Wednesday Cheese Curds: Packers young players helping the plan come together

The Packers’ long-term identity still isn’t clear, but some blocks to build around are emerging

One of the most consistent criticisms of this year’s Packers team is the lack of an identity. What do the Packers do well? What’s their defining ethos? Shoot, what’s their favorite play?

Part of the reason we can’t answer those questions is because it’s not super clear what kind of team the Packers are trying to be. Are they a running team? Then why doesn’t Aaron Jones get more touches? Are they a passing team? Then why is their passing attack so anemic and apparently unimaginative?

It gets easier to find those answers when your team is playing well, though, and the Packers have gotten better performances on offense from some of their young players of late. 2023 draft picks Jayden Reed, Luke Musgrave, and Dontayvion Wicks are coming into their own, and the offense has accordingly looked better.

Does that mean there’s a plan here? Does it mean it’s working? Not necessarily, but every plan is contingent on the quality of players you have, and if they’ve found a couple more second-round gems in Reed and Musgrave, whatever plan they hope to have is going to look a lot better.

Suddenly, Brian Gutekunst’s 2023 second-round draft decisions starting to make a lot of sense | Packers News

The premise here is kind of funky (Reed has been the Packers’ most explosive receiver all season and has led in raw yardage for a few weeks now), but it’s worth remembering how perceptions can change over time.

Packers QB Jordan Love posts career-best 5 ‘big-time throws’ vs. Steelers | Packers Wire

PFF’s “big-time throw” metric isn’t the be-all, end-all, but he’s delivering more impressive throws of late.

Herbert, Goff, Mahomes Will Test Improving Packers’ QB Jordan Love | Fan Nation

Head-to-head competition between quarterbacks isn’t really a thing, but we’ll get a direct comparison between Love and a couple of elite throwers over the next month.

Rashan Gary’s impact: Are the Packers getting enough from their $96M pass rusher? | The Athletic ($)

The Packers paid Rashan Gary big bucks for big numbers.

NFL offensive coordinators, from Bill O’Brien to Kellen Moore | ESPN

An overall survey of the NFL’s various playcallers gives us an idea of how Matt LaFleur and Adam Stenavich stack up.

15-year-old breaks his own Jenga stacking records, inspires Hallmark film | UPI

If you’ve got to be known for something, you could do worse than being the guy who was so good at Jenga they made a movie about him.