Last season, not only were the Green Bay Packers starting the Jordan Love era at quarterback, but the pass-catching corps was uber-green, with first- and second-year players littering the group.
After finishing the campaign strong, the Packers enter the 2024 offseason in a much more secure position.
“Oh, it’s night and day,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said this week, via the team’s official website. “Night and day because last year … you didn’t really know what direction you could go yet because you didn’t really know … how much can you put on these guys’ plates and allow them to go out and execute?
“Now, everyone has a year under their belt, so to speak. It’s been great to just know what these guys are good at.”
Love surged down the stretch, proving the Packers’ latest signal-caller succession was in good hands. The young pass-catching corps also hit their stride, with rookies Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks particularly coming on strong. The young group’s play allowed Green Bay to mostly stay pat in those areas, focusing on building elsewhere this offseason.
Green Bay’s QB and pass-catching group entering Year 2 together makes the offseason install quicker for Stenavich and head coach Matt LaFleur, which should allow them to find a groove earlier this season.
“We can go out there right now and just run plays and it’s not like we’re installing everything for the first time,” Stenavich said. “We can start experimenting faster and taking the next steps with the offense.
“You’re always looking to take the next step. You have to keep evolving, so it’s just a matter of what’s our best next step, or next two things that we want to do … where you can see, all right, is this the direction we want to go?”
The 2023 season was supposed to be a retooling campaign with Love at the helm. The Packers still made the playoffs and won a postseason tilt. The expectations for 2024 are higher with Love and those young pass catchers continuing to grow together.
