Packers Stock Report: Week 3

Whose stock went up and whose stock went down following a 37-30 win over the Saints in week three? 

Three games and three wins. The Green Bay Packers are one of if not the hottest team in the NFL through the first few weeks of the season. The offense has been impeccable. From the play calling to players stepping up in big moments, and the immaculate play of Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay’s offense has played superbly. The defense has shown flaws, but when it matters most, they have proven they can rise to the occasion. If they take care of business next week against the Atlanta Falcons—like they should—the Packers will be 4-0 heading into the bye week.

The New Orleans Saints fought hard but had no answer for Rodgers and Green Bay's offense en route to a third straight win in which they scored at least 35 points. The Packers lead the league points per game, yards per play, and are second in total offense. In the end, capitalizing on a Taysom Hill turnover led to the victory.  It was a rare but huge win for the defense.

Even without Davante Adams and Kenny Clark, guys are stepping up, and it just goes to show how deep this team is. In large part, it is why there are new faces on the week three stock report.

Buy

  1. Kingsley Keke

With Clark missing the last two games with a groin injury, Keke has been a guy the team has turned to for snaps on the defensive line. This week the former fifth-round pick out of Texas A&M saw a breakout performance of two sacks, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble. In his second season, Keke is still a rotational player, but if he continues to play like he did in New Orleans, his role will get amplified.

  1. Allen Lazard

No Adams? No problem for Lazard and Rodgers. The two connected on six passes Sunday night for 146 yards, including a 48- and 72-yarder, and a touchdown. It was a career night for Lazard, who has thrived since signing with Green Bay in late 2018. Following an offseason that raised eyebrows after the Packers didn’t draft a wide receiver, Lazard has continued to show why he is their number two guy. If Adams is out against Atlanta, Lazard can expect another heavy dose of targets.

  1. Robert Tonyan

Green Bay’s starting tight end reclaims his spot as a buy on our weekly stock report after catching all five of his targets for a career-high 50 yards on Sunday. He also added a touchdown in back to back weeks, which hasn't been done by a Packers tight end since Jared Cook in 2016. It doesn’t appear anyone will unseat Tonyan as the starter anytime soon. He’s been reliable a blocker and is slowly becoming one of Rodgers' favorite targets.

  1. Matt LaFleur

He’s 16-3 in the regular season, and one of the best coaches in the NFL. There’s no one more deserving of a buy on the stock report than LaFleur. The level he has this Green Bay offense performing at and the rhythm of his play calls are spectacular. During his postgame presser, even Rodgers couldn't help but praise the flow of the offense and the incredible job done by his head coach. This year play-action has been back and better than ever, and this Packers offense led by LaFleur and the weapons at his disposal are a big play waiting to happen.

Sell

  1. Adrian Amos

It’s been a quiet start for Amos entering his second year in Green Bay. The former Chicago Bear announced his presence with authority to start the 2019 season with a game-sealing interception against his former team to begin the season. However, through the first three weeks, he hasn’t shown his normal level of consistency.  The defense has skated by so far, but Amos needs to get back to his old ways soon to bring some stability on the backend.

  1. Tackling

Collectively, Green Bay’s defense isn’t going to enjoy going back to watch this week’s film. The tackling was atrocious as Alvin Kamara diced up the Packers on his way to 197 yards from scrimmage. According to LaFleur, the coaching staff counted a minimum of 13 missed tackles for the game. Five of which came on a 52-yard catch and run by Kamara, who embarrassed a gauntlet of would-be tacklers.

  1. Preston Smith

Similar to Amos, Smith hasn’t looked like the same player from a year ago. In three games, he’s recorded only half of a sack after a career-high of 12.0 sacks in 2019. For some reason, Mike Pettine has asked Smith to drop into coverage noticeably more this season. It’s taken him away from rushing the quarterback, which is easily one of the best facets of his game. It’s difficult to make sense of the role Smith has been in to start the year, and it makes him a sell for the time being.

 

 

Brandon Carwile is a Packers writer who also enjoys watching and breaking down film. Follow him on Twitter @PackerScribe.

5 points
 

Comments (17)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
frankthefork's picture

September 30, 2020 at 12:26 pm

Thanks Brandon. I would add Lowry, Lancaster and Redmond to the sell list for now.
For the buy list add the entire TE and OL groups...this offense is what I have been waiting for; the players are buying it and playing better than expected. Kudos to the coaching staff. GPG!

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dobber's picture

September 30, 2020 at 12:34 pm

"For some reason, Mike Pettine has asked Smith to drop into coverage noticeably more this season."

The reason is that Gary and Z are not well-suited to do it, and someone needs to pick up the off-ball snaps that Fackrell handled a year ago. He needs to be a little more consistent, but can be a valuable piece without rushing the passer on every dropback....

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Coldworld's picture

September 30, 2020 at 02:00 pm

Considering the loss and non replacement of Fackrell and the snaps played, the “for some reason” comment staggers me. It signifies a total lack of understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of three high profile players.

The fact is this is one reason why you don’t want the nickname “LEGO”. Redmond gets thrown in to the worst spots often. Putting a 180 odd pounder on Kamara is asking a lot, especially with two neophyte ILBs. He sticks at it but at some point I quest the wisdom of that strategy.

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Coldworld's picture

September 30, 2020 at 02:02 pm

Duplicate deleted

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Guam's picture

September 30, 2020 at 10:56 pm

Also indicates Carwile does not read the comments sections of articles on CHTV as you and Dobber have repeatedly made the point in previous articles that the Gary for Fackrell swap has moved Preston Smith into a very different role this year. I normally like Carwile's articles but I had the same reaction to "for some reason" that you did.

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CAG123's picture

September 30, 2020 at 07:48 pm

If we had MLB worth a hoot he’d probably be rushing more

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Elijah52's picture

September 30, 2020 at 01:23 pm

Nice post.

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Packer_Fan's picture

September 30, 2020 at 01:25 pm

Sell Redmond. His first missed tackle on Kamara led to a first down after a third and long. That tackle would have stopped a score. Gotta get those three and outs when you can. And then whiffed on th long touchdown run. Take Sullivan. He tackled Kamara for no gain on third and five after taking on a blocker. That's what we need

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Thegravedigger's picture

October 01, 2020 at 12:25 am

Thats why u dont play an ex corner at lb.

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

September 30, 2020 at 01:42 pm

"Tackling"

Clearly the Packers do not practice tackling much. This kind of horrible tackling has ever compelled them to improve on tackling in the past. Will this instance? I hope so, but I doubt it. They don't think tackling is important or they would have worked to improve before.

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WestCoastPackerBacker's picture

September 30, 2020 at 07:56 pm

There is very little chance to practice live tackling in the NFL after the rules set out by the last CBA. And for good reason, they don't do it much. Can you imagine losing another player to injury b/c they were live tackling during practice? They were better the first few weeks; two new ILB, a deep backup safety (or hybrid if that is what Redmond is) weren't pretty. But they can get better without live tackling. They were already better this season. Hoping this is an outlier.

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stockholder's picture

September 30, 2020 at 03:42 pm

I'm buying all three TEs. And Ke Ke. Sell Redmond.

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Leatherhead's picture

September 30, 2020 at 04:24 pm

It’s a long season and we’re going to need contributions from everyone. Different players will have good and bad stretches and I’m not selling anything.

I buy the offense, and Coach Matt. And Aaron Rodgers is the perfect QB for what we want to do on offense, like protecting the ball, scoring points, and grinding the clock. I think we’ll win every game when we score 35+ and don’t have a turnover..

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WestCoastPackerBacker's picture

September 30, 2020 at 08:08 pm

Good point. No need to "sell" when we have no idea what the coaches plans are for these players. We are going to need Redmon, P. Smith and every guy on the squad. Long season. Lots of time for improvement. McCarthy's team got better as the season went on; that's one thing that I came to rely on with his teams. Hoping it's the same in year two under MLF.

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Since'61's picture

September 30, 2020 at 10:41 pm

Time to buy Sternberger. Thanks, Since ‘61

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nehasharma's picture

September 30, 2020 at 11:27 pm

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Packers0808's picture

October 01, 2020 at 08:06 am

Mercedes Lewis is one guy I buy, goes about has work quietly and almost ghost like, but sure the heck gets the job done! Love this kind of dude!

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