Three of the Packers’ final four games are on the road, starting with a Week 14 visit to Cleveland, then a road game at Carolina, the home finale against Minnesota on the Saturday night before Christmas, and finally, another New Year’s Eve showdown with Detroit. 

 

For the final piece in this series, we take a look at how those fourth-quarter opponents changed since last season. 

 

Cleveland’s Moneyball-esque approach to team building may finally begin to affect the win/loss column after another offseason stockpiling hordes of young players. This year’s draft had a lot more shine than in 2016, when Cleveland led the NFL in draft picks, with 14. The big addition is the No. 1 overall pick, consensus best player Myles Garrett. 

 


The last time Cleveland took a pass rusher with the first pick, the athletic profile looked like this: 6-5, 271 pounds, 4.52 second forty-yard dash, 37” vertical and 26 reps on the bench. Pretty damn impressive. That player’s name was Courtney Brown. Injuries and inconsistency led to an underwhelming six-year career for the former All-American Nittany Lion. Garrett, by comparison, is 6-4, 272 pounds, ran a 4.64-second forty-yard dash, and posted a vertical of 41” to go with 33 bench press reps. What’s more, the tape shows a quick twitch, explosive ability and an assortment of pass rush moves. Cleveland needs to get more out of him than what they got from Brown, but there's no questioning this pick. Garrett could be a monster.

 

Having fleeced the Texans already for eating Brock Osweiler’s contract in exchange for a second-round pick, Cleveland picked up Houston’s first-round pick in 2018 by moving back nine spots. Houston went on to select their franchise quarterback, Deshaun Watson. Cleveland used the 15th pick on Michigan Swiss Army Knife Jabrill Peppers. Cleveland still wasn’t done dealing. Finding a trading partner in Green Bay, the Browns traded up into the first round at pick 29 to select the freakishly athletic David Njoku. The 20-year-old Hurricane has tremendous upside. 

 

The Browns also nabbed Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer, whose frame and big arm look the NFL part, though he’ll need to improve his decision-making and accuracy.

 

Other rookie defensive additions include three-technique defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi (Charlotte) and long, ball-hawking cornerback Howard Wilson (Houston). The sixth-round selection of Florida’s Caleb Brantley raised some eyebrows. Brantley was regarded as a day one/early day two talent but slid after an alleged incident of misdemeanor battery. 

 

In free agency, the Browns welcomed a pair of upgrades to their interior offensive line: guard Kevin Zeitler and former Packers swing man/center, J.C. Tretter. The loss of Terrelle Pryor is somewhat offset by the welcoming of Kenny Britt. Tight end Gary Barnidge is also gone. 

 

 

From Super Bowl runner-up to out of the playoffs, 2016 was a rough year for the Panthers. Much of this regression surrounded the team’s premier player, Cam Newton. The 2015 NFL MVP was a battered, inconsistent version of himself. Newton missed two games to injury, but that gap isn’t enough to account for his 35 passing TDs in 2015 to dwindle to 19. Newton also had career lows in rushing attempts, yards and yards per attempt, and for the first time in his career led zero fourth-quarter comebacks. 

 

In a clear attempt to re-stock Newton’s cupboard, the Panthers used their first three picks to lend some help to their franchise QB. First came do-it-all Christian McCaffrey, who gives Carolina a big-play presence and unrivaled flexibility as to where he can line up. If he doesn’t catch at least 50 passes this season—whether out of the backfield or lined up in the slot—then assume there was an injury or that the Panthers weren’t doing it right. Second-round pick Curtis Samuel helps replace the loss of Ted Ginn Jr. Samuel ran a blistering 4.31-second forty-yard dash and, like McCaffrey, can do a lot after the catch. Guard Taylor Moton, another second-round pick, can man the interior or play right tackle. 

 

On defense, Julius Peppers returns to show that there’s still some gas left in the tank. At the price they got him—a one-year, $3.5 million deal—the Panthers are getting a steal. Peppers had 7.5 sacks last season in Green Bay. Joining Peppers is rookie Daeshon Hall, a converted OLB who flashed natural pass rushing ability at Texas A&M. 

 

The offseason also included a pair of notable front office changes: Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott accepted the head coaching job in Buffalo and was joined—after the draft, strangely—by general manager Brandon Beane, who was the assistant GM in Carolina. 

 

 

For a look at the offseason changes for Minnesota and Detroit, read Part II of this series .