Green Bay Packers Week 3 Stock Report
It's time for the latest iteration of the Green Bay Packers weekly stock report.
After the team's triumphant win at home over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night, there are a lot of players trending upward. Green Bay is displaying soundness of both scheme and execution, which is a surprisingly difficult combination to find in the NFL.
It's encouraging that many of the players trending upward this week are on the defensive side of the ball. The Packers have one of the league's best offenses, but it can't continually bail out the defense.
Some players could have performed better against Seattle, landing them on the "falling" side of the report this week, but a win is a win. Let's break down whose stock is rising or falling ahead of Week 3.
Rising: WR Ty Montgomery
1 of 5
Packers rookie wide receiver Ty Montgomery got an unexpected surprise Sunday night against the Seattle Seahawks: When No. 2 wideout Davante Adams went down with an ankle injury, Montgomery was called upon to take his first offensive snaps of the year.
Montgomery's stat line alone wasn't remarkable: four receptions on four targets for 37 yards.
But anyone who actually watched Montgomery's performance in the game saw how well he did with all the myriad aspects of the position. He ran 19 routes, per Pro Football Focus, and displayed multiple skills: blocking, run-after-the-catch ability, quickness, good hands.
Of Montgomery's 37 yards, 27 came after the catch, per Pro Football Focus. Aaron Rodgers had a passer rating of 105.2 when targeting him.
In a veteran move, Montgomery was also able to draw two pass interference penalties on Seattle corner Richard Sherman.
With Adams having returned later in the game, Montgomery may not get as many snaps in the weeks to come. But he's a versatile weapon the Packers can use in the slot and out of the backfield.
Falling: LT David Bakhtiari
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With starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga missing the action against Seattle on Sunday night due to a knee injury, most people were worried about veteran backup Don Barclay taking his place on the offensive line and what that might mean for Aaron Rodgers.
However, it was starting left tackle David Bakhtiari working against Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett that was the true mismatch of the night.
Both of the sacks Rodgers took were credited to Bakhtiari, per Pro Football Focus. The left tackle also allowed six quarterback hurries.
The pressure didn't impede Rodgers' ability to move the offense down the field, but it certainly didn't help, either.
Though Barclay did grade out as the Packers' worst lineman in terms of pass-blocking by Pro Football Focus, Bakhtiari was the second worst. The Kansas City Chiefs defense has the ability to bring some real pressure on Rodgers in Week 3, so hopefully Bakhtiari was just having an off night (still recovering from his preseason knee injury?) against Seattle.
Rising: LB Nick Perry
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Former first-round draft pick linebacker Nick Perry hasn't been what many would call a stout defender in his career with the Packers. Injuries are among the reasons that he hasn't performed to his predraft potential.
The Packers have been so disappointed in Perry's body of work on the field that this offseason they declined to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract, in effect making 2015 a contract year for the linebacker.
On Sunday night against Seattle, however, something clicked for Perry. He was stout against the run, keeping multiple scores off the board for Seattle. He had a huge third-down tackle of Seahawks rusher Marshawn Lynch, whom the Packers limited to just 41 yards on 15 carries, for an average of 2.7 yards per carry and no touchdowns.
Perry was also astute at diagnosing and defending the read option, a skill that has been lacking in recent years for the Packers.
Can Perry keep it up and earn himself a contract extension? Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs will be a good test.
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Falling: CB Casey Hayward
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The move to the perimeter as a starting outside cornerback in Green Bay's base defense didn't go so well for Casey Hayward Sunday night against Seattle.
Hayward played 34 of his 56 total snaps outside and the remainder in the slot, per Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus. But he graded out as the team's second-worst player on the night in pass coverage.
Hayward had a team-high six missed tackles, triple the amount by any other Packers defender. He continually blew his coverage and allowed a huge gain to Seahawks rusher Fred Jackson.
Not to engage in any conspiracy theories, but rookie cornerback Damarious Randall was the team's third-best defender in pass coverage on the night, playing outside in the dime package. He broke up a deep pass by Russell Wilson and was remarkably consistent.
It wouldn't be a shock to see defensive coordinator Dom Capers experiment with starting Randall on the outside in a game later this season, with Hayward in the slot, where he is arguably the league's best corner.
Rising: LB Jayrone Elliott
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Where does Packers general manager Ted Thompson find these undrafted free agents?
Thompson and his team of scouts did it again with linebacker Jayrone Elliott, who was by far the Packers' biggest playmaker in the win over the Seahawks.
Elliott's skilled one-handed interception of Russell Wilson on a screen pass intended for Marshawn Lynch, which allowed the Packers to extend their lead from seven points to 10 without Seattle getting a chance to answer in between, was good enough.
But then, as the Seahawks raced down the field on their final drive, Elliott punched the ball out of Fred Jackson's hands. The Packers recovered, ending any last hopes Seattle had of staging a comeback.
"It feels pretty good to be on a national stage and show I can compete," Elliott said after the game, per Packers.com. "I'm an undrafted guy, just trying to get my name out there a little bit."
Not only did he do that on Sunday night, but he made a compelling case to get more defensive snaps, in addition to his special teams usage, in the coming weeks.
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