The talk this week is rightfully going to be about the Packers new head coach Matt LaFleur. And while it’s incredibly exciting to get pumped about a new coach and start looking ahead to 2019, I’m not quite ready to move past 2018 just yet.

After grading every single player on every single play all season long, it only makes sense to go back and take a deep dive and look at the results. In truth, this is my favorite piece that I will write all season long. Over 400 hours went into grading players this year and this is really the final fruits of that labor.

It was incredible to go back and look at which players were really the core players on this team, and which players it’s time to move on from. Last years’ grades were fairly indicative of what was going to happen this year. At this time last year Lance Kendricks (-7.90), Justin McCray (-14.90), Jason Spriggs (-13.10), Josh Hawkins (-5.90), Kentrell Brice (-5.10), HaHa Clinton-Dix (-9.40) and Kyler Fackrell (-5.20) all looked like they should have been moved on from.

Instead Green Bay held onto the entire group except for Josh Hawkins who was released during final cut-downs. Kendricks (-1.45), McCray (-6.90), Sprigs (-5.70), Brice (-6.20), and HaHa (-5.95) all graded out in the negative once again. The lone player from that group that showed real improvement was Kyler Fackrell, who ended this season with a +3.15 grade.

I also love using this as an opportunity to finally compare my grades against Pro Football Focus’s grades. During the season I avoid as best I can any grading that they complete for Green Bay. It wasn’t until today that I really went through and compared our grades. Overall our grades were very similar; although by far the biggest difference in grading was with HaHa Clinton-Dix.

So without further ado, here are your final grades and notes for 2018:

Highest Graded Offensive Players

Davante Adams +15.30

David Bakhtiari +13.80

Aaron Rodgers +13.75

Corey Linsley +10.00

Aaron Jones +9.85

Adams was deserving of every ounce of recognition that he received this year. He has been on an incredible tear these past two seasons and has really come into his own as one of the top receivers in the league.

I think the most interesting player on this list is of course Aaron Rodgers. Aaron graded out well for both myself, and Pro Football Focus. Both of our grading systems give credit to big plays and significantly downgrade turnovers or turnover worthy plays. While Aaron had his struggles this year, he still had a propensity to make big plays and largely avoided plays that would turn the ball over. Because of that it’s very hard to grade him down in any significant way.

While my grading scale absolutely marked him down for holding onto the football, throwing the ball away, and missing check-downs and open receivers, his big-plays and impressive throws far outweighed those negatives.

Maybe the most important point with Rodgers is a lot of what I believe was an issue with him this year was not gradable, at least not by me. What I mean is that there would be times that a wide receiver would break open on one side of the field but Rodgers was reading the opposite side. It’s impossible to know what the progression was and whether or not he missed a read at the line of scrimmage.

My hunch, after watching every play all year, is that there was some of that going on, but without knowing the play or progression you simply can’t tell. And when you watch the play it’s tough to downgrade Rodgers because he never saw the receiver open in the first place.

So at the end of the day, Rodgers had more good than bad, but he still left plenty of plays out on the field. Truthfully, he’s a very difficult player to grade.

Highest Graded Defensive Players

Kenny Clark +13.10

Jaire Alexander +7.00

Mike Daniels +6.85

Kyler Fackrell +3.15

Tramon Williams +1.25

Kenny Clark 2018 All-Pro pic.twitter.com/zuLdZNny3g — Brandon Carwile (@PackerScribe) November 27, 2018

Green Bay had three plus defensive players all year (when they were healthy) and those three players were Kenny Clark, Jaire Alexander, and Mike Daniels. After those three there was a pretty solid drop off.

You then had Kyler Fackrell who had a nice season but would still be best used in a situation role, and Tramon Williams who did his best to play between corner and safety and hold his own. This defense needs an influx of playmakers, especially at the edge and safety positions.

Lowest Graded Offensive Players

Byron Bell -13.50

Justin McCray -6.90

Jimmy Graham -6.25

Jason Spriggs -5.70

Lucas Patrick -3.35

There were a ton of issues on offense last week, but none as bad as the play of the offensive line. It was a really bad performance overall and Byron Bell should be benched if not cut for his performance and lack of effort imo. pic.twitter.com/VtIcmsSPzN — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 30, 2018

I said going into the season that my biggest issue with Brian Gutekunst’s offseason was his inability to fill the hole at right guard and provide additional offensive line depth. Spriggs and McCray both graded horribly a season ago and to expect them to be the starting right guard and backup swing tackle was simply too much to ask. Bringing in Byron Bell wasn’t the answer either because his tape from last season was just as bad while his tape this season was even worse.

Jimmy Graham was also a major disappointment. I gave him the benefit of the doubt at the beginning of the season because it takes tight ends time in this offense to really gain some sense of rhythm—especially with Aaron Rodgers. But Graham never found that rhythm and he never brought anything to the table. He was a well below average blocker, lost any run after the catch ability, and his red zone prowess completely fell off the face of the earth this year. At the end of the day he was an overpaid decoy who didn’t do much to help this offense in any capacity.

I will say this about the tight end position, however. When Marcedes Lewis and Martellus Bennett were having their conversation on Yahoo and mentioned that this offense does the tight ends no favors, I do absolutely agree with them. This offense doesn’t do anything to scheme their tight ends open and it runs them on endless flat routes and crossing routes which are easily defendable. Hopefully this is a position that Matt LaFleur will be able to unlock in 2019.

Lowest Graded Defensive Players

Clay Matthews -9.30

Nick Perry -7.65

Reggie Gilbert -7.10

Kentrell Brice -6.20

HaHa Clinton-Dix -5.95

Kenjon Barner laying out Clay Matthews. pic.twitter.com/Pagnn7K8MM — Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) November 5, 2018

It will come as no surprise to learn that edge rusher and safety were the two biggest issues on defense. As I gave Jimmy Graham the benefit of the doubt early this year, I also gave the benefit of the doubt to HaHa Clinton-Dix coming into this year. I had him as my lowest graded defender a season ago, but I really thought a portion of that was how Dom Capers was playing him.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Mike Pettine came in and the results for HaHa were exactly the same. There was a lack of effort and an allergy to tackling that plagued Clinton-Dix throughout his last season and a half in Green Bay. The fact Brian Gutekunst was able to get a 4th round pick out of Washington made it one of the most shocking moves of the entire season. There is no question that Washington completely regrets that trade at this point.

For those that think I’m being hard on Clay and Perry, it’s worth noting that I had a very positive grade on Matthews a season ago, and Perry had a high grade to start the year last year before falling off and suffering another injury. You could tell that Perry lost a great deal of his athleticism after his injury from last year and was never 100% this year.

Either way there is no way that either Clay or Perry should be on this team in 2019 as it’s time to completely rebuild the edge position from the ground up.

Highest Rated Individual Games (Offense)

Aaron Rodgers +4.05 – Week 2 – Vikings

Davante Adams +3.05 – Week 6 – 49ers

Aaron Rodgers +2.85 – Week 1 – Bears

David Bakhtiari +2.65 – Week 3 – Redskins

Aaron Rodgers +2.45 – Week 11 – Seahawks

Aaron Rodgers really started the season well with two back-to-back impressive games against the Bears and Vikings. Davante Adams also had a vintage performance against the 49ers as he finished the game with 10 catches, 132 yards and 2 touchdowns. While Rodgers received a lot of credit for bringing the Packers back in that game, this was a matter of Davante willing his team to victory.

Highest Rated Individual Games (Defense)

Kenny Clark +1.75 – Week 8 – Rams

Jaire Alexander +1.65 – Week 8 – Rams

Jaire Alexander +1.65 – Week 2 – Vikings

Jaire Alexander +1.60 – Week 1 – Bears

Kenny Clark +1.45 – Week 10 – Dolphins

Mike Daniels +1.45 –Week 9 – Patriots

Jaire Alexander put on a show! pic.twitter.com/4NdV0vLZI3 — WeAreDBnation (@WeAreDBNation1) October 29, 2018

Two really impressive defensive performances against the Rams unfortunately went for naught as Ty Montgomery fumbled away the chance to win the game, but the performances by Clark and Jaire in that game should not be forgotten.

It’s insanely impressive that three of the top four defensive performances on the year were from Jaire Alexander. He hit a bit of a rookie wall as the season progressed, but he came out of the gate on fire and should have an even more impressive sophomore season.

Lowest Rated Individual Games (Offense)

Byron Bell -2.75 – Week 8 – Rams

Byron Bell -2.30 – Week 9 – Patriots

Byron Bell -2.30 – Week 5 – Lions

Jason Spriggs -2.25 – Week 15 – Bears

Justin McCray -2.20 – Week 1 – Bears

Akiem Hicks eating. Forklifts Justin McCray pic.twitter.com/BF7LpjrwRn — Ty Wurth (@WurthDraft) September 10, 2018

The offensive line can win with Bakhtiari, Taylor, Linsley, and Bulaga but just about everyone else is a major liability (although Alex Light did show some promise in week 17). Spriggs, McCray, and Bell all had some brutal performances and Bell’s game against the interior defenders of the Rams was the worst of all.

Lowest Rated Individual Games (Defense)

Clay Matthews -4.35 – Week 1 – Bears

HaHa Clinton-Dix -3.45 – Week 5 – Lions

HaHa Clinton-Dix -2.25 – Week 8 – Rams

Kentrell Brice -2.05 – Week 3 – Redskins

Kentrell Brice -1.95 – Week 2 – Vikings

Two point conversion... Vintage HaHa. pic.twitter.com/reXO8rmtEc — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 1, 2018

Clay Matthews didn&rsquwo;t show up for the entire game against the Bears week one until he roughed the quarterback on 4th down which gave Chicago a second life. Thankfully the Packers were able to shut them down but it was a really tough performance from Clay.

HaHa’s game against the Rams in week 8 was the final nail in the coffin as he was traded to Washington a few days later.

Highest Rated Offensive Players per Snap (Min 100 snaps)

Aaron Jones +0.0262

Davante Adams +0.0161

Aaron Rodgers +0.0136

David Bakhtiari +0.0134

Ty Montgomery +0.0120

Imagine not feeding, Aaron Jones pic.twitter.com/QTTKYi296s — Jake (@SeedsofJake) October 28, 2018

For just about the entirety of the season fans, analysts, players, and just about everyone else you could think of were openly wondering why Aaron Jones wasn’t getting the ball more. Of course, everyone was right as he had the highest grade on the team on a per-snap basis. When he was consistently given an opportunity he made the most of it and was a dynamic playmaker.

It may come as a surprise to see Ty Montgomery on here but he just barely made the cut for 100 snaps. His special team’s issues didn’t play a part in these grades and overall as a running back he was solid. Had he played 500 snaps his grade probably would have averaged out more but his low snap count helped him in this instance.

Highest Rated Defensive Players per Snap (Min 100 snaps)

Kenny Clark +0.0182

Mike Daniels +0.0164

Jaire Alexander +0.0092

Ibraheim Campbell +0.0058

Kyler Fackrell +0.0051

I am going to tread into dangerous water here. If Kyler Fackrell is a useful rotational pass rusher, not only would it not be the first time that it took until year 3 for that to happen at that position but it would also mean he's not a bust. That's a legit pass rush move. pic.twitter.com/uOEmMBCSwd — Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 12, 2018

The player that really stands out here is Ibraheim Campbell. While he also barely met the 100 snap threshold, he was an impressive player in his limited time before getting hurt. Green Bay would be wise to try and bring him back on a cheap deal and have him compete for a spot on defense. He’s a strong special team’s player who could make an impact as a box safety if his playing time this year was any indication.

Lowest Rated Offensive Players per Snap (Min 100 snaps)

Byron Bell -0.0256

Jason Spriggs -0.0196

Justin McCray -0.0144

Lucas Patrick -0.0121

Marcedes Lewis -0.0087

You may have to squint but you will in fact see Jason Spriggs getting absolutely abused. Nice play by Jamaal Williams to get his head turned around. pic.twitter.com/rjZhLN9qE0 — Brandon Carwile (@PackerScribe) December 18, 2018

If you played along the right side of the offensive line and your name wasn’t Bryan Bulaga you made this list. Again, the right guard position was a huge reason why this offense had so many struggles in 2018.

A lot of the talk at the tight end position was about why Marcedes Lewis didn’t get more snaps. The truth is he didn’t deserve them. An argument could be made that a lot of his snaps were plays in which he came in cold, played one or two snaps, and then exited the game again. This is true and maybe with some regular playing time he would have played a bit better, but he was incredibly inconsistent as a blocker and never brought anything to the table as a pass receiver. This was unfortunately another miss by Brian Gutekunst.

Lowest Rated Defensive Players per Snap (Min 100 Snaps)

Nick Perry -0.0253

Reggie Gilbert -0.0146

HaHa Clinton-Dix -0.0130

Clay Matthews -0.0123

Jermaine Whitehead -0.0120

3rd and 6, backed up deep in their own end zone, Pettine brings only 4 but gets Nick Perry matched up 1x1 with a backup tackle. This is a matchup Perry has to win. This is also his season in a nutshell so far; Perry ends up almost at the back of the end zone. He’s out of ideas. pic.twitter.com/Ol1M1agWXE — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) September 26, 2018

HaHa Clinton-Dix and Jermaine Whitehead were already shipped out midseason due to their play and Perry, Clay, and Gilbert could very well be following them this offseason. As mentioned above, safety and edge rusher were the two albatrosses of the defense and new starters will need to be acquired from free agency, the draft, or via trade.

Highest Rated Games – Total Offense

Week 2 – Vikings +10.00

Week 1 – Bears +9.80

Week 4 – Bills +7.65

Green Bay really had a nice day against the Vikings in week two, but the penalty against Clay forced the game to go longer than it should and cost Green Bay a win.

The Bears game in week one was all about one impressive half of magical football. Chicago did their best to help Green Bay out, like dropping the game-sealing interception, but Green Bay made Chicago pay for their mistakes en route to an epic second half comeback.

Highest Rated Games – Total Defense

Week 4 – Bills +6.10

Week 10 – Dolphins +4.60

Week 1 – Bears +1.35

This defense didn’t have a ton to celebrate in 2018 and injuries really set them back, but the week four performance against the Bills was beautiful. They played a near flawless game as they shutout the Bills.

Lowest Rated Games – Total Offense

Week 17 – Lions -5.00

Week 5 – Lions -1.95

Week 12 – Vikings -1.85

Once again, no surprise here, Green Bay couldn’t muster a single point against the lowly Lions in the final week and it was easily the worst offensive performance of the season. Interestingly enough, the Packers two worst graded games on offense were both against the Lions.

Lowest Rated Games – Total Defense

Week 2 – Vikings -8.00

Week 16 – Jets -6.55

Week 3 – Redskins -6.05

Had the Vikings game not gone to overtime on an awful call that game would have graded out much better. It was the Jets game that was really the tough game for the defense as the Jets had a very mediocre offense coming into that week but Green Bay just had no answers. Yes the Packers were beat up but the fact they couldn’t contain the Jets’ offense was concerning.

2018 Total Offensive Grade: +33.70

The grade here probably seems way too high but it’s really important to remember how the grades work. You can have a play where Aaron Jones loses 5 yards on a run and it’s a net positive for the players. Yes the play was a negative, but on the play you could have four offensive lineman, a tight end, and a fullback all grade positively on the play while one offensive lineman missed their block and had a negative grade. The net grade was probably +.1 or +.2 but the play lost 5 yards.

It’s incredible to watch every play all year and see just how many fail because of one player’s mistake. It’s really why the right guard position as such a disaster. If Green Bay could have even received average play from right guard this would have been a totally different offense.

2018 Total Defensive Grade: -24.85

This grade is much more indicative of how the defense played as a whole. Yes there were some promising performances and Green Bay was able to generate a lot of pressure, but these were schemed pressures and not pressures that were won by individual players. Mike Pettine deserves a lot of credit for how he came up with unique pressures and concepts with less than ideal talent.

Most Games Played without a Negative Grade

Mike Daniels – 10

Ibraheim Campbell – 3

Mike Daniels may not have a ton of sacks and tfl’s but by no means is he having a bad year. He’s doing a lot of work up front that tends to go unnoticed. pic.twitter.com/bAOxSJUhrD — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) October 18, 2018

Mike Daniels didn’t have his best season by any means but he didn’t have a single game in which he graded in the negative. He did a lot of the dirty work that kept players like Blake Martinez clean and even though he didn’t get to the quarterback or have as many impact plays he was still a large net positive for Green Bay.

I should note that earlier this week I sent out a tweet that stated Davante Adams went a full two seasons without grading in the negative and, unfortunately, when going through the stats one more time he did in fact have one slight negative grade in week three against the Redskins which is why he’s not on this list.

Most Games Played without a Positive Grade

Byron Bell – 10

Lucas Patrick – 5

Lucas Patrick Run Blocker >>> Lucas Patrick Pass Blocker Although Lucas Patrick was up & down he wasn’t far off from what Lane Taylor has displayed in 2018. At this point the LG position needs a legitimate competition. #Packers pic.twitter.com/p134W8QZAu — Eye In The Sky (@The_Green_Gold) December 15, 2018

A total of 15 games were played between Patrick and Bell and all 15 were graded in the negative. Justin McCray wasn’t much better as he had seven games grade in the negative to just a single positively graded performance.

Most Games with a Positive Grade (Offense)

Davante Adams – 14

David Bakhtiari – 13

Corey Linsley – 12

Jamaal Williams – 12

Aaron Rodgers – 11

Corey Linsley played in every single snap this year and graded positively in 12/16 games. He was a true workhorse in the middle of the line.

David Bakhtiari was on pace to grade every game in the positive until he injured his leg and had trouble anchoring. He really gutted it out as you could tell he wasn’t quite the same post-injury.

Most Games with a Positive Grade (Defense)

Kenny Clark – 12

Mike Daniels – 10

Jaire Alexander – 10

Tramon Williams – 10

Kyler Fackrell – 9

Dean Lowry – 9

#Packers Film Room Recap Mo Wilkerson on the shelf - Dean Lowry snaps get the bump up. Lowry played 42 snaps vs DET - 2nd most he's played as a Packer... Saw some good play at the POA - penetration & handling double teams!https://t.co/JCk0docrqg pic.twitter.com/mLWK3nQP49 — Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) October 10, 2018

There wasn’t a ton of stability this year for Green Bay’s defense but these six players played with the highest level of consistency and could be counted on to put together a good effort on the field.

Most Games with a Negative Grade (Offense)

Jimmy Graham – 12

Byron Bell – 10

Marquez Valdes-Scantling – 8

Lance Kendricks – 8

Marcedes Lewis – 8

You see a decent amount of this from Jimmy Graham. No separation & no effort to get open after the catch. Meanwhile Rodgers shows he still has some of that magic as nobody opens up on this play but he buys time & puts it right on Graham despite his lack of effort—still no catch. pic.twitter.com/HI0plK99JO — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) October 10, 2018

As mentioned above Jimmy Graham never got in a rhythm and while his thumb may have played a part he actually got worse as the season went along. Byron Bell was never good and never got better, while MVS was simply a rookie who needed more time to work on his craft. His flash plays were special and if he can put it all together—look out.

Most Games with a Negative Grade (Defense)

Reggie Gilbert – 14

Clay Matthews – 13

Josh Jackson – 11

Montravius Adams – 10

Kentrell Brice – 9

There’s a lot to take away from this play and I don’t need to go into the errors, what I love is who made the tackle. It’s not Josh Jackson’s finest hour but he gets back up, hustles down field & saves the touchdown. It would’ve been real easy to just give up on the play. pic.twitter.com/dF3dc1JHep — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) October 11, 2018

Not a lot of people talk about Gilbert but after a strong preseason he never materialized as a viable edge rusher. Josh Jackson is the player here that really showed some promise early in the year but then his technique and footwork failed him as the season went on. Jackson wasn’t always put in a position to succeed as playing slot corner at the NFL level was about the worst position for him possible, but he has a lot of work to do in the offseason to be a starting level corner in this league.

2017 + 2018 Top Rated Offensive Players

Davante Adams +35.15

Aaron Rodgers +33.95

David Bakhtiari +31.80

Aaron Jones +18.85

Corey Linsley +18.50

#Packers LT David Bakhtiari (@DBak69) is like poetry in motion on the perimeter... You MUST take advantage of his athleticism/speed and get him in space to hunt up these CBs!

https://t.co/Ejy0aqQgBh pic.twitter.com/7zQ536j0Oc — Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) October 18, 2018

This is the first time I have multiple years of data to go off of so it was fun to see some of the top rated players over the two year period. It was no surprise that these were the five that rose to the top of the leaderboard and, again, it shows just how valuable Davante Adams has been to this team.

2017 + 2018 Top Rated Defensive Players

Kenny Clark +24.05

Mike Daniels +13.15

Jaire Alexander +7.00

Morgan Burnett +4.40

Damarious Randall +4.35

This is a pretty crazy list. First of all the drop-offs from Clark to Daniels and then Daniels to Alexander are huge. Clark has been head and shoulders the best player on defense over the past two seasons. What’s even crazier is that the last three players on the list only had one season each. I understand the issues that Damrious Randall may have been causing, but the trade of Randall for Kizer was one Green Bay has to wish they could have back.

2017 + 2018 Lowest Rated Offensive Players

Justin McCray -21.80

Jason Spriggs -18.80

Byron Bell -13.50

Lance Kendricks -9.35

Jimmy Graham -6.25

If you want to use a fullback... sign a fullback. This is the level of blocking that Kendricks’ has provided out of the backfield all season long. pic.twitter.com/5rY9M5vnCX — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 7, 2018

Bell and Graham made the list even though they were only on the team for one year a piece, but the two years of dismal performances by McCray and Spriggs really stand out.

2017 + 2018 Lowest Rated Defensive Players

HaHa Clinton-Dix -15.35

Kentrell Brice -11.30

Nick Perry -8.00

Josh Jones -7.15

Reggie Gilbert -7.05

Another rough day at the office for HaHa Clinton-Dix... pic.twitter.com/zupBw6uHS0 — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) December 22, 2017

There were a lot of people who had questioned my grade on HaHa Clinton-Dix both last year and the first half of this year. So much so that I started to question it myself. So during the bye week this year I went out and performed a full breakdown of HaHa Clinton-Dix and once again I believed my grades to be true. Sure enough Clinton-Dix was traded one week later and then went on to play poorly in Washington.

The truth is I wish it would have turned out different, I wish he would have found a way to turn things around when Pettine came to town like I thought he had a chance of doing. It just never worked out and Green Bay was wise to move on.

Most Improved 2017 to 2018

Bryan Bulaga +9.10

Kyler Fackrell +8.35

Justin McCray +8.00

Jason Spriggs +7.40

Lance Kendricks +6.45

Have yourself a day, Kyler Fackrell 3 sacks / 4 tackles / 1 pass deflection

pic.twitter.com/UxukeGibKc — IKE Packers (@IKE_Packers) September 30, 2018

McCray, Spriggs, and Kendricks are mostly on this list because their 2017 season was so bad, but the interesting name on this list was Bryan Bulaga. The talk of his decline are greatly exaggerated, and in fact his last couple games this season were really good and he actually graded out the highest player on offense in week 17 for me. He actually had a negative grade in limited time in 2017 and easily outperformed that in 2018. Green Bay can’t count on him to stay healthy, which is an issue, but at $8 million next year if they can get 12 games of Bryan Bulaga, that’s well worth the price in today’s tackle market.

Largest Regression 2017 to 2018

Clay Matthews -14.80

Nick Perry -7.30

Randall Cobb -6.55

Aaron Rodgers -6.45

Lane Taylor -4.90

Brutal cut up of some 2018 Rodgers throws in @BenFennell_NFL's (as-always) excellent weekly film breakdown:https://t.co/YtJGZ0JT6X pic.twitter.com/GFhwbcsxH3 — Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) December 5, 2018

The hope for Rodgers is that the reason for the decline was due to injury and that he’ll be able to bounce back with a healthy knee and a new scheme. Meanwhile the writing is on the wall for Clay, Perry, and Cobb. Clay and Cobb are free agents while Perry should become a cap casualty. These regressions go a long way in explaining the decline of the 2018 Packers.

2018 Draft Class

Jaire Alexander +7.00

Josh Jackson -4.90

Oren Burks -1.10

J’Mon Moore -1.95

Cole Madison – N/A

JK Scott – N/A

Marquez Valdes-Scantling -1.90

Equanimeous St. Brown -1.00

James Looney -0.55

Hunter Bradley – N/A

Kendall Donnerson – N/A

Total: -4.40

Jaire Alexander for DROY

pic.twitter.com/1n8ccoo7G0 — IKE Packers (@IKE_Packers) November 26, 2018

Brian Gutekunst hit a home run with his first round pick Jaire Alexander and the fact he was able to gain another 1st round pick in the process is truly impressive. After the first round, however, things are fairly sketchy. The upside that EQ & MVS showed was enough to pay off those two picks, but there are serious questions about everyone else on the list. Josh Jackson has a lot of work to do before he’s ready to be a full-time NFL corner, and Oren Burks and J’Mon Moore never found any footing this season.

We’ve learned from players like Davante Adams and Kyler Fackrell not to judge too quickly, but this draft class needs to show improvement to pay off the investments that Brian Gutekunst made in this years’ draft.

2018 Free Agent Class

Muhammad Wilkerson +0.30

Bashaud Breeland +0.25

Tramon Williams +1.25

Jake Kumerow -0.25

Jimmy Graham -6.25

Marcedes Lewis -1.65

Byron Bell -13.50

Total: -19.85

We’re happy to have ya, Bashaud Breeland

pic.twitter.com/rTz59qXPOC — IKE Packers (@IKE_Packers) November 11, 2018

For the second year in a row, Green Bay’s free agent crop has been a pretty major disappointment. Technically Jake Kumerow and Bashaud Breeland weren’t part of the free agent class but they were worth noting either way. Wilkerson wasn’t bad but he didn’t live up to his billing even when healthy, while Graham, Lewis, and Bell struggled consistently throughout the course of the year.

The lone player who played up to expectation was Tramon Williams who was supposed to come in and fill in as a stop-gap in the defensive backfield and did just that, grading out positively as a hybrid corner/safety and helping out wherever he was needed.

2019 Unrestricted Free Agents:

Clay Matthews -9.30

Randall Cobb -0.20

Muhammad Wilkerson +0.30

Marcedes Lewis -1.65

Lance Kendricks -1.45

Byron Bell -13.50

Davon House -2.20

Bashaud Breeland +0.25

Eddie Pleasant -3.65

Ibraheim Campbell +0.65

Jake Ryan – N/A

Dan Vitale +0.00

Total: -30.75

I found this interesting, before the bomb to Diggs, I believe Minnesota recognized how Green Bay was playing with House on Diggs and Brice biting up in the middle of the field. This was the play right before the bomb to Diggs and then the Diggs catch back to back. Check it out. pic.twitter.com/LDPVbxd1wI — Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) September 21, 2018

This one should be simple, re-sign Ibraheim Campbell to a small deal to compete in camp and let the rest walk. I know there is a lot of nostalgia with Clay and Cobb but we saw the decline from 2017 to 2018 loud and clear. I know some people think that Clay could fit as an inside linebacker but the truth is it’s time to get younger, faster, and more aggressive. Clay gave this team some great years but he just doesn’t have it at that same level anymore.

Players that I was Higher on than PFF:

Corey Linsley - My grade +10.00 – PFF Grade: 73.7

Jaire Alexander – My grade +7.00 – PFF Grade: 72.4

Mike Daniels – My Grade +6.85 – PFF Grade: 71.2

Lane Taylor – My grade +6.40 – PFF Grade: 64.8

Tony Brown – My grade -0.55 – PFF Grade: 48.8

Lane Taylor continues to be underrated. Check him out spinning back outside to pick up this T-T stunt from 2 3Ts: pic.twitter.com/miNtFCBYzm — Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) September 25, 2018

None of these were super egregious, but there were a handful of players that I had a higher grade on than Pro Football Focus. It’s easy to see that our grading scales are not apples to apples, but a grade of 10+ should roughly be in the high 70’s to low 80’s, a 7+ should be in the mid to high 70’s, Taylor’s 6.4 should be around the high 60’s and Brown should be around a high mid to high 50. Again, nothing was super off here but I was just a little bit higher on these players than PFF was.

Players that PFF was Higher on than Me:

Dean Lowry – My grade +0.85 – PFF Grade: 73.8

Tyler Lancaster – My Grade +0.40 – PFF Grade: 77.6

Blake Martinez – My Grade +0.00 – PFF Grade: 74.8

Jason Spriggs – My Grade -5.70 – PFF Grade: 64.7

HaHa Clinton-Dix – My Grade -5.95 – PFF Grade: 83.5

Justin McCray – My Grade -6.90 – PFF Grade: 64.5

Reggie Gilbert – My Grade -7.10 – PFF Grade: 63.1

Clay Matthews – My Grade -9.30 – PFF Grade: 63.9



#Packers rookie DT Tyler Lancaster (@NUFBFamily alum) putting together another solid game... Consistently stout at POA vs run. Hand placement, pad/eye level, & ability to shed blocks show up again and again. Even disrupted with some quickness Read: https://t.co/bjZTt8nQBJ pic.twitter.com/QZrrKIciuq — Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) December 20, 2018

Once again, there wasn’t a ton that was massively off, save for the HaHa grade which we already discussed. I was definitely lower on Blake Martinez as well but when you consider that there were 61 players who played for the Packers this year, if we disagreed slightly on about 11-12, and more significantly on 1-2, that’s really not too far off at all. And the other 48 players we were pretty much in complete agreement on.

Grading is always going to be in the eye of the beholder but I was pretty surprised to see just how close we were on the vast majority of the grades.

That does it for this years’ grades. Make sure to find the full list of this year’s grades here: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/grading-the-pack-2018-regular-season-totals-547

You can also find the full list of last years’ grades here: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/grading-the-pack-regular-season-totals-454

And lastly you can find last year’s end-of-year review here: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/grading-the-pack-end-of-year-review-519

I cannot thank you enough for all the kind words and comments in the post throughout the year. This is a massive grind and undertaking throughout the season and those positive comments really go a long way. Hopefully next years’ grades will be even better and we will have a few more weeks of playoff grades to put together as well.

Until next year, thanks so much for reading “Grading the Pack” and Go Pack Go!