GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers open their 2022 NFL training camp Wednesday on Ray Nitschke Field. Here’s a closer look at a few storylines:
The most compelling position battle: The less-exciting-but-perhaps-more-important battle is on the offensive line, where there are several positions to be determined largely because of who comes back from injury on time (such as David Bakhtiari, who was put on the PUP list Saturday, and Elgton Jenkins, also on PUP). But the spotlight will shine brightest on the receivers and who will emerge as Rodgers’ go-to guy now that Davante Adams is gone. Allen Lazard seems like the safe bet, but rookies Christian Watson (second round) and Romeo Doubs (fourth) seem to have the biggest upside. It’s also a huge summer for Sammy Watkins to show he still has something left.
The player with the most to prove: Bakhtiari. Is last season’s disastrous attempt to return from his Dec. 31, 2020, torn ACL finally behind him? This offseason did little to ease concerns. After playing just 27 snaps last season (all in the regular-season finale before getting shut down for the postseason), Bakhtiari still wasn’t a participant in OTA or minicamp practices. Rather, he rehabbed off to the side. The All-Pro left tackle is the key to the line. If he’s back -- and back to form -- the Packers are free to move Jenkins wherever they’d like as soon as he’s back from his own ACL injury from last November. Jenkins could go back to left guard, where he was a Pro Bowler in 2020, or move to right tackle.
Fiercest fantasy-relevant battle: This isn’t so much a battle but rather sorting out how the running back snaps will be divided among Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. It was a difficult past season for fantasy purposes to figure out which one to start. The good news is they’ve both been productive. But it’s been difficult to predict which one will do it on which week. The bad news is that’s not likely to get easier to decipher. Perhaps training camp will at least offer a glimpse at how coach Matt LaFleur will decide to use them together.
Keeping Rodgers happy: While this may seem like a moot point because Rodgers signed that three-year, $150 million contract extension in March, keeping him satisfied is of the utmost importance. To that end, LaFleur brought back Rodgers’ favorite position coach, Tom Clements, this offseason, and GM Brian Gutekunst has made sure to keep open the lines of communication to his quarterback. They also gave Rodgers their blessing to skip most of the offseason program, which made him happy. Still, there are potential pitfalls. Rodgers lost his favorite receiver (Adams), and the Packers didn’t add a proven player at that position.
Camp prediction: Jordan Love excels. If it’s going to happen for the third-year quarterback, it should be now. Behind him are the COVID-19 year that wrecked his rookie offseason and training camp (he had no preseason game action), and his first NFL start -- the disastrous loss at Kansas City. It was in Year 3 that Aaron Rodgers showed his potential, and there’s no excuse for Love not to follow suit – unless, of course, he’s not the answer to the question of who will succeed Rodgers. With Rodgers almost certain to sit out the preseason games, as has been the case in recent years, this is another opportunity for Love.