The Green Bay Packers opened the preseason with a convincing win over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday noon. Jordan Love’s touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks gave Matt LaFleur’s team an early lead, and the Packers never trailed again in a 23-10 victory.
Although the Packers played starters against the Browns backups early on, Green Bay’s young talent and roster depth looked more impressive than Cleveland’s to start the preseason.
Here are three players trending up and three players trending down coming out of the preseason opener vs. the Browns:
Three up
WR Grant DuBose: The second-year receiver produced five catches, four of which created first downs, including a fourth-down conversion. His toe-dragging catch along the sideline gained 23 yards and set up a field goal in the two-minute drill. DuBose was also a willing blocker, both on the perimeter in the screen game and inside in the run game. In terms of winning a roster spot as the fifth or sixth receiver, DuBose’s arrow is pointed straight up.
DE Lukas Van Ness: The 2023 first-round pick was a wrecking ball early. He cleaned up a pressure from Devonte Wyatt for a sack and also had a pressure off a stunt inside that created a sack for Colby Wooden. Van Ness also had two run stops, including one where he was the conflict defender but crashed down unblocked for the tackle behind the line. On another, Van Ness shed the block of the tight end with ease to help create a negative play. Overall, he looked menacing over 23 snaps — exactly what the Packers were expecting for a player who could take a big second-year leap.
S Evan Williams: The rookie safety produced six tackles, including an impressive open-field tackle of Jerome Ford and a tackle short of the sticks on third down. He also produced the game’s only turnover on a crunching tackle to open the second half.
Three down
WR Bo Melton: The surprise standout at receiver to end 2023 had a rough start to 2024. Melton dropped at least two passes, and a harsh grader would say he dropped three of his four targets. One of the drops was very fortunate not to end in an interception in the red zone. He also fumbled the handoff on a jet sweep. One poor preseason performance isn’t going to kill Melton’s chances of making the roster, especially after what he put on tape to end last season, but he’ll need to rebound next week.
OT Kadeem Telfort: The second-year tackle didn’t help his chances of winning the job as a swing tackle. His 38 snaps at right tackle were mostly disappointing, especially in the run game. Telfort is massive — 6-8 and over 320 pounds — but he appeared to struggle with smaller, quicker edge defenders.
RB A.J. Dillon: The blocking was poor on all four of his carries, and considering he gained seven yards after contact and just two yards total, it could be argued he did all he could as a runner. Still, Dillon had three chances to gain a first down after the Packers got to 2nd-and-1 and failed on all three, resulting in a turnover on downs for his only drive. While rookie MarShawn Lloyd left the game with a hamstring injury, Emanuel Wilson — last year’s rushing champ in the preseason — looked great on his way to 67 rushing yards and a touchdown.
