Five Packers Who Are Quietly Off to a Strong Start in Training Camp
By GilMartin
The Packers are now in their third week of training camp as they prepare for the preseason opener against the Houston Texans this Saturday at Lambeau Field.
The team has now worked out with pads and has settled into a groove in practice and there has been enough time to get an idea of who is trending up and who is struggling.
With that in mind, here is a look at five Packers who are quietly having a strong training camp thus far. Keep in mind this list is far from complete and there are players having a strong camp who are not on this list.
1. WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
After three seasons in the league, there is no doubt that Marquez Valdes-Scantling has elite speed and the ability to stretch defenses. In fact, he led all qualified NFL receivers in average yards per catch in 2020 with 20.9.
But MVS has lacked consistency and dropped too many passes. This year at training camp, however, Valdes-Scantling has been much more consistent making catches and has even made several tough grabs that one wouldn’t expect him to be able to make.
One thing MVS needs to prove is that he can catch short passes as well as just being a deep threat. If he can do that, he can keep opposing defensive backs off balance and set himself up for bigger gains and shorter catches as well.
MVS is in a battle with Allen Lazard and several other players for the starting spot at wide receiver opposite Davante Adams. If he continues to play well, he has a good chance to earn more playing time this season and to take his career to the next level.
2. OL Elgton Jenkins
Pro Bowl guard Elgton Jenkins has moved to left tackle and is taking reps with the first team there while David Bakhtiari continues to rehab after knee surgery.
Jenkins is one of the most versatile offensive linemen in the league today and has been doing a great job in practice protecting the quarterback’s blind side.
Jenkins is a smart football player and he moves well enough to play any of the five positions along the offensive line. He is likely to start at left tackle and protect Aaron Rodgers’ until Bakhtiari is ready to return.
That makes Jenkins the lynchpin of the offensive line. If he starts at left tackle in Week 1 in New Orleans, the Packers have three guards battling for two starting spots in Ben Braden, Lucas Patrick and Jon Runyan, Jr.
Jenkins continues to show his value to the team and he has the potential to be a perennial All Pro regardless of what position he plays along the offensive line.
3. ILB Krys Barnes
Barnes had an incredible journey last season. The undrafted free agent out of UCLA was cut last year after a strong training camp but re-signed to the practice squad. The Packers then activated him for Week 1, he started and ended up starting 10 games while playing in 13. Barnes showed flashes of ability and made his share of rookie mistakes but did finish second on the team in tackles.
This year in camp, Barnes has taken a step forward. He lost a little weight to improve his speed and quickness. He also appears to have a better understanding of the defense and as a result he is getting into position quicker by anticipating where he needs to be.
New defensive coordinator Joe Barry likes what he’s seen from Barnes and has given him the responsibility of calling the defensive signals. Barnes is enjoying that aspect of the game and is starting to show leadership abilities.
Barnes is playing with the first team defense and is looking like the favorite to start at ILB along with De’Vondre Campbell.
4. OLB Preston Smith
Preston Smith reported to training camp slimmed down and ready to return to the form he showed in his career-best 2019 season with the Packers.
The veteran edge rusher has every incentive to perform at a high level this season as the Packers re-worked his contract and made it more incentive laden. Preston realizes he needs to have a better year this year to make the money he hopes to make both in 2021 and beyond since he will either be let go or have a renegotiated contract in 2022 if he stays in Green Bay.
He also has pressure on him as Rashan Gary has been raising his game and is threatening to take more of Preston’s playing time.
With Za’Darius Smith missing practice time due to injury, Preston has gotten extra reps with the first team and has looked good so far. This will be a vital season for the former Mississippi State star and he appears ready to do the job.
5. RB Kylin Hill
The rookie seventh round pick out of Mississippi State is in a three-way battle for the third running back spot on the depth chart with Patrick Taylor and Dexter Williams.
Hill has shown a good burst through the hole on running plays and is presently one of the leading contenders to be the Packers primary kick returner. Contributing on special teams will help Hill’s chances of making the cut this year.
The key to his capturing the third running back spot may be what he shows he can do when he isn’t carrying the ball. Matt LaFleur requires his running backs to catch passes out of the backfield and to pass protect. If Hill can show he can do that he will increase his chances of earning a roster spot.
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Comments (32)
Packers0808
August 12, 2021 at 12:56 pm
Looking forward to how Hill and P Smith do. Really would like to see Smith return to his first year form!
GilMartin
August 12, 2021 at 01:29 pm
Agreed, Packers 0808. It would give the team a potentially elite pass rush. Thanks for commenting.
Since'61
August 12, 2021 at 12:58 pm
Good to hear that MVS is improving his catches. If he can become a reliable receiver it will make a difference for Adams and other receivers as defenses need to respect his speed. It will be good to see his improvement during the preseason games.
No surprise about Jenkins. We already know that he is a great OL at any position.
Would be great to see solid ILB play for once. Would prefer to know how Campbell is doing.
P. Smith should have a good camp he is a veteran player. Needs to show up during the games that count.
How well is Hill doing is pass blocking? That will be a key for whoever earns the #3 RB spot.
Thanks, Since ‘61
GilMartin
August 12, 2021 at 01:31 pm
Thanks for the comments, Since '61 and the astute observations. I hear Hill is doing well as a receiver and runner but have not heard much either way yet regarding pass blocking. As we both said, that is a big key to getting playing time. As for Campbell, I have heard only positive things about his performance so far in camp.
Leatherhead
August 12, 2021 at 02:46 pm
Technically, defenses have to respect MVS speed whether he catches it or not. Just like you have to double Adams whether he’s getting the ball or not. It’s the threat. The passes he does catch hurt.
Jenkins is versatile. So is Turner, who was an early FA acquisition by the GM. So is Runyan, and Myers. I have no doubt that “versatility “ is a word that is used quite a bit by the scouts and personnel people in Green Bay.
It seems Hill has put himself ahead of the others in the minds of the coaches.
porupack
August 12, 2021 at 01:18 pm
Just in case this statement is overlooked, I wanted to just call it out as something simply astounding in today's game of specialization at each position!!
<<<<Jenkins continues to show his value to the team and he has the potential to be a perennial All Pro regardless of what position he plays along the offensive line.>>>>
I mean, it seems most Olineman are pegged as a Right side, or left side, let alone a run blocker or a pure pass protector, and such. A guy that could be a pro- bowler at any of, or all of the above?
Gil, next time...all caps on Jenkin's "quietly having a strong start". He kind of owns the whole beachfront of the Oline, maybe?
GilMartin
August 12, 2021 at 01:32 pm
Thanks for the comment, porupack. Yeah, Jenkins is incredible. Right now it's hard to believe how talented and versatile he is. He's not even in his prime yet. Jenkins deserves the all caps although I'm not sure it would fit in well with the style of the site. ;).
ricky
August 12, 2021 at 01:45 pm
A lot of guys aiming to do their best in a contract year. MVS reminds me of James Jones; drops easy passes, then the next play, makes a spectacular catch in traffic. If Valdes-Scantling can get his concentration working on every play, he could be a revelation. The rise of Jenkins at tackle is problematic. Good because the Packers need someone who can fill in if necessary; but when his contract is due, why wouldn't he be asking for a "tackle" contract rather than one for a guard? Could this mean that the Packers have to decide between keeping Bakhtiari or Jenkins in the next two years? The RB position will largely depend on how much of a contributor the third man can be on ST's. Selling out in the exhibition season may be a way of getting a roster spot. It seems Preston Smith will be gone next year- time for Gary to step up, and Z. Smith is going to be looking for a big pay bump. A lot of salary cap issues going forward; time for Russ Ball to sharpen his pencil and get creative.
porupack
August 12, 2021 at 05:52 pm
<<<<<The rise of Jenkins at tackle is problematic. >>>>
Kind of like making a huge profit in one's company is a problem. You have to pay more taxes. But you can also be happy you have such a problem. Now if we only had more "busts" in the draft, we wouldn't have so many guys to pay. Something like that.
WestCoastPackerBacker
August 12, 2021 at 06:17 pm
James Jones didn't have nearly the drop issues MVS has had and nowhere near the speed of MVS. Jones was sneakily productive in his career, though, with YAC and having scored the most touchdowns of any WR one season (2012). If Jenkins can play tackle, they may move him there and move on from D Bahk when the time is right, given that guards are much much easier to find in the draft (and undrafted). That's a very good problem to have though.
Dragon5
August 12, 2021 at 02:04 pm
MVS leads the pack of injury prone players on the squad this year. 7 life path in a personal 7 year...don't hold your breath.
GREATEST CONCERN THIS SEASON--our SECONDARY. Alexander, Amos, Vernon all in personal 7 years where injury risk increases. 7 LP King always a perennial risk, as is Sullivan, born on a 7 day. Barry's pressure heavy defense will have to be dialed down if secondary subs can't be trusted.
Jenkins is also in a 7 personal year. OLine could fall apart quickly should he go down while Bahk continues to recover. Myers and Kelly are born on a 7 days and will have above average injury risk as will Turner being in his enemy year (ditto Bahk)
Remaining injury concerns: 7LPs Crosby, Begelton, Dillon, and 7 day born Ramsey (who already bit the bullet last week)
marpag1
August 12, 2021 at 02:47 pm
LLLOOOLLL!!!
I'd have to check snap counts and such to make absolutely sure, but I do believe that MVS has played in absolutely EVERY SINGLE GAME of his 3 year career.
Can you please explain why are you calling him "injury prone?"
Yet another example of someone talking straight out of his ass.....
jont
August 12, 2021 at 05:09 pm
I am totally confused by this 7 thing.
jannesbjornson
August 13, 2021 at 08:03 pm
The Seven deadly sins of being a Packer Fan, if (i) would venture a guess.
Minniman
August 12, 2021 at 05:33 pm
A small correction Dragon5, I think that you will find it’s the other three letter acronym - ESB - that is the injury prone one.
Out of curiosity, what are his numbers and prognostications?
wildbill
August 12, 2021 at 05:34 pm
My ouija board says to ignore the 7 day curse
Swisch
August 12, 2021 at 07:07 pm
Just a quick note about the ouija board: I recently learned that in the movie, "The Exorcist" a ouija board was the way in which the demon entered into the poor girl. The movie is based on a true story from the late 1940s in which a person was possessed after using a ouija board.
The ouija board is portrayed as a fun game for parties, but it's no game. It's also known as the talking board, and those doing the talking are truly from the pit of hell.
All this is to say please stay far, far, far away from ouija boards -- and for that matter all manner of new age trickery and treachery.
If we're not dealing directly with the Holy Spirit, then we're opening ourselves to interactions with evil spirits -- in which they can have a horrifying influence on our lives, up to and including demonic possession.
I'm sorry to bring this up, but it's in response to this thread of comments, and the extreme importance of this issue. It's like warning people against fentanyl.
There are books by real exorcists at Ignatius Press and Sophia Institute Press. This isn't just the stuff of horror movies, but of real life terrors.
Either new age is a fraud, or it's a portal to evil spirits. Please guard your heart and soul. Go with the God of love.
Johnblood27
August 12, 2021 at 08:05 pm
makes every bit as much sense as dragon5.
please tell him/her to just go away and disappear with your same vengeance.
or...
just STFU yourself and let others have their say whether or not you agree with them.
Post your astute great knowledge of why their comments are non-sensical or just accept that others have different perspectives than you and move on.
Swisch
August 12, 2021 at 08:45 pm
Wow, so much hostility! I don't understand your rage, Johnblood.
Dragon5 has posted his quasi-religious beliefs here for months now, maybe years, without me saying anything. All I did was put my view up this one time as a matter of concern in the context of his comment and related replies.
***
After writing my comment, I took out my Dobie for a walk -- and there's a place where I race him that includes going up a hill where I recently had a bad fall due to a metal rod sticking out of the ground in a most unexpected place.
So I put a bunch of rocks around the metal rod to alert people that there's something unusual there, seemingly very dangerous. When I had tripped over it on the run, I landed on my face.
That's what I was trying doing in my comment above. I was alerting others to a danger as I see it, which is there in reality whether or not others know about it.
You can take it or leave it, but why the outrage?
***
Dragons are not our friends. They will eventually burn us badly. The movie, "The Exorcist," is based on a true story adapted by William Peter Blatty. It really happened, and because of a ouija board. You can check it out for yourself in all of its reality.
You can believe it or not, but your hyper-reaction is troubling, and a genuine concern to me. I hope to God you work things out with yourself.
I also pray the best for Dragon5.
LeotisHarris
August 12, 2021 at 09:00 pm
Swisch, which board game was the gateway for the evil spirits that possessed Catholic priests and nuns and caused them to kill thousands of Native children at boarding schools across the United States and Canada? Those possessions aren't discussed by those who go with the God of love. Has Ignatius Press or Sophia Institute Press published anything addressing that? It wasn't the stuff of horror movies, but real life terror!
Swisch
August 13, 2021 at 09:22 am
Wow, more hysterical, unhinged hostility!
To borrow the words of one significant Catholic from Packers history, "What the hell is going on out there?"
I haven't heard of your accusation, Leotis, even from anti-Catholics -- and American history is filled with anti-Catholic accusations to the most sensational degree.
Coincidentally, I'm currently reading a book you may be interested in about a Catholic heiress from Philadelphia who gave her entire fortune and devoted her entire life to care for Native Americans and African Americans. She even took on the Ku Klux Klan.
Her fruits ranged from the founding of Xavier University for blacks in New Orleans to St. Michael's mission to the Navajos in Arizona, and included dozens of other enterprises for people of color at a time when such work was widely despised and highly dangerous.
Her name is St. Katharine Drexel (1858-1955), and the book is by Cheryl C. D. Hughes -- subtitled, "The Riches-to-Rags Story of an American Catholic Saint."
By the way, I'm not saying there aren't bad people in the Catholic Church; but it's much easier to focus on the bad ones than the good ones. The good ones challenge us to sacrifice much of ourselves for the good of others, and changing our lives for the better is much harder than casually condemning others.
Your cheap shot, Leotis, which had nothing to do with my comment about ouija boards and the diabolical danger they present, is a slap in the face to Catholics all across Wisconsin and all of America, many of them also Packers fans.
Yes, we're faulty, but we're sincerely trying to be good.
I'm proud that the Catholic Church literally invented the hospital in the 300s to heal the body, and the university in the 1100s to elevate the mind.
More so, the Catholic Church truly originated the idea of helping the poor and oppressed and outcast. It was a revolutionary idea in the ancient world, when those who weren't useful to the government were trampled upon or simply cast aside. (See the books of Mike Aquilina; also Rodney Stark, a non-Catholic who yet defends the Catholic Church as a scholar against anti-historical bigotry.)
The God of love is the unique source of love for all of our neighbors without exception, as shown in our own times by the likes of Mother Teresa.
Those of us who are followers realize we are quite sinful, but we persevere in imploring the help of Jesus to serve as best we can.
LeotisHarris
August 15, 2021 at 08:52 pm
Swisch, you can stop with the drama. Just because I don't fear board games, am able to state documented facts, and repeat your own drivel back to you does not make me unhinged. Let's look a a few things that are at the rotten core of the Catholic Church. There are hundreds more, from The Crusades to the Inquisition, to persecution of the poorest and most vulnerable.
You'd need to have had your head in the sand for years (or a classic case of denial) to ignore the role the Catholic Church played in genocide. The Catholic Church ran residential schools for Native children in the United States and Canada from the early 1800s until at least the 1970s. Recently hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered in British Columbia at sites of former residential schools. I'm not going to do the work for you. Use Google.
How many pedophile priests have been protected by the Church? Systemic abuse was covered up for decades. How many priests were moved to different churches giving them access to more children to abuse? How much has the Church paid to settle abuse lawsuits? I believe the total is in the billions of dollars. And, speaking of money...
Have you have a chance to ask your Parish Priest if any of the almost $3 billion dollars (that is BILLION with a B) the Church received in Paycheck Protection Program funds, the federal government's small business emergency relief program, has tickled down to the local level? To me, and remember I'm just an anti-Catholic face-slapper, it seems like a less than Christ-like act given that *real* small businesses were hurting, and the Catholic Church is anything but a small business. I would *think* Catholics would be upset about the nation’s nearly 200 dioceses receiving at least $3 billion, thus making the Roman Catholic Church perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the Paycheck Program Program, but that's just me.
porupack
August 12, 2021 at 05:56 pm
I think there are sites for guys that like to talk non-football, I'm sure the likes of you would enjoy such conversations. Or maybe we want to introduce politics and a bunch of other similar useless but entertaining banter, ok then.
SpikeHyzer
August 12, 2021 at 07:39 pm
You are completely insane and incoherent.
Please don't post again.
Johnblood27
August 12, 2021 at 08:06 pm
oops, wrong spot...
makes every bit as much sense as dragon5.
please tell him/her to just go away and disappear with your same vengeance.
or...
just STFU yourself and let others have their say whether or not you agree with them.
Post your astute great knowledge of why their comments are non-sensical or just accept that others have different perspectives than you and move on.
LeotisHarris
August 12, 2021 at 08:46 pm
Now the fifth daughter on the twelfth night
Told the first father that things weren't right
My complexion she said is much too white
He said, "Come over here and step into this light, yeah you're right"
Let me tell the second mother this has been done
But the second mother was with the seventh son
And they were both out on Highway 61
Swisch
August 12, 2021 at 02:20 pm
I'm hoping for the emergence of MVS and Rashan Gary as genuine stars this year.
Both would be personifications of a perennial reminder to fans to be patient with our young guys who show early promise with effort and effectiveness, but need time to come into their own.
That would be good perspective at present in the case of a young guy named Jordan Love.
***
We gave up a 4th-round pick to get Love a couple of drafts ago, but that may have been more than made up for with the signing of Love's high school teammate, Krys Barnes -- especially with the extreme difficulty of finding inside linebackers who are both strong and fast in making tackles, plus capable in pass coverage.
It would be interesting to know if Love's presence on the Packers had anything to do with us getting Barnes; but in any case, it seems Barnes has already played at the level of a 4th-rounder. I'm hoping he gets to the point on the field at which he would be considered well worth a 2nd-round selection, or maybe even a 1st-rounder.
So far at least, Barnes is one of the signs that Gute is a lot smarter and more resourceful than most people think. I think Love will be another.
porupack
August 12, 2021 at 06:00 pm
Some good musings, Swisch. Goes to show that after the draft, and once the racers go round the first corner or two, after that it each player can control their destiny.
LambeauPlain
August 12, 2021 at 02:27 pm
I can see the need and talent value to keep 4 TEs and 4 RBs this year. The Packers under Matt run as much as they pass and utilize 12 and 22 personnel more and more. Why not? They are loaded at TE and RB. And on pass plays, the TEs and RBs are targets even more so than WRs....other than Adams, that is.
It is good to hear Patrick Taylor is flashing on the field along with Hill. I have a feeling neither Hill nor Taylor would make it to the PS.
JohnnyLogan
August 12, 2021 at 02:44 pm
Rashan Gary is still the guy I'd like to see explode. He's widely expected to have a great year but until we see it it's only potential. He's shown great flashes but couldn't beat out Preston who was having a bad year. He has good numbers as far as QB pressures per snap. If he can be consistent the defense will take a huge step forward.
JohnnyLogan
August 12, 2021 at 02:44 pm
Rashan Gary is still the guy I'd like to see explode. He's widely expected to have a great year but until we see it it's only potential. He's shown great flashes but couldn't beat out Preston who was having a bad year. He has good numbers as far as QB pressures per snap. If he can be consistent the defense will take a huge step forward.
wildbill
August 14, 2021 at 01:46 pm
Sorry my ouija board comment was meant as a joke, evidently a poor one, as I’ve never owned one. Didn’t mean to create controversy was just trying to inject some humor.