The Green Bay Packers are one step closer to the regular season after Saturday's 23-10 win over the Cleveland Browns.
This week will see the Packers head to Denver to take on the Broncos in both a preseason game and a joint practice that the starters will play in.
Here is a look at some of the stars, and guys who struggled in Green Bay's preseason opener.
Studs
Jordan Love
Jordan Love kept his preseason debut short and sweet on Saturday afternoon.
Love threw two passes. One checkdown. One bomb.
The checkdown was caught by Josh Jacobs. He lost a yard on the play.
The next play went for 65 and a touchdown. Love threw a beautiful slot fade to Dontayvion Wicks, and his day was over.
Love may not play the rest of the preseason after Matt LaFleur said he'd use the practice as an opportunity to let the starters play, and use the game for the young players.
Love has done all he needs to do. He's ready for the season opener.
Grant DuBose
On a day the passing game was in the spotlight early, Grant DuBose made sure it stayed there often.
DuBose is in the midst of a heated battle on the back end of the receiver room. He was the best of the trio that is battling for the fifth receiver spot.
Bo Melton and Malik Heath were relatively quiet, while DuBose shined.
“Grant’s been making plays every day since we started camp,” Jordan Love said after the game.
“He’s been controlling what he can control, making big-time plays, knowing his assignments—he’s been a great player.”
He'll need to stack more performances together like Saturday,s but he'll have plenty of opportunity.
Lukas Van Ness
Of all the players that had big days, Lukas Van Ness might be the one that garners the most excitement.
Van Ness was a first-round pick last year, but struggled as he acclimated to the NFL. He got better as the season went along, and picked right up where he left off on Saturday.
Van Ness had one sack, and just missed another. He had three tackles for loss. He was a dominant force, which is what Brian Gutekunst likely envisioned when he used a pick in the top-15 for the former Hawkeye.
Van Ness is going to need to play a big role in 2024 as the Packers' pass rush is going to need to be ready early and often against the quarterback gauntlet they're set to face.
Emanuel Wilson
Wilson was last year's leader in rushing for all of the preseason. He looked like a better player than that version of himself on Saturday afternoon.
Wilson averaged 5.2 yards-per-carry and looked just as explosive as the player that made the roster a season ago.
The problem for Wilson is he's facing a numbers game. Josh Jacobs and Marshawn Lloyd are roster locks.
AJ Dillon does not have any guaranteed money attached to his contract, but the coaching staff has spoken highly of him all offseason.
Would the Packers keep four running backs? That feels unlikely, but if Wilson keeps stacking performances like that, it might be impossible to keep him off the final roster.
Evan Williams
All Evan Williams does is make plays.
But seriously. He's always around the ball. Evan Williams forced a fumble on the first play of the third quarter and made six solo tackles.
He reminds me of Adrian Amos when Amos was in Green Bay. If Williams can be 80 percent of what Amos was, the Packers will have struck gold with a fourth-round pick.
Duds
Bo Melton
When one of your competitors has a big day on the field, it's not a good day for you to have a bad one.
Bo Melton saw Grant DuBose have a big day and suffered perhaps his worst performance as a Green Bay Packers.
Melton had more drops (two) than receptions (one).
He's been running ahead of Grant DuBose and Malik Heath as the team's fifth receiver. One bad day may not change that, but the Packers' receiver room is very competitive.
DuBose has been one of the better players in camp. Melton will need to reverse course, and quickly.
AJ Dillon
AJ Dillon has done all of the right things this offseason. He has come into camp in great shape. He's said and done all of the right things after what had to be a humbling experience in free agency.
Dillon did not have a lot of suitors, nor did he end up with a lot of guaranteed money.
In fact, Dillon has no guaranteed money in his contract.
He averaged less than one yard per carry on Saturday. His blocking did not do him any favors, but it's hard to watch Dillon's first effort of the season and come away with any feeling other than disappointment.
That's especially true when you watch players like Emanuel Wilson have success.
How much Dillon plays this week could be an indicator as to whether he's losing some favor as the first man up behind Josh Jacobs.
Backup Tackles
Andre Dillard and Kadeem Telfort started. Caleb Jones followed. Each had a physical or mental error that was costly.
In a battle the coaching staff has called a great competition, nobody is taking hold of the spot behind Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom.
Walker and Tom are rock solid as starters, but it's unclear who would take their spot if either needed to miss time.
None of them are providing much comfort at this point that they could be relied on to start in a game should that be necessary.
This is a big week for all of those guys as they try to separate themselves from their competitors.
Related: Jordan Love's Preseason Starts Fast as the Packers Cruise
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