Green Bay Packers: Top 5 Breakout candidates for 2020 season
By Joe Kipp
The Green Bay Packers will be counting on these five players to have a breakout campaign during the 2020 NFL season.
Every season we see players all across the NFL who emerge seemingly out of nowhere. For the Green Bay Packers, having two or three young starters emerge as breakout stars could be the difference between missing the playoffs or returning to the NFC Championship in 2020.
The Packers are comprised of mainly younger players, many of which have been key contributors in the past. Last season we saw breakout campaigns from rookie guard Elgton Jenkins, running back Aaron Jones and outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, among others.
Jones led the NFL in touchdowns (19), Jenkins didn’t allow a single sack, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and the “Smith Bros” combined for 25.5 sacks. Because of their collective emergence as major contributors, the Packers were a more complete roster than the year before.
Building on those performances will be crucial, but other players emerging will be even more critical to Green Bay’s success this coming season. Players entering their first or second season have the chance to make the most impact on a Packers roster needing help in some key areas.
The Packers, led by Aaron Rodgers, have been contenders for well over a decade. For many of those years, they had to rely on young players taking big leaps in their development in order to stay atop the NFC North.
It wasn’t until recently that the Packers supplemented their roster with marquee free-agent acquisitions. Now with a mix of veterans and young potential, Green Bay could have the recipe for a Super Bowl-winning formula.
Last year, we at NFL Spin Zone named Jones, Smith and Jaire Alexander as our top three breakout candidates. It’s safe to say those predictions came to fruition. Here are the top five breakout candidates for the 2020 season.