Oh how NFL season comes and goes in the blink of an eye. As it does, new headlines develop, players progress or regress, and visions of the future take hold.

For the Green Bay Packers, in a season destined for yet another playoff birth, a few player developments have started to take hold that have substantial roster implications for this season and beyond.

From a buy, sell, and hold perspective, here's what to make of those player storylines.

Buy: Development of Lukas Van Ness

Maybe one of the more frustrating developmental first-round picks on Brian Gutekunst's resume, which includes a few, is Lukas Van Ness. He started both of his first two campaigns slow out of the gates but has come on strong to close out both years. It's baffling when a player who could size up Godzilla, looks like Hercules, and can chase down 4.4 40-time quarterbacks cannot find his way into quarterbacks' laps more often.

Like Rashan Gary, Van Ness entered the league raw, as a one-trick pony power rusher, and stuck behind established pass rushers. Also similar to Gary is the unwavering motor and flashes that show up in years one and two despite underwhelming sack totals. More encouraging is that Van Ness has been showing off more counter moves as his sophomore year has progressed.

signs of life from van ness!

a counter move! pic.twitter.com/Hok1TeOidh

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 18, 2024

And ever since the Packers traded Preston Smith at the trade deadline, the Van Ness who bested future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith for a playoff sack has been the Van Ness showing up on tape.

Packers rookie Lukas Van Ness managing to keep his feet and get under Tyron Smith for the sack.

The first-round pick out of Iowa had three sacks over the Packers final six games. pic.twitter.com/WbDLIK4izG

— Seven Rounds in Heaven (@7RoundsInHeaven) January 15, 2024

With Smith gone, Van Ness boasts a commanding 28.6% pass-rush win rate in "true pass sets," an 89.1 PFF pass-rush grade, and two of his three sacks on the year. He's also improved his pressure percentage rate to 9.5%, which, for context, TJ Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers is at 10%.

There's still a way to go for Van Ness, who is still a relatively raw prospect who hasn't reached his talent ceiling yet, but he's been credited with a hurry in each of the last five games despite sharing snaps with Kingsley Enagbare, Brenton Cox Jr., and Aaron Mosby. It will be difficult for Van Ness to hit stride stuck in a four-way platoon, but he's absolutely making progress toward reaching his ceiling.

While he has played 40% of the defensive snaps this season, his snap share has actually taken a hit since the Smith trade. He's been doing more with less, and it may behoove Jeff Hafley to start feeding the big fella more.

Sell: Extending Josh Myers

Josh Myers is the Darnell Savage situation except on offense. He's simply not a complete player yet, but he's definitely good enough to be starting, and someone is going to pay him to do so.

Myers is pacing to allow his most pressures in a season, with 21 through 14 games, which is currently the third-highest mark among all centers. His 17 hurries are the fourth most among centers, and four quarterback hits allowed are tied for the third-highest. Lastly, he's fallen outside his norms inside the top 10 for pass block win rate among centers after finishing eighth last season.

Regarding run blocking, Myers finished last season as PFF's 22nd-graded run blocker of centers with at least 900 offensive snaps (55.2). He's surprisingly regressed to a 47.0 grade, which is 23rd of centers with at least as many snaps as Myers this season.

Where the Myers conversation still holds water is that he's not been credited for a sack yet this season. It's an area in which he's previously been able to excel, but is it enough to hold up for the Packers to extend him a long-term extension? The Packers may want to see him take that next step on a one-year "prove it" deal, as he's struggled mightily as a run blocker throughout his rookie contract and noticeably regressed this year as a pass blocker.

The Packers will enter the offseason with a generous amount of cap space to work with, but the more significant issue for Myers was the first-round draft pick of Jordan Morgan in 2024. Green Bay could easily transition Elgton Jenkins down to center, freeing up left guard for Morgan and saving money while still fielding a quality offensive line. Sean Rhyan has again shown flashes in his first year as the primary starter at right guard, which may prompt Green Bay to give him another look for next season, barring a late-season collapse.

Nevertheless, if Morgan is ready, letting Myers walk creates a clear path to getting him on the field. A mid-season change at center is not ideal, and either way, by keeping Myers, the Packers introduce a scenario to either have a backup first-round pick or a well-compensated center on the bench.

Someone will value Myers on a multi-year contract, similar to Jon Runyan Jr. with the New York Giants and Savage with the Jaguars. However, signs point to that not being a justifiable case in Green and Gold.

Hold: Onto Hope With Jaire Alexander

Jaire Alexander's injury situation, having missed 16 of the Packers' last 30 games and 30 of the last 64, is far from ideal. Especially off the heels of David Bakhtiari's essentially career-ending injury almost immediately after receiving a massive extension, it's undoubtedly becoming difficult to remain patient with Jaire now battling a similar situation. But no matter how frustrating, it's important to exude patience with Jaire, a former All-Pro, even as he enters the back half of his prime years.

The Packers' cornerback room has looked shaky this season, with Eric Stokes looking like a guarantee not to receive a fifth-year option and Keisean Nixon, while improved, still being a liability at the catch point. Carrington Valentine has provided a jolt, but he continues to oddly be blocked by Stokes for more snaps. All this leads to Jaire's value on the roster again becoming undeniable.

Alexander hasn't looked his best this year after adding a knee injury to his past groin and shoulder concerns. This is certainly less than ideal after a four-year extension in 2022, keeping him in Green Bay through the 2026 season.

Realistically, two leg injuries will take a step off Jaire's game, which won't help. But he remains an asset with his physicality, ability to instinctually read a route, and forcing incompletions at the catch point. Most concerning, though, is his yards per catch this season has jumped to a career-worst 16.2.

It wouldn't be surprising if a restructure was in the future where the Packers could get a clean-out after 2025 if injuries persist. Especially given the roughly $18 million in dead cap money by moving on from Jaire after this season, per Packers salary cap guru Ken Ingalls.

Even on what many have thought to be a down season for Jaire, as injuries have impacted his play, he is currently forcing the second-lowest completion percentage of his career (56%) and third-lowest passer rating against in his seven years (79.9). His passer rating against still makes for the 25th-best among all cornerbacks targeted at least as much as Jaire (25). So, all things considered, and being that Nixon is the next closest at a 103.3 passer rating against, it's safe to say Alexander is still extremely valuable to the Packers defense.

The Packers will likely pursue another cornerback in the early rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft and make a move in free agency that fits their process. But without a team willing to take on a large contract for a player in the back half of his prime for his position, with mounting injury concerns, it's best to remain hopeful for Jaire to get back on track, as it seems most plausible that he will return to Green Bay for his eighth season.

At the very least, when Jaire is healthy, he is still someone the Packers feel confident guarding the Justin Jeffersons of the world, and that can not go understated.