Green Bay Packers Week 4 Stock Report

The Green Bay Packers Week 4 stock report comes on the heels of one of the most complete games the Packers have turned out in recent memory. 

The team had a strong showing on both sides of the ball, resulting in rising stocks for players across the board. Green Bay's offense had 448 total yards while limiting the Kansas City Chiefs to 326 total yards. 

And while there were a couple of areas for improvement and a few unfortunately timed injuries, most of the news coming out of Green Bay this week is positive. 

Let's break down five players whose stocks are rising or falling after the Week 3 showing. 

Rising: QB Aaron Rodgers

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

Aaron Rodgers doesn't appear on the weekly stock report very often, and for good reason. The quarterback's consistency is part of what makes him elite. His poor performances are few and far between, and most are very good.

But Rodgers deserves special recognition for what he accomplished Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, despite the average grade he may have received from Pro Football Focus, to much chagrin from the Packers community. 

The signal-caller carved up the Chiefs defense for 333 yards passing and five touchdowns. That's not easy to do against Kansas City; per ESPN Stats & Info, coming into Monday's matchup the Chiefs had boasted the longest NFL streak of not allowing an individual 300-yard passing game. 

Rodgers has only thrown for five or more touchdown passes three times before, in 2011 (five), 2012 (six) and 2014 (six). He also extended his streak without an interception at home to 19 games and 580 passing attempts.

There were also the game-management feats that helped the entire team, such as forcing Kansas City offside with his hard count. One resulting free play earned the team a touchdown. Two more converted 3rd-and-1 situations. 

Rodgers is currently playing at one of the highest levels of his career, if not the highest, which is saying a lot for the elite quarterback. 

Falling: OL Don Barclay

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

Despite the Packers' success on offense in Week 3 against the Chiefs, offensive lineman Don Barclay, in at right tackle for the injured Bryan Bulaga, was still a weak link on Green Bay's line. 

Barclay graded out as the worst overall offensive player on the team in Monday night's game, per Pro Football Focus. He gave up five hurries and was constantly outmatched by Kansas City's Justin Houston in the run game. 

Rushing outside the right tackle, where the Packers attempted most of their rushes, James Starks averaged just 2.6 yards per carry, per Pro Football Focus. 

Barclay also had a 15-yard face-mask penalty in the third quarter while the Packers were already facing 3rd-and-12, but the Chiefs declined it to bring up fourth down. 

Overall, Barclay could have been much worse, but it's hard not to compare what he's doing at right tackle to Bulaga and hope that the former returns soon, especially for the sake of the run game. 

Rising: LB Joe Thomas

Morry Gash/Associated Press

In somewhat of a surprise development, inside linebacker Joe Thomas, whom the Packers re-signed off the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad after placing defensive tackle Josh Boyd on injured reserve, got his first snaps of the season in Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs. 

In what may have been even more surprising, he performed quite well. 

Thomas played 38 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, most often coming on the field in the dime package to allow linebacker Clay Matthews to move outside and rush off the edge. He had two tackles and his first career sack. On 3rd-and-9, Thomas brought down Alex Smith and forced a Chiefs punt. 

"That’s what I came here to do. Get Clay back on the outside where he’s comfortable, where he makes plays," Thomas said after the game, per Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. 

If Thomas can truly be a reliable dime linebacker and allow Matthews to rush off the edge more often, his stock will definitely continue to rise. 

Rising: LB Clay Matthews

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

Speaking of Clay Matthews, the Packers veteran had himself a pretty nice game against the Kansas City Chiefs, as well. 

Matthews continued to dominate inside as if he's always played that position, helping hold Chiefs rusher Jamaal Charles to just 49 yards and getting his first two sacks of the season, both from the inside. 

However, the previously mentioned emergence of Thomas also allowed Matthews to rush off the edge. Per ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky, in fact, Matthews played more than half his snaps outside on Monday night. 

That's good news for Matthews' stock, because as much as the linebacker may be excelling (as is necessary) on the inside, his bread and butter is bringing pressure on quarterbacks off the edge. 

In addition to his two sacks, Matthews also had one hit and six hurries, per Pro Football Focus. 

Falling: TE Andrew Quarless

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

The hits just keep coming for Packers tight end Andrew Quarless, literally and figuratively. 

Once in the running to compete for the starting tight end job this season with Richard Rodgers, now Quarless will miss at least eight weeks after the team placed him on injured reserve with the designation to return, as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday.

That Green Bay used the designation-to-return tag on Quarless clearly indicates it values his contributions and is thinking that if it makes a playoff run, he's a player it would like to have in the mix. But suffering the injury is a huge blow to Quarless' season and less than ideal in a contract year. 

It's yet another issue for both player and team after Quarless' legal troubles this offseason, for which it is unclear if he will receive discipline from the league.