FOX Sports Wisconsin’s 2020 Green Bay Packers season awards
The 2020 season has come to an end for the Green Bay Packers, and while the conclusion was a tough pill to swallow for Cheesehead nation, Green Bay still had plenty of bright spots emerge.
Here’s our take on some awards for Green Bay’s 2020 season:
Most Valuable Player: Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers is likely headed towards winning his third NFL MVP so it’d be hard to deny him the Packers MVP. Although, to be honest, even if somehow someone else had wins NFL MVP, Rodgers was the clear MVP for Green Bay. For Pete’s sake, he completed 70.7% of his throws for 4,299 yards with 48 touchdowns and just five interceptions — a 121.5 passer rating. Plus he added 149 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. Rodgers was a simple choice here.
Too easy for Rodgers 💪
Via @packers
— FOX Sports Wisconsin (@fswisconsin) December 20, 2020
Least Valuable Player: Jordan Love
Love did nothing wrong! However, he also did not play a single snap during the season, and as first-round picks go that is not very valuable. Love was the first quarterback selected in the first round of the NFL draft to not take a snap in the season he was drafted since Washington’s Jason Campbell in 2005. No. 10 may end up being the Packers’ next franchise QB, but in 2020 he didn’t offer anything.
Offensive Player of the Year: Davante Adams
Adams missed two games and still led the NFL with 18 touchdown receptions while setting career highs in catches (115) and yards per game (98.1). Adams, who finished with 1,374 receiving yards, had a touchdown in 14 of the 17 games he played and recorded 100+ yards in seven games, including four with 140+. He’s in the conversation for the best wide receiver in the league.
RODGERS.
ADAMS.
SIX POINTS.(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/IqXu5WmJfC
— FOX Sports Wisconsin (@fswisconsin) December 13, 2020
Defensive Player of the Year: Jaire Alexander
According to pro-football-reference.com, opponents completed just 51.3% of passes for 375 yards and two touchdowns – a passer rating of 67.4 – with Alexander in coverage. The only cornerback who was thrown at more with a better opponent passer rating was Miami’s Xavien Howard (101 targets, 48.3 rating) and New England’s J.C. Jackson (83, 66.5). However, Howard allowed four touchdowns and Jackson five. Quite simply, Alexander is a lockdown corner.
BACK-TO-BACK
Jaire Alexander. Again.
Via @NFL
— FOX Sports Wisconsin (@fswisconsin) January 24, 2021
Comeback Player: Allen Lazard
The Comeback Player of the Year generally goes to a player who missed most of the previous season with an injury and came back strong. There is no obvious choice for that, so we’ll go with Lazard, who was out for six games during 2020 with a core injury. He returned in Week 11 and caught 20 passes for 197 yards with a touchdown in the remainder of the regular season. Lazard added seven catches for 158 yards in the playoffs, including reeling in a 58-yard dagger touchdown pass in Green Bay’s 32-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
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Most Improved Player: Rashan Gary
Gary was not necessarily bad in 2019, but two sacks probably was not the ideal rookie season for the No. 12 pick in the draft. Well, this year Gary showed why he was drafted so high, recording 34 tackles, five sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed. Even better, he was in the backfield often with 19 pressures. Gary stepped up in the playoffs, too, notching 1.5 sacks against the Rams.
Unsung Hero: Billy Turner
Turner gets the nod here because of his ability to play both tackle spots well on the offensive line. For most of the season he was a solid right tackle and then when David Bahktiari went out for the year, he stepped in at left tackle and played well, for the most part. Turner is not the best player on the Packers offensive line, although some of that is just because Bahktiari, Elgton Jenkins and Corey Linsley were absolutely remarkable, but his versatility makes him the most valuable.
Rookie of the Year: Krys Barnes
Barnes was not drafted by the Packers but he emerged as their best rookie in 2020. Barnes signed with Green Bay after playing college ball at UCLA and quickly stood out as one of the best linebackers on the team. He appeared in 13 regular-season games with 10 starts, recording 80 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble in that span. The dude broke his hand against the Rams in the playoffs but came back and had 10 tackles – seven solo! Barnes played more snaps than any other Packers rookie. Another hidden gem unearthed by Green Bay.
High Moment: 40-14 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 16
There was no higher point in the season for Packers fans than right after Green Bay demolished the Titans in Week 16. The pure dominance of the victory was extremely impressive, with the Packers racing out to a 19-0 lead then adding 21 more points in the second half. Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes and completed 21 of 25 passes, rookie AJ Dillon rushed for 124 yards and two scores while the defense held Titans running back Derrick Henry to under 100 yards and kept him out of the end zone while picking off Ryan Tannehill twice and holding him to 121 passing yards. You could split hairs here and go with the Packers’ 32-18 playoff win over the Los Angeles Rams, but blowing out a division winner to smithereens was just so satisfying.
TD No. 2️⃣ for @ajdillon7 🥳🥳#GoPackGo
Via @NFL
— FOX Sports Wisconsin (@fswisconsin) December 28, 2020
Low Moment: Rodgers throws two interceptions in 38-10 Week 6 loss to Buccaneers
This was the classic “burn the tape” game for the Packers. After racing out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, Rodgers threw a pick-6 and another interception that almost went to the house, which all led to Green Bay surrendering 38 consecutive points to Tampa Bay and dropping to 4-1. Rodgers had his worst game of the season, going 16-of-35 for 160 yards with two interceptions and was also sacked four times. Yes, losing to the Bucs in the NFC championship was deflating but at least that was a close game. This one turned into a no-contest blowout.
Best Transaction: Rick Wagner
As it turned out, the Packers did not need Wagner as a starter, but he became an invaluable backup and capable fill-in starter. He started nine games in the regular season mainly as right tackle when Turner or Jenkins were slotted over to another position on the line. With David Bakhtiari out, Wagner seamlessly took over Turner’s spot at RT against the Bears in Week 17 and in the playoffs, and to no surprise he finished 2020 with a solid 77.0 Pro Football Focus grade.
Worst Transaction: Devin Funchess
Remember when the complaints were Green Bay didn’t draft a wide receiver. Well, the Packers did add one as a free agent – Funchess. However, Funchess decided to opt out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns. From a strictly football perspective, the first year of the Funchess signing did not work out. The good news for the Packers and Funchess is that he will be under the original contract in 2021 because he was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
