Green Bay Packers: Second-Year Player Performance Grades

Late Round Picks

5th Round Pick – Kingsley Keke – DL

Surprisingly enough, Kingsley Keke is the Green Bay Packers’ highest-graded defensive lineman by Pro Football Focus at 74.5. Now, does Keke being graded higher than Kenny Clark this season say more about the grading system itself than their play? Probably. However, He’s consistently graded well, and that’s good for something, even if the system is flawed and subjective.

He has four sacks this season, a product of a pair of two-sack games, one in week three against the Saints and one more recently against the Eagles. Other than those two games, he’s been quiet statistically, but in many instances, it seems that he’s the best fit next to Kenny Clark on running downs and gives the Packers some good snaps in the middle of the defense. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t done enough to impact games to warrant a high grade.

In some situations, they even use him as their preferred fourth pass rusher, ahead of Preston Smith. There have been multiple times in recent weeks on third and long where the four rushers have been Z. Smith, Gary, Clark, and Keke. At 6’3″ 288 pounds, he’s a leaner interior defensive lineman, and while this sometimes makes it tougher to take on blocks in the run game, it gives him extra quickness and agility on pass rushes. He used that really well for this sack against the Eagles:

Overall Grade: C+

6th Round Pick – Ka’dar Hollman – CB

Ka’Dar Hollman has gotten very little playing time in his young career. He played a total of four defensive snaps in his rookie year and has only taken defensive snaps in seven games this season. However, he’s taken advantage of that small amount of time on the field this season and made some nice plays.

In week four against Atlanta, he had just 12 snaps on defense but has two passes defended in that limited time. His big chance, of course, was against the Jacksonville Jaguars when both starting cornerbacks, Jaire Alexander and Kevin King, were sidelined with injuries. He got the first and only start of his career and played 51 snaps, 80 percent of the total defensive snaps for the game. He played well, recording a pass defended and holding the Jaguars receivers in check, as they had just 169 yards through the air, though that was partially due to the fact that Jake Luton was starting at quarterback.

Hollman has all the tools to be a good corner in this league, and he’s done well when his number has been called upon. This season, he’s been targeted 16 times and given up only seven catches, a completion percentage of 43.8. He’s still a wild card on how his career will pan out, but he’s shown he could be a serviceable player here in Green Bay.

Overall Grade: C

7th Round Pick – Ty Summers – LB

Like Hollman and most late-round picks, Summers got little to no time early in his career and was strictly a special teams player last year, playing zero defensive snaps. In year two, he also got his chance to be a starter after injuries hit the linebacker position hard.

In week three, he played 72 percent of defensive snaps, and in week four, he got the start and played 74 percent of the time. While his tackle numbers for those games looked good, nine and seven respectively, he should have made a few more that he didn’t, played poorly in coverage, and he pretty clearly showed that he’s not a long term answer at the position unless he really improves.

Summers was a classic Gutekunst pick of a supreme athlete who lacked technique. He came in with a 9.71 RAS that the Green Bay Packers snatched up in the seventh round. He’s a good special teams player, and when he’s allowed to play that role, he does it well. He just can’t be asked to do more than that.

Overall Grade: D+

So after almost two years, what do you think of the Green Bay Packers 2019 draft class? Do you agree with my grades for their sophomore seasons? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @DairylandXpress.