If you were to ask most passionate fans of virtually any NFL team, the answer to whether their team will have a successful season would more often than not be a resounding “yes.”
Part of my job here at Zone Coverage is to take off my fan hat and look at things from a realistic perspective. Would I like the Green Bay Packers to win the Super Bowl every season? Of course. Do I expect them to? Of course not.
Ultimately, only one team can stand on top of the NFL mountain and hoist the Lombardi Trophy. The Packers have come oh-so-close many times before without being able to win it all since 2010.
Still, how would we look at the 2025 season if that happened again?
The Green Bay Packers have 12:1 odds to win this year’s Super Bowl. Only five teams have shorter odds at this point. That group includes a pair of NFC teams in the Philadelphia Eagles (+700) and Detroit Lions (+1100), and three from the AFC: the Baltimore Ravens (+650), Buffalo Bills (+750), and Kansas City Chiefs (+1100).
The good thing for the Packers is that there are only five teams ahead of them. The bad thing is that the two NFC teams ahead of them, the Eagles and Lions, went a collective 4-0 against them in 2024.
If Matt LaFleur’s team is going to establish itself as a contender in 2025 and beyond, they need to prove they can beat the league’s best. They’ll get the chance early when the Lions and Washington Commanders come to town. If they can’t beat teams like Detroit and Washington this season, they will have little chance of having a successful season.
It’s hard to look at last season, when the Packers were a sub-.500 team against the NFC’s better teams, and call it a success – even with a winning record and a playoff appearance on their ledger. The Packers were clearly the worst team on the field in their lackluster performances against Detroit and the Minnesota Vikings at home.
Finding a way to re-establish themselves as a true threat in the division is vital to having a successful season. Suppose the Packers repeat last season’s performance with the same final result: an early playoff exit. However, the Packers managed to split the season series against the Lions and Vikings, rather than finishing 0-4. Then, wouldn’t you feel better about them entering 2025? I know I would.
The Packers must have young core players improve for next season to be a success. As 2023 drew to a close, most fans were excited about this team’s young core. Players like Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Carrington Valentine, and Rasheed Walker finished their rookie campaigns strong and were projected to take a step forward in 2024, with hopes that the rest of the team would follow suit.
Unfortunately, neither of those things happened. Reed and Wicks led the team in drops, ranking No. 1 and 2 in the league in drop rate at 20.4% and 18.2%, respectively. Both have battled injuries throughout training camp. Instead of being weapons for Jordan Love in 2025, they are major uncertainties, with rookie Matthew Golden possibly cementing himself as the top option instead.
Carrington Valentine and Rasheed Walker had decent seasons last year, but nobody would argue they fully capitalized on the opportunities in front of them. Valentine was good in coverage all season. However, the more he played, the more his tackling — or lack thereof — became an issue for the defense.
Walker has struggled in run blocking since taking over the job in 2023. He only ranked in the 15th percentile in PFF’s zone run block grade that year. Walker was actually worse last year, ranking in the 5th percentile (72nd out of 76 qualified tackles). His run blocking overall declined year over year, falling from the 30th percentile in 2023 to the 14th in 2024.
As a result, both players went from being seen as potential core players a year ago to possibly losing their starting jobs. Free-agent addition Nate Hobbs will probably replace Valentine, and former first-round pick Jordan Maker will probably take over for Walker. For 2025 to be considered a success absent a Super Bowl win, Green Bay’s young players cannot afford to take a step back like Valentine and Walker did last year.
The development of second-year players slated for significant roles will be crucial to Green Bay’s success next season. Jordan Morgan might be the future starting left tackle by season’s end. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper looks like a star in the making. If he takes another step, he could be an All-Pro in his second year.
Fellow second-year linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper barely played on defense last year but has looked the part in camp when getting first-team reps. If he can take the next step and show he belongs in games that matter, the Packers could have a dynamic linebacker duo for the next several seasons. A lot of this year depends on whether these young players step up.
Obviously, the addition of Micah Parsons this week has changed the expectations surrounding the Green Bay Packers, not only for 2025 but also for the foreseeable future. Adding a young superstar in their prime to lead their young ascending defense is exactly what this team needed to take that next step.
Even so, this was just as much about the future as it was about 2025. Gutekunst was investing in the short and long-term future of the Green Bay Packers when he shipped two first-round picks and Kenny Clark to Dallas. Expecting Parsons to step in and lead them to a Super Bowl in Year 1 might be foolhardy. Fans will want immediate results, but sustainable success isn’t always immediate.
Every team’s ultimate goal at the end of the year is to raise the Lombardi Trophy and see players tossing beers to the happy fans in the crowd during the parade the following week. Will Green Bay be that team? I sure hope so.
However, if they aren’t, I still think they can have a successful season. Suppose they can get back to not just competing with but beating the league’s best, reclaiming some respect in their division, and further developing their young core. Then 2025 can end on a much higher note than 2024 did.