Green Bay Packers 2021 Rookie Performance Grades
By Kenny Jilek
Green Bay Packers Early Day Three Picks
Royce Newman
What is there to say about Royce Newman? There were definitely plenty of times this season when you could tell he was a rookie. Picking up pass rush stunts became a glaring weakness of his as the season went on, and he trended in the wrong direction down the stretch.
Eventually, it was enough of a problem that he was benched for the playoffs in favor of Josh Myers and Lucas Patrick. Usually, if you give a rookie a starting spot, they’ll look a little rough early, but figure things out as the season goes on. As a run blocker, that did happen to an extent, but pass protection was a major weakness.
Even so, for 16 games he was a starter on an offense that moved the ball really well. Also, he’ll now move into his second season with over 1,000 snaps under his belt, and hopefully, he’s a good offseason away from nailing down a starting spot.
Overall Grade: C+
TJ Slaton
From a Green Bay Packers’ day three of picks that saw a lot of bench time, Slaton actually had a somewhat significant role on this defensive front. He played in all 17 games and 24 percent of defensive snaps, essentially making him the man when Kenny Clark, who played 78 percent of snaps, needed a breather.
With those snaps, he performed about as well as you would think a fifth-round rookie would. He had a few flashes of talent with a sack and a couple of QB hits, but even with his very large 6’4″ 330-pound frame, he had trouble holding his ground at times.
In all, he finished the season with 23 tackles, 14 solo and nine assisted. The defensive line room got very thin at the end of the season, and it could very well be that way in 2022 as well, so he’ll have to step into a bigger role and bear more of the load if this defense is going to stay successful.
Overall Grade: C-
Shemar Jean-Charles
When Jean-Charles was drafted, there was hope that he could be the answer in the slot for the Green Bay Packers after being dominant for Appalachian State. He never really got off the ground in pursuit of that and it was pretty clear early on that he was behind pretty much everyone else in the cornerbacks’ room.
His defensive opportunities were very limited, playing just 37 total snaps. In a very small sample size, he allowed six catches on six targets, which isn’t good, but the average depth of those targets was 2.3 yards, and again, it’s a very small sample size.
He was, however, a staple on special teams, playing 63 percent of those snaps and making eight tackles which tied him for third on the team in special teams tackles with Equanimeous St. Brown. His second season will be very telling of if he’ll be a career special teamer or make that jump to a defensive contributor.
Overall Grade: C-