The Green Bay Packers are entering the 2025 offseason with 46 total players coming back under contract, eight draft picks and $42.14 million in cap space at the time of this writing. While Brian Gutekunst and Co are surely going to use those eight picks and amble cap space to make a splash move this is still the Green Bay Packers we are talking about. This team’s culture is steeped in draft and develop with a heavy emphasis on the develop. They want their homegrown players to grow into the players they were projected to became and generally they are given every opportunity to do so. As likely one of the youngest teams in football again, they will need some significant improvement from recent draft picks in order to reach that next step. These are 3 players the Packers need to step up in 2025

MarShawn Lloyd

Lloyd, the teams 3rd round pick from a year ago had an injury-riddled rookie season to say the list. After battling hip, ankle and appendicitis injuries he managed to only get on the field for one game and six total carries. The Packers were excited about his home-run ability and how he fit in the offense as a complement to starter Josh Jacobs. What I imagine will be a mostly returning group of skill players-absent Christian Watson- the Packers offense will need as many playmakers as they can get.

Lloyd’s rare combination of burst, speed and power will be a welcome addition. While he wont be able to effect teams down the field to make up for Watson absence, he can help keep defenses honest when he spells Jacobs, helping to open more of those opportunities for other receivers. We might even see more two back sets with him and Jacobs on the field at the same time. Let’s hope he can stay healthy long enough to have an impact in 2025.

Jordan Morgan

Green Bay’s 2024 first round pick also battled injuries during his rookie season. He suffered a shoulder injury during training camp that never really seemed to heal. He re-injured it during week 2 (oddly the only game MarShawn Llyod played in 2024) and never really seemed to recover. He managed to play in six total games with one start and he logged 186 snaps, mostly as a rotational option with Sean Rhyan.

While he never seemed to have a starting spot available too him last year, this pick always screamed 2025 to me. Sean Rhyan was slotted into the started right guard spot and Rasheed Walker was coming off a very impressive 2023 season at left tackle. It didn’t seem to make much sense to replace two young players who were playing well. The plan to me was also wait until this off-season and allow center Josh Meyers to leave in free agency. Allowing Meyers to leave and sliding either Elgton Jenkins or Rhyan to center gives Morgan the opportunity to play either guard spot. There is also the possibility that if the Packers re-sign Meyers, we could see Morgan compete heads up with Walker for the left tackle position. Walker is entering the final year of his deal as well. Morgan stepping up could help make that an easy decision as to sign Walker long term of not. While he was a tackle in college, the Packers love to tackle college tackles and turn them into high level guards in the NFL. Either way, Jordan Morgan is going to factor heavily into the 2025 Packers offensive line plans.

Ty’ron Hopper

Perhaps the most forgotten Packers draft pick of the 2024 draft. Hopper played a fairly significant role on special teams, logging 48% of the snaps for Rich Bisaccia’s units. However, he was never able to make it on the field on defense. He was on the field for 18 total snaps, good for 1.65%. That’s the lowest of all players who spent the entire season on the active roster. It was curious why he couldn’t get on the field in any capacity considering the team eased in Edgerrin Cooper and the up and down play of Quay Walker. Both of them also dealt with injuries at various points and there was still no sign of Hopper.

Linebacker depth is going to be a big an area of focus for Gutekunst this offseason. Jeff Hafley’s unit is losing over 1,200 combined snaps from Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson who are both free agents. It’s likely they bring one of them back, I have a hard time seeing both coming back due to age and the team just investing a 3rd round pick in a linebacker last year. That’s a high pick for a strictly special teams player, so its likely time we Hopper see the field on defense. Even if the team brings back McDuffie or Wilson, we are likely one injury away from Hopper having to play serious snaps. Let’s hope we aren’t adding Hopper’s name to the litany of wasted Packers 3rd round picks.

As the old adage goes, you have to give a draft a few years to be able to give it a fair grade. Players mature and develop over time. Not everyone is going to come out firing on all cylinders and have a major impact like an Edgerrin Cooper or an Evan Williams. Fans of a a team like Green Bay who relies heavily on their draft picks making an impact, its almost a pastime that we are quick to label a player a bust (think 2015 Davante Adams). While each of the 3 players mentioned here have a reason for their low impact rookie seasons, It’s nevertheless an important sophomore season coming up for each of time. Whiffing on three top 100 picks can be detrimental to a draft and develop organization such as the Packers, 2025 is time for each of them to step up and prove the Packers right.