Green Bay Packers 2021 Rookie Performance Grades
By Kenny Jilek
We’ve reached the end of another Green Bay Packers’ season, and it didn’t end the way we would have all wanted, but there was success for many individual players, and in the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at the future of the organization, grading each players seasons from rookies all the way up to fourth-year players.
It’s important to note these grades, especially for rookies, are not draft grades because that could still change in the future. They’re just a measure of each player’s performance in this season.
There were a total of 15 rookies listed on the Green Bay Packers’ roster, but a good chunk are undrafted rookies didn’t really see enough of the field to warrant any real grade. They are Chris Blair, Shawn Davis, Innis Gaines, Jack Heflin, and Michal Menet. For them, you can call it an incomplete.
The other nine that got drafted will all get a grade. We’ll start with first-round pick Eric Stokes, then the day two picks, and split the day three picks into early and late day three.
Green Bay Packers 1st Round Pick – Eric Stokes
After the very controversial first-round pick of Jordan Love in 2020, Eric Stokes came in as the Green Bay Packers’ 2021 first-rounder and gave them instant production. He started 14 games and played 92 percent of the Packers’ defensive snaps in his rookie campaign.
Not only did Stokes fill a need at cornerback and get high-volume snaps in his first season, but he also produced in those snaps. His 14 passes defended were tied for 11th in the entire NFL as teams tried to test him week after week, and he always rose to the challenge.
In all, he was targeted 97 times and gave up just 48 catches, a completion percentage of 49.5 percent. He also gave up only 5.3 yards per target and a very low passer rating of 71.3 when targeted. He was by no means perfect and sometimes struggled to find the ball, especially when he was targeted deep and gave up three touchdowns, but he did a lot of things very well when the Green Bay Packers desperately needed a cornerback after Jaire Alexander’s injury.
Overall Grade: A-