Top Ten Best Green Bay Packers Players of the 2023 Season
This was a season filled to the brim with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Going into the season, the Packers were starting a quarterback not named Favre or Rodgers for the first time since 1991. Many eyes were upon him and a multitude of other players on the youngest team to make the playoffs in NFL history. Here, we're looking at the top ten best Green Bay Packers players of the 2023 season.
You could argue that going into the 2023 season, no NFL player was under the microscope more than Jordan Love. The fourth-year quarterback came into the season as the starter following Aaron Rodgers being traded to the Jets. To follow up back-to-back Hall of Fame quarterbacks would be a monumental undertaking.
The first three weeks of the season saw the Packers start 2-1, topped off by a 17-point comeback win over the Saints in Week 3. Love seemed to be stepping up to the plate. However, the month of October would bring about an incredibly rough stretch. Love struggled immensely with both accuracy and turnovers. Finishing the month at 2-5, questions were raised in regards to whether Love really was the guy.
With doubt from much of the fanbase, Love seemed to slowly improve over the next three weeks, going 2-1 over that stretch heading into a Thanksgiving bout with the red-hot Lions. Here, Love's rise became meteoric. He looked like a completely different quarterback than he did just a month ago. He was throwing into the tightest of windows, hitting receivers in stride, and even showing off his scrambling ability. The win in Detroit could be argued to be the turning point of the season for Love.
Following that, he went on an absolute tear. He picked apart the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs, annihilated the Vikings, and beat the Bears to clinch a playoff spot in Week 18. However, he was saving his best performance for last. In the Wild Card at Dallas, Love put together one of the best postseason performances in Packers history, thoroughly dismantling the Cowboys on their home turf. The run did come to an end the next week, but by the season's end, there was no question that Love was the guy. Somehow, we found yet another franchise quarterback.
Spending more time at defensive end, Clark put up a career-high 7.5 sacks and notched his third Pro Bowl nod. Going into his ninth season, Clark is still only 28 years old.
The rookie second-rounder came onto the scene right away as a viable slot receiver to succeed Randall Cobb. He led the team with 793 yards and 8 touchdowns, all while being Jordan Love's top target down the stretch. He was also dynamic in the run game, scoring 2 rushing touchdowns on end-arounds as well.
The shifty Reed looks to have a bright future in this young Green Bay offense.
It was a very bumpy season for Jones. He put up over 120 scrimmage yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 1, then proceeded to miss large chunks of time for most of the season dealing with hamstring issues. Late in the season, however, when he was finally healthy, Jones turned it up.
Including the playoffs, he had five straight 100-yard rushing games, highlighted by a three-touchdown performance against the Cowboys in the playoffs. If this season proved anything, it's that Jones is the heartbeat of this offense. He should be a Packer for life.
The second-year right tackle quietly put together a Pro Bowl-level season. Even in the early part of the season when the line struggled, Tom remained a steady presence.
Gary was extended in October, and it's not hard to see why. He consistently put up high pressure rates and had two games of three sacks, including a two forced fumble performance on Thanksgiving. Gary will be a premier edge rusher in the league for a long time.
One wouldn't usually expect a fifth-round rookie to do much damage in the receiving game, but Wicks did just that. As by far the team's best route runner, he was able to very consistently get open. His playstyle reminded me a lot of Davante Adams. Wicks and Jayden Reed were an extremely dynamic rookie duo.
Playing both slot corner and kick returner, Nixon put together his second straight All-Pro season. While he didn't break off a kick for a touchdown, his biggest play of the season came on a critical interception of Patrick Mahomes. Nixon has shown to be valuable on two sides of the ball.
The second-year linebacker had his role expanded this season and, for the second straight season, led the team in tackles. The highlight of his season was definitely a Week 1 pick-six. Walker still has a lot of untapped potential, and hopefully, new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley can get it out of him.
The first half of the season featured a lot of Doubs. He was the receiver you would throw to one-on-one in the end zone, and he consistently came down with those balls. He did go sort of quiet in the second half of the season, but he put together two major playoff performances to establish himself as a viable option in this offense.