James Jones has monumental expectations for the Packers in 2018

-- Everything would need to go right for the Green Bay Packers to have a perfect record by January of next year, but James Jones has a feeling -- unlike Vince Lombardi -- that it's attainable.

The former Packers wide receiver, along with Maurice Jones-Drew, predicted the Packers' 2018 record in an NFL Total Access segment on Tuesday.

"The man is back," Jones said, citing the return of Aaron Rodgers as the primary reason behind the Packers' ascension this coming season.

Jones, drafted by the Packers in the third round of the 2007 draft, played with both the likes of Brett Favre and Rodgers during an eight-year career in Green Bay. 315 of his 360 regular-season receptions with the Packers came on throws from Rodgers.

There may be an obvious sense of bias behind Jones' predictions, but he does have some experience stringing together a copious amount of wins with Rodgers at the helm.

"One time when I played with the Green Bay Packers with 12 under the center, we started off 14-0," Jones said. "They start off right here. Got some new little weapons over there; Jimmy Graham, Marcedes Lewis, found out they got a running game when [Aaron] Rodgers was hurt. Still got that now."

The Packers, however, started their 2011 campaign 13-0 before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in week 15. They had pieced together 19 consecutive wins -- including playoffs -- dating back to the previous season that culminated with a Super Bowl XLV victory.

Jones-Drew's spin-around with the record predictions had the Packers finishing 12-3-1 with a lone tie with the New England Patriots. 

The Packers loaded up on one of their deficient positions in the draft, selecting Louisville cornerback Jaire Alexander with their No. 18 overall selection and Iowa's Josh Jackson at No. 45 -- their first back-to-back pair of cornerbacks since Damarious Randall (No. 30) and Quinten Rollins (No. 62) in 2015.

It was the second draft in a row, though, that the Packers landed back-to-back defensive backs to begin their draft. Last year, they selected Washington cornerback Kevin King (No. 33) and North Carolina State. safety Josh Jones (No. 61), both of which are expected to be major contributors in the secondary in 2018.

They also drafted three receivers in April to help neutralize the void left behind by losing Jordy Nelson in free agency: Missouri's J'Mon Moore (No. 133), South Florida's Marquez Valdes-Scantling (No. 174) and Notre Dame's Equanimeous St. Brown (No. 207).

Some aid from a potent rookie class coincided with second-year jumps from last year's class should definitely help the Packers drastically improve from their 2017 record, but a significant factor in any improvement is going to ride on Rodgers' arm and through the offense -- even with new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.

The Packers will need to pull out all the stops to help fulfill Jones' prediction, but realistically, chasing such perfection should help them catch excellence.

__________________________

Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].

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Comments (22)

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Handsback's picture

July 11, 2018 at 09:34 am

Good for Jones thinking outside of the box....way outside!

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Jonathan Spader's picture

July 11, 2018 at 09:49 am

I'd take James Jones more seriously if he made this prediction while wearing a hoodie.

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J0hn Denver's Gavel's picture

July 11, 2018 at 11:23 am

Best comment of the offseason?

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Bearmeat's picture

July 11, 2018 at 02:31 pm

YES

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hodge555's picture

July 11, 2018 at 09:57 am

I believe this season, like many in the past, will depend on injuries.
It seems inevitable that each team will suffer from player injuries and how well the Packers do will come down to who gets injured and then how the backups play.
Obviously if AR12 gets injured again then we won't be in the playoffs.
Also if we again have a run of injuries at the same position (like CB in 2016 and OT in 2017) then it will be very difficult to do well.
If however our injuries are few and spread out over positions where we have depth then I think we have a very good chance of doing very well indeed.

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cheesehead1's picture

July 11, 2018 at 09:58 am

Looking at our schedule, I would predict more like 11-5. Even that might be difficult to pull off. IMO, it rests with the D. Can Pettine turn it around? I believe he can , but only time will tell.

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TKWorldWide's picture

July 11, 2018 at 11:18 am

You had me at “copious amount of wins”!

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TimBackes's picture

July 11, 2018 at 12:05 pm

I'll have what he's having.

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Rak43's picture

July 11, 2018 at 12:27 pm

The defense will be the key that opens the lock to a division title and playoff trip. The defense has an abundance of physically talented players on all 3 levels, so I expect them to come out and start the season in the top 20 defenses week 1 and move up as the season progresses. Hopefully by seasons end they will find themselves in the top 10.

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TarynsEyes's picture

July 11, 2018 at 12:39 pm

If the Lombardi Trophy can sing to the Packers, this would be the likely song.
https://youtu.be/NyEE0qpfeig

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PatrickGB's picture

July 11, 2018 at 03:05 pm

I am more inclined to go with Drew. But still, that’s nice to think about. I agree that injuries will be the key factor with ARs health the most important one. I would not be surprised by a playoff berth.

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Big Moe's picture

July 11, 2018 at 04:18 pm

I think JJ is saying that the chip is back on 12's shoulder, and that is a wonderful thing for Packer Fans IMO. Will the D be better, of course it will, Dom's D was old news, and had been. 16-0 is a bit much, I lean towards 13-3, going to a good year in Packerland. Go Pack and F... da Bears!

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cheesycowboy's picture

July 11, 2018 at 04:43 pm

Packers 11-5
Vikings 10-6
Lions 9-7
Bears 8-8
A competitive year for the black and blue division.

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Pack88's picture

July 11, 2018 at 06:49 pm

Season Records are a combination of luck- fortune and timing- the 2018-19 schedule has a few pitfalls but with very good health and 12 playing all the games you have to believe that GB doesn't finish worse tha 11-5. I only stress baout playing well in Dec and Jan (and now Feb) so a healthy team after game 11 is most important to me. Rodgers will give GB a chance and maybe the D can seal the deal!

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Gianich's picture

July 11, 2018 at 07:55 pm

Jimmy Mittens!

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

July 11, 2018 at 10:28 pm

James Jones is just trying to get his name out there in the media.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

July 12, 2018 at 02:44 pm

Ah, two folks apparently think that James Jones believes what he said. Here is my response:

It’s that time of the season,
When news runs low,
In this time, we should be more droll,
So let me with fevered fingers troll,

Make fun of all you say (the Promised Land)
Mock, just don’t get banned,
It’s the time of the Season for Trolling

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Oppy's picture

July 12, 2018 at 07:24 pm

I like this look on you, TGR lol

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KnockTheSnotOutOfYou's picture

July 11, 2018 at 10:38 pm

Love the optimism with the Packer record.

Me....have absolutely no idea yet the anticipation is killing me. Lots of positive changes but can things gel and evolve that quickly in 2018, or do we need another year for a lot of young players to mature and evolve? Fingers crossed for 2018!

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LambeauPlain's picture

July 12, 2018 at 02:01 pm

If Aaron can stay on the field, the O will score points.

The key is the D. And Pettine has a penchant for building the D around the big guys up front to stonewall the run and create some pressure while finding ways to confuse and pressure the QB from every other remaining position.

And then the "KILL" strategy...Keep it Learnable and Likable.

I actually think the Lombardi runs through the success of the Packer D.

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Rak43's picture

July 13, 2018 at 04:27 am

Are we there yet...................................................Are we there yet?.............................................are we there yet?.................................................are we there yet?..................................How about now?.........................damn how much longer til camp starts?.................................................................Are we there yet? Sigh!

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PAPackerbacker's picture

July 14, 2018 at 05:37 am

With a better defense than previous years they will be good for 2 more wins for the season. I think they will end up at 13-3 and finish as the top seed in the NFC. But in order for this to happen EVERYONE must stay healthy. If there are key injuries to the top players then the Packers will be fortunate to make the playoffs again. With the addition of Jimmy Graham I see more touchdowns scored in the red zone instead of kicking field goals. But the starters on both sides of the ball must remain healthy throughout the season. The talent is there. It's up to the coaches to develop that talent and keep everyone healthy.

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