Star ratings returns for another season. Those not familiar with it, we look at how the Packers performed this week with five stars being the best and one star being the worst.
Five Stars
Damarious Randall – How can you give a five star to a corner who played a part in letting Blake Bortles throw for 350 yards? Simple. He dominated Allen Robinson, one of the best wide receivers in football last year. Robinson had a couple big fourth down completions, but he really didn’t do much in the grand scheme of the game. Randall played one of his best games according to Pro Football Focus and had a good outing. People weren’t sure his role before the year started and it appears he’s the second outside corner.
Lane Taylor – Remember when people worried about how Malik Jackson, the new Jaguars defensive lineman, would eat Lane Taylor’s lunch? That didn’t happen at all. Taylor held his own the whole game long. He had one or two hiccups, but Taylor did fine with an immense amount of pressure. I’m sure Ted Thompson is grinning somewhere. We’ll see how it goes next week with Minnesota who has one of the best front seven’s in football plus the crowd noise will be much different.
Four Stars
Aaron Rodgers – We saw what Aaron Rodgers could do with a real offense. It’s not just Jordy Nelson. It’s having two targets at tight ends plus a hoard of wide receivers. He finished with nearly 200 yards and two passing touchdowns with one rushing score as well. Rodgers looked very impressive dealing with pressure during the game. I didn’t think the Jaguars had much of a pass rush, but we saw more of 2014 Rodgers versus what we saw last season. He spread the ball to eight different receivers is what you want to see from Rodgers.
Clay Matthews – With the Claymaker heading back to outside, he did pretty well in his debut. He finished with one sack and two TFL’s. Matthews did a great job filling the gaps and slowing down the run as well as with the pass rush. T.J. Yeldon was extremely quiet with only 39 yards on 21 carries. Matthews looked like the leader of the defense out there moving around on the outside. We’ve seen this before with Matthews where he starts quickly to the season therefore this shouldn’t be a surprise.
Three Stars
Jordy Nelson – It’s early, but the returns were good for Nelson in his first game. He had 32 yards on six catches with a touchdown. Nelson didn’t have a big impact, but it definitely helped Rodgers in the red zone. He’s going to continue to ease himself back into the offense. Mike McCarthy claims there is no snap count for Nelson, but it appears there are some limits to what Green Bay wants him to do right now. I wouldn’t expect a big Jordy game until Week 5.
Joe Thomas – Middle linebacker is probably Green Bay’s weakest position. They struggled yesterday as we’ll get to in a second, but I did like what I saw from Joe Thomas in a couple spots. He made a big interception early which sparked the first scoring drive and nearly came up with a second one that would have ended the game. Green Bay needs more that from him.
Two Stars
Jared Cook – Quiet start for him with only one catch. I’m sure the fans will be mad at Rodgers for only looking his way twice. More so than Jordy, Cook needs to be eased into the offense. Remember he missed some time with a foot injury so it could be awhile before he gets up to speed on what Green Bay wants to do with him.
Linebackers and Safeties – Need to see more from the middle of the field. It seems like Green Bay returned to where they give up everything across the middle. That’s not a good thing. Any big-time pass catching running back will eat like crazy. Hopefully, they can clean it up for Week 2.
One Star
Julius Peppers – Did anyone know if he played today? Asking for a friend. Father time might be there for Julius.
Personnel Issues – Bad bad bad. Day one type shit from the Packers. That’s a little concerning going into the thunderdome next Sunday.
Charlie.