Grading Every Packers Position Group After Rallying Past Jets

Grade: C-minus.

Running Backs

Any backfield with Chris Brooks as the No. 1 player is going to be in trouble. No offense to Brooks, who is really good at what he’s good at and is as reliable as getting a cup of hot coffee at McDonald’s.

The Packers waited for two years for MarShawn Lloyd. In his second game, he scored his first career touchdown on a well-executed screen. As a runner, though, he carried six times for 20 yards and fumbled. He played only one more snap after the fumble.

Kaleb Johnson, who was acquired during final roster cuts, was the top ball-carrier with eight carries for 32 yards. He also fumbled but spent a lot less time in the doghouse than Lloyd. We credited him with 29 yards after contact and three missed tackles.

“He is a very good outside zone runner and just a natural runner,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “So, we’ll continue to work with him. Obviously, there’s some things that we can clean up, but I think he’s getting more comfortable with our offense, with the terminology, with our protection schemes, so he’ll probably earn more opportunities.”

You can’t fumble. Period.

Grade: D.

Receivers

The Packers have gone all-in on Christian Watson, Matthew Golden and Jayden Reed. Watson caught 4-of-11 targets for 41 yards and one touchdown, but PFF charged him with three drops. A couple times, he heard footsteps and dropped the ball before getting clobbered. It wasn’t his best day as a blocker, either.

Golden caught 4-of-6 targets for 58 yards, totals that don’t include 61 yards on interference penalties. With the Packers in deep trouble down 17-7 in the fourth quarter, Golden gained 18 on third-and-3, 38 on interference and 18 to set up first-and-goal and the eventual touchdown to Watson. Talk about rising to the occasion. He did have one drop.

Reed caught the one pass in which he was injured, Skyy Moore caught two passes for 6 yards, Bo Melton caught zero passes before dropping out with a stinger and J. Michael Sturdivant was not targeted when thrown into the fire because of the injuries.

Grade: C-minus.

Tight Ends

Snap counts? Those are a thing of the past. Kraft played all but one snap, which was great, but his performance was not up to anyone’s standard. He caught two passes for 15 yards, one of which resulted in a fumble. While he was flagged for holding, his blocking was mostly effective.  

Mark Redman and Jonnu Smith mostly blocked. The trade for Redman already is paying dividends.