The Green Bay Packers completed their preseason action on Saturday against the Bills and these players walked away as winners and losers.
It felt like a true preseason finale for the Green Bay Packers on Saturday as they took on Buffalo. Despite having one less game than in prior years, Matt LaFleur’s club elected to sit and rest 31 players for the last game of the warm-ups. And it ultimately showed as the Packers ended the preseason with a 19-0 loss to the Bills.
Of course, considering that Buffalo trotted out Josh Allen to start the game against a Green Bay defensive unit that largely consisted of second-and-third-stringers, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that the Packers were a bit overmatched. Still, this final preseason outing offered the opportunity for players to make critical impressions before the cut down to the 53-man roster.
So which Green Bay Packers made a good impression and which ones came up short of that? Let’s break down a handful of winners and losers from Saturday’s preseason contest to end the exhibition portion of the year.
Winners for the Green Bay Packers in preseason finale loss vs. Bills
Malik Taylor, WR – Coming into the final preseason outing, Malik Taylor was the team’s leading receiver through two games and seemingly had done enough to lock up a roster spot. If that was even remotely in question, though, he delivered another standout performance against Buffalo to solidify that he belongs among the final 53.
Taylor once again led the Packers in receiving, catching five of his six targets for 69 yards, including a beautiful 27-yard connection with Jordan Love. He isn’t going to supplant any of the top guys on the depth chart right away but Taylor’s performance so far does indicate that he’s great depth for this team in the 2021 season.
Royce Newman, OL – On a day when the Packers offensive line was undoubtedly not their strong point, one of the few bright spots was rookie guard Royce Newman, a fourth-round pick out of Ole Miss. While his cohorts in the trenches had plenty of issues, he was consistently doing his job and not standing out.
From the guard spots, though, that’s what you want to see. It’s an adage that offensive line pop off the screen when they’re doing something wrong and Newman was the antithesis of that against Buffalo. He’s looking like a solid depth piece for a unit that definitely needs that.
Isaiah McDuffie, LB – There’s no guarantee that McDuffie is going to make the 53-man roster but he certainly made a strong final case against the Bills. Not only did he finish with a team-high nine combined tackles but he showcased a bit of his versatility as a sixth-round rookie, winning on the majority of his blitzes for the day and getting a half-sack to his credit as well.
Green Bay is not particularly deep at linebacker, which could pave the way for McDuffie making his way onto the final roster. Even if he doesn’t, though, a performance like this definitely makes him a priority to keep on the practice squad and develop.
Kylin Hill, RB – It’s starting to be mildly troubling that Kylin Hill has looked a bit better than AJ Dillon this season considering that the former was pick No. 256 while the latter is a second-rounder from 2020. But Hill once again flashed his big-time talent. He led the Packers on Saturday with seven carries for 37 yards and caught a pass for seven yards as well.
Dillon showed when he got his chance last year that he can be an effective player, so a pedestrian preseason actually doesn’t cause much worry about him losing the RB2 job behind Aaron Jones. With that said, Hill has left no doubt that he’s the third guy at the position on the depth chart.
Losers for the Green Bay Packers in preseason finale loss vs. Bills
Jordan Love, QB – Let’s go ahead and get ahead of this, Saturday was far from a disaster for Jordan Love. The second-year quarterback still getting his feet wet against NFL defenses as this is his first preseason made a couple of really nice plays and put together some quality overall drives.
With that said, he also showed his youth with an interception and another play that probably should’ve led to an interception. He got antsy when things broke down and made bad decisions. Moreover, he and the Packers couldn’t finish those aforementioned good drives. There is still work ahead for Love to be a secure long-term quarterback option and cleaning up some of the things he did against Buffalo is what’s needed, hence why he falls on the loser side of things.
Josh Myers, OL – Most people expect Green Bay’s second-round pick from this year to step in and start at center at least at some point this season, if not in Week 1. If what he showed against the Bills is any indication of how ready he is for that opportunity, though, the Packers have to be at least a bit worried.
Myers struggled in his pass-blocking sets for the most part and didn’t look like one of the highest-drafted players on the roster. He was virtually indistinguishable from a group of largely later-round picks that were having troubles, which is not a good thing for the Ohio State product.
Isaac Yiadom, CB – Well, anyone hoping that the trade for Isaac Yiadom was going to be a win for the Packers can’t be excited about what they saw from the cornerback in this game. Allen picked on Yiadom early in this game and did so quite often over the course of the quarterback’s 26 pass attempts.
Yiadom has plenty of regular-season experience at this point but there’s also a reason he’s bounced from team to team. He hasn’t performed all that well when given chances and his performance on Saturday all but confirmed that he’s nothing more than depth fodder if he even makes the final 53-man roster.