GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Packers' 11-man rookie draft class has had an uneven start to the 2024 season, with a handful of early picks battling injuries to various extents. Six games into their first year, here's a progress report on each of the 11 players.
The No. 25 pick in this year's draft appeared on pace to start at right guard during training camp until a shoulder injury sidelined him from 11-on-11 work for a couple of weeks. Sean Rhyan played well enough in Morgan's absence to earn a split of the snaps at right guard in the first two regular-season games, but Morgan reinjured the same shoulder against the Colts in Week 2 and missed another three games. Despite the extended absence, Morgan played 38 offensive snaps last Sunday against the Cardinals in his first game back to Rhyan's 40. However, both head coach Matt LaFleur and offensive line coach Luke Butkus said Morgan looked like someone who hadn't played in a while.
"There were some good things," LaFleur said. "I think there's a lot he needs to clean up. He looks like a guy who hasn't played football for a while. That's just part of it. He's a young player. He's only going to get better, so I think it's still important to get him in there, but yeah, there's certainly some room for improvement."
Cooper battled a hip injury for a while in camp that stunted his development, but we're seeing why the Packers took him with their first of two second-round picks in April. He played 14 percent and 13 percent of the defensive snaps in the first two weeks, respectively, but Cooper's snap-count percentages in the last four games have gone like this: 33, 31, 38 and 66. Green Bay's win over Arizona last Sunday was the first time this season that Cooper played more than linebacker Isaiah McDuffie.
"He's starting to understand what he's doing," defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. "He's practicing more, he's stayed healthy, he's practicing better and he's proving to us and his teammates that he knows what he's doing and he can execute at a high level. The more he does that and the better he plays, the more he'll play. He's another guy, when you watch his skill set, I think there's places where we can put him that are a little bit different, too, because I think he has a unique skill set and there's some things that he can do on different downs and distances that I think he gives us a pretty good chance to have success."
Bullard doesn't have the splash plays that safeties Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams do, but he's played the fourth-most defensive snaps on the team. The second-rounder from Georgia has played both deep safety and nickel after Hafley said he wanted to get Bullard closer to the ball to make plays. Bullard doesn't have an interception or forced fumble and only one pass defensed and one tackle for loss, but the Packers view him as a sturdy piece on the back end of their improved defense.
"He's versatile," Hafley said. "He's really good around the football. He can play the run well. He's got good coverage skills. He can play in deep zones. He can play man. I just think it's his versatility that allows us to do so much. I still think, in all fairness to him, we kind of shifted him around a little bit, which is hard for a rookie. Like really hard, harder than anyone has any idea. He's playing two entirely different positions and he hasn't practiced that one as much as he's practiced being further back as a true safety. So you gotta give him a lot of credit for being able to transition. I don't know how many rookies could do that."
The burst Lloyd showed in camp after recovering from an offseason hip injury made it seem like he'd be the No. 2 running back behind Josh Jacobs at some point this season, if not at the start. However, Lloyd injured his hamstring in the preseason opener, which kept him out until Week 2 against the Colts. He ran six times for 15 yards and caught one pass for 3 yards in that game before suffering another injury, this one to his ankle, which landed him on injured reserve. Lloyd became eligible to return to practice Wednesday but didn't practice on either Wednesday or Thursday. LaFleur said he's getting closer to returning and when asked if Lloyd would be back next week, LaFleur said, "We'll see." Even when Lloyd is healthy, there's no reason to take touches away from Emanuel Wilson as Jacobs' backup given what he's shown this season.
"Every time I get frustrated, I have a guy like Josh Jacobs," Lloyd said the day after his most recent injury. "He knows. He's been through it. Every time I say something about it or I'll come up to him and I'll say like, 'Can't catch a break,' and Josh will stop me right in the nick of it and be like, 'It happens.' Like he said yesterday, who cares? Who cares? That's something that I really like that he said to me. 'Who cares? Just do what you can do. Accept the adversity and just get better.'"
Hopper hasn't played a defensive snap yet this season, but the third-rounder has played the fifth-most snaps on special teams. Hopper is tied for the team lead with safety Zayne Anderson in special teams tackles (four), including three against the Cardinals.
"Hop's starting to show up, especially on the kickoff team," special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said. "He's made some plays now. He's been taken care of a little bit because other guys have shown up earlier and started to get doubled and he's been singled a little bit and made three really good plays last week. He was our player of the week last week and he's really playing well on punt return. He had a good block on (Keisean Nixon's) punt return last week, which usually doesn't get seen, so he's on the come (up). He's practicing really well. He's playing really well for us in games. Hopefully just keeps improving."
Who would've thought the Packers' most impressive rookie through six weeks would be the sixth guy they drafted? Williams' snap-count percentages on defense have fluctuated -- he's fourth in special teams snaps -- and he played every defensive snap in Week 5 against the Rams before reverting back to two-thirds of them against the Cardinals upon cornerback Jaire Alexander's return. Williams had the game-ending pass breakup against the Rams two weeks ago and last Sunday, he forced a fumble that the Packers recovered and stuffed quarterback Kyler Murray on a third-and-1 keeper to force a punt. Alexander has compared Williams to former Packers safety Micah Hyde multiple times because of how often he's around the ball making plays.
"He's a very intelligent player, he's a very intelligent person," Hafley said. "I think one of the biggest things he's done to put himself in the situation that he's in now and having a bigger role is he's starting to learn how to study the game more and he's starting to understand how serious you need to take it."
"I think his ability to stay consistent throughout what he's doing and how he's preparing himself, being so young and obviously being a rookie," McKinney said of Williams. "It hasn't been perfect for him, but knowing that, he's still like, 'Alright, let me figure out how I can do this better.' That's what's really impressed me and I expect him to keep being him."
Monk hasn't played an offensive snap, but he's been active every game and played 30 snaps on special teams this season.
Oladapo has been inactive for four games this season and played nine combined special teams snaps in Weeks 1 and 5.
Glover made the initial 53-man roster and has stayed on it, but he hasn't been active for a game yet this season.
The Packers released Pratt on cutdown day and he signed with the Buccaneers' practice squad, which he's still on.
King has been on the Packers' practice squad all season after they released him on cutdown day.