Listen to NFL Vegas sharps RJ Bell and Steve Fezzik join Jonas Knox on ‘Straight Outta Vegas’ to preview the 12th ranked team on their 2020 win/total prediction rankings, the Green Bay Packers.
With the 26th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft the Green Bay Packers select, Jordan Love, quarterback, Nevada.
JORDAN F-ING LOVE??
The Packers made one of the most talked about draft picks of the decade when they selected Utah State quarterback Jordan Love at pick 26 right in the face of Aaron Rodgers, who had just taken a 13-3 Packers team to the NFC Championship.
Green Bay’s tar and feathering in that aforementioned game, however, didn’t exactly leave Packers management with warm and fuzzy feelings heading into the offseason. Green Bay was stomped out 37-20 in a game the Packers entered the fourth quarter trailing 34-7.
Just six weeks earlier the Packers had been massacred by San Francisco on the road 37-8, with Rodgers throwing for just 101 yards. It was obviously a horrible matchup for the Packers, but many wondered if Green Bay was a ‘fraud’ 13-win team who took advantage of a cratering NFC North that saw Detroit and Chicago go MIA/KIA in the second half, and Minnesota go limp without Dalvin Cook down the stretch.
The Packers went 8-1 in one-score games, which was the best record in the league, further making you believe the 13-3 was more anomaly than juggernaut.
Despite posting a Pro Bowl caliber 26/4 touchdown-to-incetpcetion ratio last year, Rodgers finished just 20th in QBR, behind names the likes of Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones, Jameis Winston, and Kyler Murray, as Rodgers’ only real impressive statistic was never throwing interceptions, but at the same time never pushing the ball down the field either.
Rodgers led the league in throwaways and only threw for 300+ yards 4 times in 16 regular season starts. Green Bay scored 24 points or fewer in 7 of their last 8 games, and Rodgers only completed 58.7% of his passes in those games. The Packers haven’t finished in the top 10 in the NFL in scoring or total offense since 2016.
Green Bay’s notable offseason acquisitions included defensive tackle Rick Wagner from the Lions, linebacker Christian Kirksey from the Browns, and the first round quarterback Love.
Their key losses were Geronimo Allison, Jimmy Graham, Ryan Bulaga, Blake Martinez, Kyler Fackrell, and BJ Goodson.
Their OVER/UNDER for wins is 9, their odds to win the Super Bowl are 28/1, 13/1 to win the NFC, 9/5 to win the NFC North, and -130 to make the playoffs.
Check out the entire segment above.