The Green Bay Packers went young at quarterback, receiver and tight end with great results. They went young on special teams with less-than-great results.
Kicker Anders Carlson endured a tough rookie season. There were three certainties in life: death, taxes and a missed field goal or extra point. Punter Daniel Whelan, however, finished his debut season on a strong note.
In the 11th and final installment of our positional report cards, here are our grades of the specialists.
Anders Carlson
2023 cap: $789,194. Position rank: 28th among kickers, according to OverTheCap.com.
The Packers used a sixth-round pick on Carlson, making him the third and final kicker selected. The Packers preach the importance of competition. And yet, Carlson went through training camp without facing even token competition. The Packers didn’t stash one on the practice squad to push him during the regular season, either. It was all so nonsensical, and it – quite predictably – came back to bite the Packers when he missed a field goal in a three-point loss to the 49ers in the playoffs.
Between field goals and extra points, no kicker missed more kicks than Carlson. Of 31 kickers with at least 20 field-goal attempts, Carlson finished 23rd on field goals with an 81.8 percent success rate. The other drafted kickers were Jake Moody of the 49ers (84.0 percent; ranked 19th) and Chad Ryland of the Patriots (64.0 percent, worst in league). On extra points, Carlson ranked 28th at 87.2 percent, behind Moody (98.4 percent; ninth) and Ryland (96.0 percent; 17th). Carlson missed five extra points; Moody and Ryland missed one apiece.
Meanwhile, Carlson was last in the NFL in touchbacks (43.0 percent). That was partly by design, though, and for good reason, as Green Bay was No. 1 in the league in percentage of kickoffs that pinned the opposition inside the 20-yard line. A big offseason and training camp awaits.
Grade: D-plus.
Daniel Whelan
2023 cap: $750,000. Position rank: 30th, according to OverTheCap.com.
The Irish-born Whelan beat out veteran Pat O’Donnell with encouraging results. Of 32 qualifying punters, Whelan ranked 24th in average (46.2 yards, which was second-best in franchise history) and 27th in net average (39.7 yards). The one real blemish was the punt-return touchdown allowed vs. the Saints in Week 3. He responded with four of his best games of the season.
For what it’s worth, Whelan beat O’Donnell in average (44.5) and net (38.9) but got crushed in situational kicking. While O’Donnell had 24 inside-the-20 punts vs. one touchback – truly elite stuff – Whelan had 18 inside-the-20s vs. five touchbacks. His 3.6 inside-the-20s per touchback was third-worst in the league.
On the bright side, Whelan had 11 inside-the-20s and zero touchbacks in his final nine games (including playoffs). Plus, only 38.6 percent of his punt were returned (11th-best) and he averaged 4.51 seconds of hangtime (fourth-best), according to Pro Football Focus. He had a net of at least 40 yards in four of the final five games (including playoffs). He generally held well on kicks.
Grade: B-minus.
Matt Orzech
2023 cap: $1,080,000. Position rank: 20th among long snappers, according to OverTheCap.com.
The Packers’ quest for finding a reliable long snapper seems never-ending. One of their former castoffs, Taybor Pepper, will be playing in the Super Bowl for the 49ers.
Speaking of the Super Bowl, the Packers signed Orzech to a three-year deal worth $3.675 million last offseason. That was the third-largest free-agent deal for a snapper last offseason. Orzech seemed worthy, having snapped for the Rams during their championship season.
Orzech was fine – it wasn’t as if he snapped one over the punter’s head or dribbled one back to the holder – but he wasn’t as automatic as anyone would have liked, either. He was the veteran influence on the rookie battery of kicker Anders Carlson and punter Daniel Whelan.
Take PFF’s player grades as gospel or nonsense but, for what it’s worth, only four long snappers had a lower grade than Orzech.
Grade: C-minus.
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