3 Packers Starters Who Will Be Benched this Season

2. Eric Stokes, cornerback

The Green Bay Packers are giving former first-round pick Eric Stokes a big shot this coming season. With the cornerback market on the rise thanks to Denver's Pat Surtain and Atlanta's AJ Terrell in recent weeks, a player like Eric Stokes stands to benefit more than most from a breakthrough year in 2024.

The Packers used a first-round pick on Stokes in 2021, and he looked pretty darn good back in that rookie season. The organization understandably has had high hopes for him since he was drafted, but he's appeared in just 12 games over the last two seasons due to injury.

The Packers declined Stokes's fifth-year option this offseason, putting him in a contract year in 2024. After his option was declined, it seemed like the Packers would make the cornerback position a bit of an emphasis in the 2024 NFL Draft, but that never happened. They put their chips back in the center on Stokes, although his leash might not be very long out there this season.

While Stokes was injured last year, the Packers got a lot of snaps out of other guys at the cornerback position, especially after trading away Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills. Carrington Valentine played nearly 700 snaps last season and Corey Ballentine played nearly 500 snaps, and even though the Packers are changing defensive schemes, those guys showed some potential starter traits.

It wouldn't be overly surprising to see Green Bay decide at some point this season, especially if Stokes ends up struggling, to put one of those guys back out there and see if they can't build off of what we saw them do last season.