Green Bay Packers 2021 Rookie Performance Grades

Green Bay Packers Late Day Three Picks

Cole Van Lanen

There were plenty of happy Cheeseheads when Van Lanen was drafted in the sixth round by the Packers this past May. A hometown guy who went to Bay Port high school just down the road and played his college ball at Wisconsin just a few hours south.

It was a fun pick, but the Packers offensive line room was extremely crowded, and he wasn’t able to make the 53-man roster but he was able to stick around on the practice squad.

In week 16, he was elevated from the practice squad and even played a snap on offense against the Minnesota Vikings, but that’s been the extent of his contributions on the field.

Overall Grade: D-

Isaiah McDuffie

Isaiah McDuffie’s career with the Packers has started on a very similar trajectory to Ty Summers. He also didn’t play a single defensive snap in his rookie season and was a primary special teams player at the bottom of the linebacker depth chart.

Unfortunately for McDuffie, he did even less than Summers did in his first year. He played 58 percent of special teams snaps and made just two assisted tackles compared to Summers’ 73 percent and four tackles, two solo and two assisted. 

With De’Vondre Campbell likely out the door after an All-Pro season, there is plenty of opportunity at the inside linebacker position that he could take advantage of. In fact, with Oren Burks and Krys Barnes also free agents this offseason, the only linebacker on the roster currently in front of McDuffie is Summers. He has some big shoes to fill, and after not seeing much of the field this season, it’s tough to see him stepping into that role well.

Overall Grade: D

Kylin Hill

When the Green Bay Packers used their final pick of the 2021 NFL Draft on Kylin Hill, they knew he wouldn’t be a featured part of this offense, likely in this year or the next. What they saw was explosive potential and special teams ability.

Early on, Hill surpassed expectations, scoring two preseason touchdowns and looking dynamic with the ball in his hands. He also won the starting kick returner job out of camp.

Hill ended up returning 10 kicks in the regular season for 199 yards, a mediocre average of 19.9 yards per return. Offensively, he wasn’t getting many touches being behind Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon on the depth chart and on his 10 carries he only picked up 24 yards.

Then, in week eight against the Cardinals, he suffered a torn ACL, and just like that, his season was over. In many ways, for a seventh-round pick to even find any sort of major role is impressive, but he never did anything in the regular season that impressed. He definitely has a future in the NFL, and we will see if he will be healthy enough to be on the opening day 53-man roster next year as he recovers from his injury.

Overall Grade: C

So what do you think of these grades for the Green Bay Packers’ rookies? Would you change any of them? Let me know in the comments below.