Green Bay Packers risers and fallers after preseason loss vs. 49ers

The Green Bay Packers have a loaded roster and plenty of young talent was on display against the San Francisco 49ers in preseason Week 1, a 2021 NFL playoffs rematch but with two very different quarterbacks under center. Instead of back-to-back MVP Aaron Rodgers going up against Jimmy Garoppolo, it was Jordan Love against Trey Lance in one of the most intriguing “QB matchups” of the entire 2022 preseason.

And there were fireworks from both QBs in this one.

The Packers obviously have very high expectations for this season. Having Aaron Rodgers under center puts pressure on in the first place, but now the Packers clearly have assembled one of the most well-rounded, deepest, and most talented defenses in the entire NFL. They are favorites to come out of the NFC for many, but they’re going to need every player on the 53-man roster to prove his worth.

Which players looked good in preseason action? Which players have a bit to work on or some ground to make up? Let’s take a look at the Packers’ risers and fallers from this week’s action.

Green Bay Packers preseason Week 1: Jordan Love — riser or faller?

Let’s start off with a little bit of controversy. Did Jordan Love play a bad game against the San Francisco 49ers? Well, the box score shows he had three interceptions, right? Finishing a game 13-of-24 passing with three interceptions — despite having a pair of touchdowns — is sure to bring out the boo birds among the Lambeau Faithful, right?

Well, every interception has a story. You certainly don’t want to see them, but let’s break some of them down here.

One interception went right off the hands of backup tight end Tyler Davis, a player fighting for a roster spot. The ball hit him and bounced straight up into the air, falling into the waiting arms of a 49ers defender. Not a bad throw from Love, just a bad play by the receiver.

The second interception was just an incredible play by 49ers defensive back Samuel Womack, who took the ball out of the hands of Romeo Doubs fractions of a second before Doubs hit the ground after making the catch.

The third interception? Well, this one was definitely on Jordan Love.

https://twitter.com/49ers/status/1558267633258024960

Love had some off-target throws in this game. He certainly wasn’t perfect, but he did flash quite a bit as well. He threw this absolute beauty of a touchdown pass to rookie sensation Romeo Doubs early on, on 4th-and-3, no less:

His second touchdown pass on the night was a really great run after the catch from Packers receiver Danny Davis, a rookie free agent fighting for a spot on the roster or practice squad.

Overall, though, what do we make of this preseason debut for Jordan Love? You can’t exactly fault him for a couple of the turnovers but he made other errant throws in this game that certainly you’d rather not see at this stage of his career. Love is in his third NFL season at this point and he’s getting as many reps as the Packers can give him in the preseason because he’s going to be riding the pine if Aaron Rodgers is healthy.

At this point, I don’t think you could effectively say he was a “riser” in this game but I’m not sure his bad throws were enough to call him a “faller” either. We’re going to cop out on this one and just say that Jordan Love is on the cusp of “faller” status but he’s falling somewhere in the middle after the Packers’ first preseason game.

Green Bay Packers riser vs. 49ers: Amari Rodgers, WR

The Green Bay Packers have been absolutely destroyed by fans and media alike for the way they’ve built the wide receiver position. Especially after trading away Davante Adams, Packers fans had to be livid to see Green Bay go with a very conservative approach to reloading at one of the game’s most important positions. Fortunately for them, a lot of young players played really well against the 49ers, including 2021 third-round pick Amari Rodgers.

Rodgers had himself a very nice evening overall with a 50-yard kickoff return as well as this really nice 22-yard catch and run for a touchdown.

This A. Rodgers hasn’t been talked about a ton over the course of the 2022 offseason, but the former Clemson star has a chance to have an increased role this season if he can keep making plays like this.

Green Bay Packers faller vs. 49ers: Tyler Davis, TE

Any backup players trying to find their way onto the roster have to do everything possible to make the roster in a preseason game. Unfortunately for reserve tight end Tyler Davis, this was kind of a night to forget.

He was targeted twice and finished with no receptions, and as previously mentioned, one of the passes that went his direction hit him in the hands, bounced in the air, and was picked off by the 49ers. He’ll have to bounce back in a big way if he’s going to end up cracking this roster.

Green Bay Packers riser vs. 49ers: Romeo Doubs, WR

All Romeo Doubs has done this offseason is “rise” for the Green Bay Packers. He’s been consistently impressive in training camp practices and that carried over into the Packers’ first preseason game. He caught a long touchdown pass from Jordan Love, sort of validating all of the training camp hype he’s been surrounded with.

Doubs showed in this game that he’s ready for regular season action, and the Packers are going to be able to rely on him to play a much bigger role than you typically expect of a day three draft pick. With Christian Watson finally coming off of the PUP, the Packers might actually get a decent opportunity to evaluate what this whole rookie class of receivers can bring to the table.

Another rookie draft pick, Samori Toure, had a decent game for the Packers as well. This rookie class is shaping up to be highly impactful.

Green Bay Packers riser vs. 49ers: Tyler Goodson, RB

The Green Bay Packers may have an undrafted gem on their hands in Iowa running back Tyler Goodson. Frankly, I’m not surprised that he’s played well for an undrafted player considering he definitely should have been drafted. Goodson comes from an offense at Iowa that is easily translatable to Matt LaFleur’s scheme and he can play all three downs.

He showed quite a bit of what he can do against the 49ers with 37 rushing yards and 24 receiving yards.

It was his explosiveness on a 22-yard catch and run that really impressed the Packers and their fans in this preseason game. Did Green Bay find its third running back here? There will be plenty of competition throughout the rest of the preseason but Goodson is definitely off to a promising start.