This is the Year We Find Out

2025 will reveal much about Gutekunst, LaFleur and Love

It was just three games. But they were three games that changed everything. Week sixteen of the 2024 NFL season concluded with a Monday night contest between the Green Bay Packers and the injury-riddled New Orleans Saints. The Packers dominated the game, winning 34-0. The victory clinched a playoff berth and ran the team’s record to 11-4. They were red hot, having won nine of their last eleven. Everything was coming together. Announcers were labeling them the proverbial “team no one wants to face in the playoffs.”

But then, something happened. Green Bay would never look the same again. The season ended with two sluggish losses to the Vikings and the lowly Bears, and then a beatdown in the playoffs at Philadelphia. Suddenly, the entire national perception of the Packers changed. Serious and legitimate questions were raised as to whether this team had the leadership and the quarterback to be considered a realistic contender.

This will be the season those questions will be answered. By the time the Packers take their final snap of this campaign, we should know something definitive about three key figures for the Green Bay Packers.

2025 Packers Camp Practice Instant Reactions

CHTV co-founder Aaron Nagler gives some quick thoughts and observations from training camp practice number eleven in Green Bay with notes on Jordan Morgan, Israel Abanikanda, Edgerrin Cooper and more.

Hard to Temper the Matthew Golden Excitement

What’s being reported early in camp about the Packers most recent first round pick, wide receiver Matthew Golden, is extremely encouraging. It’s exactly what you’d hope to see from a player who helped break the more-than-two-decade-long streak of the Packers not drafting a wide receiver in the first round. After years of clamoring for Brian Gutekunst—and Ted Thompson before him—to finally add some firepower to the offense via a round-one wideout, Gutey pulled the trigger on the 21-year-old speedster out of the University of Texas. Each practice, Golden has made headlines with his performance.

The field-stretching capability is the most tantalizing asset of his game, but his ability to win on shorter routes with crisp, clean route-running is also there. We’ve already seen Matt LaFleur dip into his playbook with Golden and bust out the jet sweep. They loved to run that play with Jayden Reed in 2024, and I can see it becoming a big part of the offense this year with Golden. He’s a perfect fit for an offense willing to move him around and deploy him in various formations and alignments. That just screams Matt Lafleur offense to us. All excitement aside, it’s important to remember that he’s still a rookie and will have rookie moments this season. While it might be hard to temper expectations, all rookies experience bumps in the road. Matthew Golden will be no different.

But it sure is hard not to be excited.

Nate Hobbs has "preventative" surgery on injured

Packers cornerback Nate Hobbs reportedly had a clean up procedure on his knee that will keep him out for several weeks. Hobbs, a fifth-year player out of the University of Illinois, was originally selected in the fifth round (No. 167 overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. He played in 51 games with 38 starts in his four seasons with the Raiders, recording 278 tackles (199 solo), three sacks, 14 tackles for a loss, three interceptions, 19 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Rookie Report Card: Training Camp Edition

Would you look at that? With Family Night behind them and plenty of practices already in the books, the Packers are about halfway through training camp. It seems hard to believe that there are only seven more public practices to go. The Packers have put a lot of quality work in already, but there is still work to be done in the remaining three weeks of camp.

For most rookies, training camp can be a roller-coaster. They are stepping into a new environment. The game is faster. Rookies are expected to learn a new system, master a new playbook, and build rapport with 80+ new teammates. Oh, not to mention, they are expected to do all of this while living in a brand new city that they’ve never even heard of before. Bottom line: training camp can be an uncomfortable experience for many first-year players.

The Packers have 23 rookies participating in training camp this summer. Some of these rookies are off to fantastic starts. Others haven’t had the training camp they were hoping for. It goes without saying that a majority of this group won’t be on the roster a month from today, but now that the Packers are about halfway through camp, it’s a good time to check in on how some of the rookies have performed so far.

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Packers Cornerback Battle Producing Positive Early Signs

After the departure of Jaire Alexander, the quality of the cornerback position entered training camp as the biggest question mark on Green Bay’s roster. It’s early, but so far, the signs are good.

Green Bay’s strategy at corner this year seems to be throwing a bunch of mostly young corners into the mix and letting the competition commence, hopefully spitting out a combination that works. Based on the first couple of weeks of practices, the plan looks to be working.

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