.
Brian Gutekunst signed core special teams players for Bisaccia, like Dallin Leavitt and Keisean Nixon, even if no one knew Nixon could be an All-Pro returner at the time (that was a happy accident). He drafted Bisaccia's pets as well, and he couldn’t make any of it work.
Meanwhile, the Packers are hiring a coach who once helmed the No. 1 special teams in the league back in 2020. Achord served under Joe Judge, one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL, before taking over as the lead man. Maybe that makes his top billing in the rankings in his first season misleading — the systems were, after all, in place before he fully took charge — but he was able to maintain them.
Slater likewise stood up for Achord when the special teams group in New England faltered in 2022.
“This is not on coach at all,” Slater told local Patriots radio during the team’s struggles that season.
“I think this is on us as players. It’s not like we’re going out there and getting out-schemed, or being put in a bad position. He prepares us. We know what to expect. And it’s really about us executing better. This is not coaching at all. I think Cam and Joe [Houston] do a great job of having us ready, having us prepared. We feel confident going into every contest, but they can’t go out there and play. They can’t coach and play. The players have to do their job and let the coaches do theirs.”
Still, those 2022 Patriots finished dead last in special teams DVOA, two years removed from the top spot. Whether it was truly the coach’s fault doesn’t matter, not to Packers fans who have watched almost two decades of bad special teams.
It’s time to get it right.
It’s a big fat “TBD” on the cornerbacks in this draft
PB: If a cornerback wants to be drafted by the Packers relatively early, he better be big, fast, and can turn. Green Bay doesn’t tend to draft cornerbacks below 5-foot-11 or below 190 pounds, nor do they pick corners who run slower than 4.5. Overall, they’re also a team that seems to value the 3-cone, though their preference there is more clear at receiver and on the edge.
Six cornerbacks projected in the top 60 didn’t run 40s at “stopwatch position,” known as such because of how crucial speed is to playing it well. It’s one of the few where that’s true, as receivers of all speeds, to a point, can make it work. If you can’t run, you can’t play cornerback.
Only five cornerbacks ran the three-cone, and not one of them broke seven seconds, which is generally considered the standard for receivers and cornerbacks.
Tough look for the draft class, generally considered the worst in the last 15 or so years overall. It’s particularly tricky at cornerback, where some of the best players are too small for the Packers, whether in height or weight, or the prototypical size/speed players have T-Rex arms (there are some similar issues with this offensive line class).
Some showed up laughably smaller than their listed height and weight, like Arizona State’s Keith Abney II, who could have conceivably been in play for the Packers in the second round.
For those wanting a cornerback at 52, including and especially the Packers front office, they’ll have to wait for pro days and maybe even private workouts to sort this out.
Running back just became a big need
PB: According to a report from ESPN, Emanuel Wilson will not get a restricted free agent tender, leaving the RB2 job open heading into the offseason. Marshawn Lloyd only has a couple more carries in his NFL career than I do, and Josh Jacobs might not be in Green Bay beyond this season.
Oh, and this is one of the shallowest running back classes in recent memory.
The Packers have a history of viewing RB2 as a priority in the draft, at least when the team is otherwise pretty set. It would not be surprising to see a running back be the pick in the second round, much like A.J. Dillon was back in 2020 when the Packers knew both Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams would be hitting free agency a season later.
Green Bay had to figure only one would get a contract, but they prepared for the chance that neither would — remember, Jones has had injury and workload questions most of his career.
There’s one big name to watch in this draft class coming out of Indy: Arkansas back Mike Washington Jr. He’s built more like Dillon at 223 pounds, but possesses exponentially more explosion. In fact, he tested as one of the most athletic running backs in combine history.
If the Packers are looking for a complete back, someone who can be a bruiser, but also create explosive plays to soften up defenses, Washington checks those boxes. Even if Jacobs remains in Green Bay on the final year of his deal, the former Arkansas Razorback would offer a complementary skillset to Jacobs, while adding to the damage down as a power runner.
Unfortunately for the Packers, though, the secret is out on Washington, and he might not even make it to them after the show he put in on Indianapolis.
