With preseason games less than four weeks away, the Green Bay Packers have assembled a young roster that has both exciting upside and a solid floor. They don’t have a stable of elite players, but their collection of B-plus talent puts them ahead of teams who can boast one or two stars surrounded by a whole lot of nothing. In Matt LaFleur, the Packers have a head coach hovering around many pundits’ top five, if not included there. Green Bay could be a perfect example of the sum that equals more than its parts. How do they stack up against the rest of the league?
Green Bay Packers roster is largely intact and poised to grow
While plenty of analysts have come around on the Packers, it’s no surprise to see them outside the upper echelon of contenders. In a power rankings exercise with two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Long, ESPN’s Mina Kimes pencils in the top four overall as follows: 1. Eagles 2. Ravens 3. Chiefs 4. Bills. No shockers there.
The fifth pick goes to Washington, followed by the Lions at no. 6 and the Texans at 7. The Packers come in at 8.
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
Certainly one could argue that Long’s choice of Houston in the head-to-head matchup with Green Bay at no. 7 is a bit of an upset. He appears to be higher on them than most. In the next selection, though, he does have the Packers over the rankings sweetheart Bengals, who have the league’s best quarterback-receiver combo in Joe Burrow, Jamarr Chase, and Tee Higgins.
True to their well-rounded construction, the Packers have superior toughness and coaching. Defensively, they’re essentially running back the same unit as last season. DJ Slaton is gone from the line (off to the Bengals, ironically enough) and they’ve swapped Jaire Alexander for Nate Hobbs at cornerback. Free agent Eric Stokes signed with the Raiders. The Packers also drafted edge rusher Barryn Sorrell.
Some shuffling occurred, then, but not much major hoopla except for the release of Alexander.
On the offensive line, they lost Josh Meyers but signed Aaron Banks from the 49ers. Their collection of playmakers remains intact, with the addition of receivers Matthew Golden and Savion Williams in the draft. All in all, It’s a similar group to the one that awed Long at last season’s training camp.
“Just big and physical”
“The Packers blew me away as the only team that seemed as big as the Eagles,” said the former defensive end. Like even remotely close. They’re not. No one is. But I was like, they’re just big and physical when they play their best.”
A comparison to the 2025 champs is nothing to sniff at. The Packers’ youthful physicality motivated their placement above teams like the Bengals or Rams, who have some extremely talented young players, especially on defense, but are older at quarterback and have more questions overall. “I think they’re just more physical,” Long said of the Packers.
In Cincinnati, Burrow is a top four QB, but he doesn’t have a defense behind him – or a good enough head coach.
“I’m going to say it. I think LaFleur is a better head coach,” Long declared.
Since taking over for Mike McCarthy, LaFleur has indeed impressed with his offensive mind and overall success. At the end of the Aaron Rodgers era, he rattled off three straight 13-win seasons. Now he’s piloted this team, among the NFL’s youngest, into a new chapter of franchise history. In 2024, they were a fourth quarter away from reaching the NFC title game. In six years under LaFleur, Green Bay has made the playoffs five times.
There’s no shame being ranked fourth in the NFC behind the Super Bowl winners, their conference title game opponent, and the 15-2 Lions. This season, the up-and-coming Packers will strive to exceed their already high expectations.
