Luke Musgrave (Photo: Getty)
By Mark Eckel
In order to get to, and ultimately win, the Super Bowl a team needs a lot to go its way.
Start with good fortune and good health. On the field it needs its star players to play like stars and it also needs a few surprises along the way.
Back in 1996 when the Green Bay Packers first brought the title back to Titletown, quarterback Brett Favre and defensive end Reggie White held up their end of the deal as stars. But would the team have hoisted the Lombardi without the play of left tackle Bruce Wilkerson and linebacker Ron Cox, not to mention returnman Desmond Howard?
Again in 2010, Aaron Rodgers was Aaron Rodgers and Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews were as good as it got on defense. But who figured running back James Starks or defensive tackle Howard Green would have had the impact they did?
So with all of that said if the 2025 Packers are going to go from playoff team to Super Bowl team it's going to need good fortune, good health, Jordan Love and Xavier McKinney to name two playing like stars and then some surprises.
Who might they be?
Here's one player from each unit.
Let's start with tight end Luke Musgrave on offense. The 2023 second-round pick came out of the draft with high expectations and rightfully so. In a rich tight end draft he was in elite company. Thought of as much more polished and more ready as draft mate and teammate Tucker Kraft, it hasn't worked out as well for Musgrave.
Yet.
Injuries have slowed the Oregon State product through his first two seasons in the league. Of a possible 34 games, Musgrave has played in just 18 and started just 12. He showed what he could do in his NFL debut when he caught three passes for 50 yards at Chicago opening day of 2023. But he hasn't replicated it since.
At the same time Kraft has developed into one of the better tight ends in the league.
Now if Musgrave who appears to be healthy can stay way. He and Kraft can give the Packers their best set of tight ends since Keith Jackson and Mark Chmura helped win the Super Bowl in '96.
Defensively a surprise, to some, could be Brenton Cox, the edge rusher entering his third NFL season.
Cox went undrafted in 2023 after being asked to leave the University of Florida program just as he was asked to leave the University of Georgia program. From a talent standpoint scouts projected Cox as a Day 2 pick. Being asked to leave two stellar programs took him out of the draft entirely.
The 2023 season was a red shirt one for the 6-4, 250-pound pass rusher, as he played just four snaps on defense the entire season. Last year was headed the same way until a deadline trade of Preston Smith opened the door.
Cox barged in and in seven games and 160 snaps recorded four sacks, eight pressures, three quarterback hits and five tackles for a loss. Do the math and over a 17-game season those numbers project to just less than 10 sacks,19 pressures and 12 tackles for a loss. Ten sacks would have led the Packers and 12 TFLs would have been second to Edgerrin Cooper's 13.
On special teams keep an eye on Mecole Hardman, the former Chief and an under the radar free agent addition. Hardman, while not necessarily Desmond Howard 2.0, could be a huge boost to the return game.
In his career he's averaged 9.2 yards per punt return and 23.8 per kickoff return. In 2021, he averaged 12.1 yards per punt return and last year he averaged 10.2. On kickoffs he's averaged over 26 yards per return twice, in 2019 (26.1) and against last year (26.4).