Green Bay Packers: Looking to Rebound in 2016

Though the 2015 Green Bay Packers managed to get to the playoffs, and even win a game, they failed to win the NFC North for the first time since 2010. Will the Packers see a return to division supremacy for the 2016 season?

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It is hard to call any season that sees you go to the Divisional round of the playoffs after losing your star receiver for the season a “failure”, but the 2015 season left a sour taste in the mouths of many Green Bay Packer fans.

In retrospect, the writing may have been on the wall for the Packer reign of NFC North dominance even before the season started. Star receiver Jordy Nelson was lost for the year with a knee injury, though the organization and fans everywhere had high hopes that they would be able to pick up the slack with guys like Davante Adams.

Obviously, that is not the way things played out. Adams failed to show much progress from his rookie to his sophomore effort and struggled mightily at times when the team really needed him. He had a number of untimely drops and seemed almost to shrink away when the moment got too big for him.

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Picked by many as a player poised to have a break-out season in 2015, Adams had mediocre numbers at best, hauling in 50 receptions for less than 500 yards and only one touchdown.

This lack of production from Adams, along with missing the contributions of Nelson that don’t show up on a stat sheet, all added up to what was one of the worst seasons of his career for All-Pro caliber quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

The 2015 season saw Aaron Rodgers throw for the fewest yards in his career (in a non-injury year) since taking over for the legendary Brett Favre in 2008 with only 3,821 yards. For only the second time in his career, Rodgers failed to eclipse the 4,000 yard mark. In spite of the reduction in yards, his touchdown and interception numbers remained consistent with his career averages.

Where Nelson’s absence can truly be seen is in Rodgers advanced passing stats. In nearly every advanced category, Rodgers had the worst season of his career in 2015.

However, for the Packers, 2015 is in the past, and it’s on to the new season, with a renewed focus on regaining their perch upon the top of the division. 2016 sees Jordy Nelson return, and with his return, the Packers offense is once again at full strength. If 2015 showed Packers fans and the organization as a whole anything, it is just how valuable an asset Nelson is to this team.

In addition to Nelson’s return, they’re also banking on a new, slimmer version of Eddie Lacy to help the team re-establish a dominant ground game. Anyone who watched Lacy last season could see that the extra weight he was carrying had diminished his effectiveness and agility. With the loss in weight, fans everywhere hope Lacy can regain the quickness that made him a star coming out of Alabama, while still maintaining a bruising running style that makes smaller defenders think twice before bringing him down in the open field.

To say that the failings of the 2015 season for the Packers were entirely the fault of the offense, though, would be a mistake. The defense was also a big let-down for the team in 2015, and it’s obvious that the front office recognized the weakness and made every effort to address it in the off-season.

Though the team was middle-of-the-road in both points per game and yards allowed per game, the defense could not stop shooting themselves in the foot during the 2015 season. The Green Bay Packers defense was the fourth-most penalized squad during the season, racking up well over 1,000 penalty yards. Enter the 2016 draft class.

Two of the first three picks the Packers made in the 2016 NFL Draft addressed the defensive side of the ball, while adding talented and smart players. In the first round, they selected Kenny Clark, a defensive tackle from UCLA. They followed Clark up in the third round by taking linebacker Kyler Fackrell from Utah State. Both players figure to come in and compete, if not secure, for starting roles right away.

On the final day of the draft, the Packers again placed a focus on smart defenders, taking Blake Martinez, another linebacker (from Stanford University), and Dean Lowry, a defensive lineman from Northwestern.

While the Packers look to rebound in 2016, the road ahead isn’t going to be an easy one for them. The Minnesota Vikings aren’t going to roll over and hand back the division crown. Minnesota still has Adrian Peterson, and added weapons themselves in the 2016 NFL Draft, namely their first-round selection Laquon Treadwell.

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Giving Teddy Bridgewater a legitimate threat at wide receiver should only serve to further his progress in this league, while also taking some of the pressure off of Peterson. Though he shows no signs of slowing down yet, Peterson is on the wrong side of 30, and it’s only a matter of time before he can no longer carry the team on his shoulders.

No matter which way it plays out, whether the Vikings can repeat, the Packers regain control of the division, or the Bears or Lions come from nowhere to shock everyone, watching the battle for NFC North supremacy should be fun for football fans throughout the season.