The NFL remains a league that asks its players, “What have you done for me lately?” A player can go from All Pro to yesterday’s news in a hurry or do the reverse with one outstanding season. With that in mind, here are five Green Bay Packers players who face a critical point in their careers in 2024. These players could establish themselves as important players or become career backups or journeymen.
Packers Players Who Are at a Crossroads in Their Career in 2024, Number One: QB Jordan Love
In the second half of the 2023 season, Jordan Love played like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. In the first half, Love struggled. His accuracy and footwork improved in the second half of the season. He also improved his long passes, hitting on throws he would usually miss in the first half of the campaign.
The key for Love is to pick up where he left off last season. He needs to prove the last half season was not just a hot streak but what he is capable of doing on a consistent basis.
Number Two: LB Quay Walker
Inside linebacker Quay Walker enters his third season with the Packers with a big opportunity. The former Georgia star has made a lot of tackles and showed flashes of greatness but has yet to become a difference maker in the NFL by consistently making big plays.
Walker will get a chance to show what he can do under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Hafley’s defense should give Walker a chance to use his speed and to make plays against the run, in coverage and rushing the passer.
The Packers will have to decide to pick up Walker’s fifth-year option a year from now. How he plays this season will go a long way towards determining whether he stays with the Packers and has a chance at earning a trip to the Pro Bowl or if he becomes an average starter.
Packers Players Who Face a Crossroads in Their Career in 2024, Number Three: WR Christian Watson
Christian Watson has played well when he’s healthy but staying healthy has been a problem for him. Watson has the size and speed to be an elite NFL receiver. But Watson has missed 11 games in his first two NFL seasons and been on a play count in several more.
Watson is capable of a breakout season but if he suffers through another injury-plagued year, he may go down as a player who never reaches his potential because he is unable to stay healthy.
Number Four: G Sean Rhyan
Sean Rhyan enters his third season with a chance to establish himself as a starter in the NFL for the first time in his career.
The former UCLA star had a disastrous rookie season that saw him struggle to pick up the offense early and get suspended for the final six games of the season for violating the NFL’s policy on PEDs.
Last season, he didn’t start but did see more action as the season progressed, alternating at right guard with the now departed Jon Runyan, Jr.
This year, he is the favorite to start at right guard, depending on who the team selects to compete with him in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Rhyan needs to improve his pass blocking technique in order to establish himself as a starter. If he fails to do that this season, he is likely headed to career backup status and is unlikely to earn a second contract from the Packers.
Packers Players Who Face a Crossroads in Their Career in 2024, Number Five: RB A.J. Dillon
A.J. Dillon enjoyed his best season in 2021, gaining 803 yards rushing and scoring seven total touchdowns. Since then, the Boston College alum has seen his yards gained and average yards per rush go down slightly each season.
Dillon was scheduled to be a free agent but ended up signing a unique deal with the Packers to return in 2024.
If Dillon makes the team, he will need to have a bounce back season to set himself up for the rest of his career whether it’s with the Packers or elsewhere. If he fails to produce this season, he will have a hard time catching no with another team in 2025.
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