Green Bay Packers: Midseason Rookie Performance Grades
By Kenny Jilek
Every year at draft time, there is much debate about what players or positions are needed, both to help immediate needs and ones that will need to be filled in the near future. With the Green Bay Packers’ newest crop of rookies, we won’t be able to see how their full careers will pan out anytime soon, but they are through half of their first NFL season, and now is a good time to see the early returns.
These grades are not direct reflections on the Packers front office or any sort of draft grade, but rather just a grade on what each rookie has contributed to the success of this team this year. The Packers made nine selections in the 2021 NFL Draft that we’ll split into early, middle, and late-round picks, starting with the early picks.
Green Bay Packers Early Round Picks
1st Round – Eric Stokes
Eric Stokes was a very typical Brian Gutekunst draft pick, as one of the most physically gifted cornerbacks to come out of college in recent history. His ridiculous 9.99 RAS out of 10 is highlighted by his 4.25 40-yard dash time, and all of that was too much to pass up for the Green Bay Packers general manager.
There were questions about his technical abilities, and he’s still made some clear rookie mistakes like the deep touchdown given up to Terry McLaurin a couple of weeks ago. However, teams have been heavily going after him, targeting him a total of 46 times which is good for ninth-most in the league, and he’s handled it very well. He’s allowed just 27 catches on those 46 targets, which is a completion percentage of just 58.7 percent. He is also tied for sixth in the NFL in passes defended with nine.
With Jaire Alexander and Kevin King both out, he and Rasul Douglas have been holding it down on the perimeter and keeping one of the best pass defenses in the NFL performing at a high level. He’s played 86 percent of the Packers’ defensive snaps and all of them in five of the last six weeks. Without him, this defense would probably look a lot different right now. Rookie corners usually have quite a few struggles, but he’s weathered the storm of his, and he’s looking like a budding star.
Overall Grade: A-
2nd Round: Josh Myers
After the departure of All-Pro center Corey Linsley, the center position was in a position of pretty great uncertainty. Josh Myers answered the call and filled that spot very well before going down with an injury against the Bears. He was incredibly solid at the position through four weeks, without any penalties or sacks allowed.
Pro Football Focus has him graded at a pretty mediocre 60.9 currently, but he looked like he could be a fixture in the middle of this line for years to come, especially with how highly Aaron Rodgers spoke of him earlier this year. Picking an offensive lineman in the second round obviously isn’t the big splash pick a lot of fans want, but he’s played his role well, especially in a heavy zone running offense that often hinges on the center’s block for the running back to make their cut.
Overall Grade: B
3rd Round: Amari Rodgers
After the Green Bay Packers traded up seven spots to snag Rodgers in the third round, it seemed like he would quickly become an important part of the offense as the primary slot receiver but when the trade for veteran Randall Cobb was made, it became clear that he would be behind the eight ball. He’s played just 11 percent of the team’s total offensive snaps and been targeted just five times for three catches and 40 yards.
He has gotten some playing time as the regular punt returner and has returned 10 punts for 62 yards, which ranks him 18th out of 22 qualified punt returners. Those numbers aren’t extremely encouraging, and while he’ll definitely develop, his rookie season will likely not be one to remember as he only played 16 offensive snaps on Thursday night, even with Allen Lazard and Davante Adams out.
Overall Grade: C-