After the Green Bay Packers got a long stretch of MVP-caliber play from Jordan Love and boasted the youngest roster in the NFL this season, optimism regarding the team is extremely high around the league for 2024.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler noted various league executives, scouts and personnel figures are high on the Packers as the favorites to win Super Bowl 59 next year.
“[Green Bay has] a young nucleus to build from—and the offensive line was playing really well,” one veteran AFC scout said.
“The defense was up and down but finished the year much better. They’ve always had talent on that side of the ball. Can they be consistent?”
The Packers were a few minutes away from playing for the NFC championship this season, so a potential Super Bowl run in 2024 is well within their reach.
Making the move from Aaron Rodgers to Love at quarterback was expected to come with some growing pains. Even though he was in his fourth season, Love only started one game in the previous three years.
It took Love awhile to really settle in. He threw for 2,009 yards, 14 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and had a 58.7 completion percentage through nine games. Green Bay had a 3-6 record at that point.
Love and the Packers turned a corner starting in Week 11. He threw for 2,150 yards with 18 touchdowns, one interception and a 70.3 completion percentage over the final eight games. The Packers went 6-2 during that stretch to earn the final playoff spot in the NFC.
That momentum carried into the postseason when the Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 in the NFC Wild Card round. Love went 16-of-21 for 272 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
Green Bay followed that up by going into Levi’s Stadium and nearly pulling off an upset of the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers before a late Christian McCaffrey touchdown gave the Niners a 24-21 victory.
The Packers did all of that with the youngest roster in the NFL by both average age and snap-adjusted age, which averages the age of players on the field based on snaps played.
Players like Lukas Van Ness, Quay Walker, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Eric Stokes, Romeo Doubs, Zach Tom, Dontayvion Wicks and Tucker Kraft are all playing on rookie contracts.
Despite the bitter ending to this season, the future is incredibly bright for the Packers.