The return of football also marks the return of one of the best series we have here at Pride of Detroit: 5 Questions. It’s an opportunity to get the perspective from the opponent’s side of the field, and we have some great contributors lined up for this year.
To kick things off in 2025, we turned to Justis Mosqueda, the Community Producer at Acme Packing Company of SB Nation. He gave us some insight into how much the newly acquired Micah Parsons could play in his Packers debut, where the members of Green Bay’s secondary will line up, and which under-the-radar player could make an impact this upcoming Sunday.
1. Micah Parsons joins the Packers just in time to kickoff the regular season, but how much, when, and where do you expect him to play in Week 1 against the Lions? How much will the team miss the contributions of Kenny Clark, and who do you expect to take over his workload in the immediate–or do you see it being a mix of different guys?
“I am very much not a doctor, but from what I’ve read via doctors about the back injury that Micah Parsons reportedly has, this should be more of a pain issue than something that causes instability if he plays on it this week. Khalil Mack was able to play about 70 percent of the snaps in an eight-day turnaround back in 2018, so I don’t think it’s that crazy if Parsons does it on a 10-day turnaround.
“As far as nose tackle goes, it will be Colby Wooden replacing Kenny Clark as the starter. Wooden was listed at 273 pounds at the 2023 combine, but he’s up to 300 right now. Behind Wooden should be Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse, two rookies from Georgia who made the 53.”
2. Jordan Love is set to enter his third season as the team’s full-time starter, and the praise remains high for whom many have already anointed as the next great signal-caller in Green Bay’s illustrious history.
What’s the next level for Love to reach this season, and how is he going to get there? Sounds strange to say this after the team drafted a wide receiver in the first round, but does he have enough help at wideout right now with Christian Watson on PUP and Jayden Reed’s Jones fracture?
“I don’t think the Packers are ever going to be a pass-first team as long as LaFleur is leading the team, so I think they’ll be alright at the receiver position. They’ll use some combination of Romeo Doubs, Matthew Golden and Dontayvion Wicks in a rotation at outside receiver and Jayden Reed (or Golden) in the slot. Honestly, the biggest thing Love needs to work on is his consistency. He loves to go big-game hunting, which leads to him throwing out of bad platforms. He’s a lot more Brett than Aaron lol.”
3. Josh Jacobs feels like the most important, most essential running back to Green Bay’s success on offense since I don’t know – Ahman Green in the early 2000s? Rushing for 1,329 yards in his first season doesn’t sound so impressive until you see 1,039 of those yards came after contact.
Do you see the Packers being better up front to make life easier for Jacobs in Year 2?
“Yeah, one of the fun things last year was the debates between people who did or didn’t include Josh Jacobs along with big free agent additions like Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry. The blocking game wasn’t as good as you’d think it was in Green Bay last year, which is one reason why they went out of their way to replace Josh Myers (after moving Elgton Jenkins to center) with free-agent signing Aaron Banks. Green Bay’s a lot bigger up front than they used to be when they were just drafting undersized tackles on Day 3 and hoped they just contributed as pass protectors. Hopefully, it doesn’t all have to fall on Jacobs’ shoulders this year.”
4. From the outside looking in, most of the names in the cornerback room seem familiar, but the addition of Nate Hobbs (four years, $48 million deal in free agency) will surely shake up how the group is deployed. How do the pieces fit, where’s your confidence in this group, and how does the addition of Parsons influence that feeling
“Well, Hobbs just started practicing this week for the first time since July, when he dropped out of practice due to a knee injury and had to have meniscus surgery. They sort of worked two lineups before then: They had one nickel set where Hobbs kicked inside from outside cornerback and Carrington Valentine was brought off the bench to play outside cornerback.
“Then there was one where Hobbs remained at outside cornerback and Javon Bullard came off the bench to play the slot. Keisean Nixon should start at cornerback with Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams at safety in every look, but the expectation is that Hobbs will be an outside cornerback, at minimum, in base 4-3 looks.
“That’s sort of where it stands today. I’m pretty confident, because Nixon looked a lot better at outside cornerback than in the slot last year, and Valentine played well last year, too, even though the team continued to try to make Eric Stokes happen (spoiler: He’s bad.) My biggest worry, honestly, is Bullard’s coverage ability if they give him the slot job this year. Hopefully, Parsons can just kick the secondary up to the next level.”
5. Who’s a player from Packers’ camp this summer that you feel has flown under the radar and could make a statement in Week 1’s matchup with Detroit?
“Matthew Golden had a good camp, but I don’t think he’s really sneaking up on anyone. Colby Wooden took a step, which I think was the only reason why the Packers were comfortable from moving off of Kenny Clark, who was probably going to be cap casualty in 2026. Jordan Morgan looked really good in the preseason and should rotate in at left tackle and/or right guard during Week 1. Bo Melton looks the part of an NFL cornerback, but we’re at least one injury away from him getting snaps on defense right now.
“Maybe the biggest under the radar guy who will actually get burn in this game is Lukas Van Ness, who looked a lot better now that he’s not dealing with a broken thumb. They’re going to figure out ways to get LVN, Parsons and Rashan Gary on the field together, be it Parsons playing linebacker (even if he’s dropped to the line of scrimmage) or LVN kicking inside.”
