Green Bay Packers Stock Report at Halfway Point

Sell: A.J. Dillon

Even with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams, I thought we’d see more of A.J. Dillon this season, but instead, he’s been used quite sparingly. He has only 23 rushing attempts and one reception this season, and several of those carries were only because Jones was hurt. Barring any more missed time from Jones or Williams, Dillon is going to continue playing a small role in this offense.

Sell: WRs not named Adams or Lazard

Davante Adams is doing special things right now, and before his injury, Allen Lazard was off to a scorching start. But for the most part, the other receivers on this roster have underwhelmed once again. In the five games that Lazard has missed, the other Green Bay receivers not named Adams have combined for 322 yards, three touchdowns, and have caught only 53 percent of their passes.

If we take the San Francisco game away, where Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Tyler Ervin combined for 101 yards and two touchdowns, those numbers look even worse. Fortunately, the running backs and tight ends have been effective in the passing game, not to mention that Adams and Lazard have been very good as well when on the field. But the other receivers really can’t be relied upon.

Sell: Mike Pettine

To his credit, over the last few weeks, we’ve seen Mike Pettine sending more blitzes and stunts trying to drum up some pressure, but at this point, I think we all know who he is as a defensive coordinator. Pettine does not want to give up the big play, which can lead to soft zone coverage and easy pitch and catch opportunities for the opponent.

On top of that, as I mentioned previously, when discussing Darnell Savage, it doesn’t seem like he’s always putting his players in the best position to succeed. Without his players winning their one-on-one matchups nearly as often, there isn’t much that this Green Bay Packers’ defense does well. And that falls on the shoulders of Pettine.

If there’s a sharp turnaround in defensive performance in the second half of the season or the team wins the Super Bowl – which is certainly a possibility – then Pettine will likely be back for 2021. However, if this defense continues down the same path, I’m not sure how he keeps his job. And considering that I think you should sell your Mike Pettine stock, you now know how I think it will play out.

Sell: The run defense

The Green Bay Packers’ overall numbers aren’t nearly as bad as they were in 2019; however, a big reason for that is that the offense is blowing teams out, which means their opponents can’t run the ball as often as they’d like. But the 4.84 yards per carry that they are allowing, which ranks 26th in the NFL, paints a more accurate picture. This run defense is still porous, and I haven’t seen much of anything to give me any hope that it’s going to improve.