Top five most valuable people for Green Bay Packers in 2024

It took them a bit to figure things out, but once they did, the Green Bay Packers surprised a lot of people in 2023 with their unexpected playoff run and upset of the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round.

Here are the franchise’s five most valuable people in 2024:

5. Head coach Matt LaFleur

LaFleur had a lot of early success in his head-coaching career (39-10 record), but he’s since come back down to earth in the last two seasons (17-17 record). In games where the Packers are evenly matched, coaching will likely determine if they win or lose.

LaFleur has all the talent in the world — Jordan Love is the highest-paid QB in the NFL, running back Josh Jacobs is just one year removed from an All-Pro season, Green Bay has arguably the best young WR group in the league — but the team will only go as far as LaFleur takes them.

4. Wide receiver Jayden Reed

Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson are the Packers two most-featured receivers, but Reed may be the most talented out of the group. He led the team in receptions (64), yards (793), touchdowns (eight) and yards after the catch (335) as a rookie, and he should only get better in Year 2.

Doubs has struggled with consistency issues and Watson injury troubles, but Reed missed just one game and was often Love’s top target last year. If he can turn into Love’s version of Davante Adams, that takes some pressure off Doubs and Watson to carry the WR corps and it makes things more difficult for opposing defenses having to cover three really good wideouts.

3. Cornerback Eric Stokes

The Packers are searching for their No. 2 CB behind Jaire Alexander, and it’s time for Stokes to start living up to his billing as a former first-round pick. There’s solid competition in the secondary with Carrington Vallentine, Keisean Nixon and Corey Ballentine, but Stokes has a real opportunity to snatch it from those three.

Green Bay’s pass defense ranked ninth in the NFL last year, but the secondary has to replace cornerback Rasul Douglas plus safeties Jonathan Owens, Rudy Ford and Darnell Savage. Stokes can make things easier for defensive backs coach Ryan Downard by shoring up the CB position.

2. Running back Josh Jacobs

Aaron Jones had three 1,000-yard seasons during his last five years with the Packers, but at 29, he was starting to slow down and he missed six games last year. Enter Jacobs, whos’ just 26, only one year removed from an All-Pro season, has rushed for 1,000 or more yards in three of his five NFL seasons and scored 46 total touchdowns.

Green Bay has younger, fresher legs behind Love who can also be an effective receiver out of the backfield (Jacobs has averaged nearly 40 catches and 300 yards receiving per season) — adding another dimension to an already potent offense.

1. Quarterback Jordan Love

In his first year as a starting QB, Love threw for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a passer rating of 96.1, ascending into one of the top passers in the NFL. But most teams are only as good as their QB, and Green Bay certainly falls into that category.

Based on last season the Packers have playoff expectations again, and they are certainly a threat to unseat Detroit for the division title. But if you were to take Love out of the equation, it’s tough to see Green Bay as anything more than a .500 team. If there’s one singular person who’s vital to the team’s success in 2024, it’s Love.