Green Bay Packers Special Teams Starts Off Strong

It is only one game, but the Green Bay Packers special teams have started well to begin the season. Here is a closer look at their early success.

The talk of training camp and preseason was how the special teams would fare after having to replace future Packers hall-of-famer kicker Mason Crosby and cutting punter Pat O’Donnell with rookie kicker Anders Carlson and rookie punter Daniel Whelan. They brought back All-Pro returner Keisean Nixon on a one-year deal to be the kick returner and 2023 second-round draft pick Jayden Reed has taken over as the punt returner.

Anders Carlson off to a promising start

The struggles of Anders Carlson are well documented from the preseason and training camp. He has kicked better at Lambeau Field than he has during practice. This was evident on Sunday against the Bears when he was 1/1 on a 52-yard field goal to end the first half. Carlson was also perfect on extra points, making 5/5, and he was also the kickoff specialist with only two touchbacks out of six tries.

Carlson had a 60.0 grade from PFF with a 69.9 grade on field goals.  He has a big leg and that was shown on Sunday, but the question was about his accuracy and he seemed quiet doubters for at least week one.

Daniel Whelan starts strong

Daniel Whelan got off to a strong start in his rookie campaign against Chicago. He punted five times for an average of 46.6 yards per punt with a long of 68 yards and a net yard average of 46.6. Whelan’s yards per punt and net yard average were both seventh-best in the NFL. He had one punt fair caught at the six-yard line and two touchbacks. He also was the holder on extra points and field goals and from watching the game there seemed to be no issues there.

There is still room for improvement for him given the two touchbacks and one of those punts only netted 21 yards. He finished with a PFF grade of 60.8 and 61.6 grade on punting. Whelan also made history as the first Irish-born player in the NFL since 1985.

The Green Bay Packers Special Teams got off to a strong start against the Chicago Bears, but it is just the beginning.

Jayden Reed flashes on punt return

Jayden Reed has been the primary punt returner the whole offseason and he showed on Sunday why the coaches trust the rookie. Packers Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia raved about Reed in his press conference on Thursday saying: “He seems very comfortable back there and has worked hard in practice.”

The contrast between Reed as the punter returner compared to Amari Rodgers is stark and he looks comfortable doing it. He had three punt returns for 54 yards with a long of 18 yards. Reed had a PFF grade of 60.0 on special teams with a 70.5 grade on punt return. Reed showed flashes on Sunday why he is the answer at punt returner, and between him and Keisean Nixon, the Packers have a strong tandem of kick/punt returners.

Packers special teams might be really good

It has been well documented, but before Rich Bisaccia became the Special Teams Coordinator, the Packers’ Special Teams had not been good for many seasons. The Packers were consistently finishing near the bottom of Special Teams DVOA Standings. DVOA stands for Defense-adjusted Value Over Average and it is a metric that evaluates how successful your team is from play-to-play compared to the league average based on opponent and situation created by Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy.

The Green Bay Packers through week one are ranked third in Special Teams DVOA and still have areas that need improvement. The special teams unit is off to a good start and is showing a lot of promise with a rookie punter, kicker, and punt returner. The special teams will need to be strong again on Sunday to get a win at Atlanta vs. the Falcons.