The Green Bays Packers enter a new era of football in northern Wisconsin after the departure of Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Yet in terms of personnel, this team will not look too much different than it did last year. Despite the losses of wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, the Packers return one of the NFL's strongest run games as well as an underrated defense.

With the NFL regular season, just around the corner, here are four bold predictions for the Green Bay Packers in 2023.

Jayden Reed will lead the team in catches

What can the Packers expect from rookie second-round pick Jayden Reed? Reed is a versatile playmaker with great quickness who could easily become one of the top receivers in the Packers offense. Reed is currently the number three wideout, but has a clear path toward a high share of the targets in Green Bay. Christian Watson is a downfield threat rather than an underneath route-runner, and Romeo Doubs (42 catches for 425 yards as a rookie) hardly seems like the solution as the Packers' number two wideout. This leaves the door open for Jayden Reed in his rookie year to be the slot wide receiver in Green Bay.

AJ Dillion's rushing total will decrease for the second year in a row

AJ Dillon has been one of the better number-two running backs in the league over the last two seasons, totaling 1573 yards on the ground while finding the end zone on 12 occasions. Yet the Boston College product has hardly been efficient. During the last two years, Dillon has averaged a somewhat disappointing 4.2 yards/carry, recording 347 fewer rushing yards than Jones while only carrying the ball 11 fewer times. He also has just one 100-yard rushing game in his three seasons in Green Bay — which came all the way back in December 2020.

For being such a powerful back, AJ Dillon does not flourish after contact either. His 1.7 yards after contact per carry in 2022 were fewer than the 2.2 YAC/carry averaged by Jones, and Dillon also had fewer broken tackles as a rusher than his counterpart (six versus 13). AJ Dillon is still a key part of this Packers offense, but he will need to demonstrate more efficiency if he still wants to split carries with Aaron Jones.

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Green Bay will lead the division in the second half of the season

It is not as bold of a pick as winning the division, but the Packers will be in the race to win the NFC North well into the season. Green Bay begins the year with a favorable schedule, facing just one playoff team from 2022 in the first nine weeks of the season. The other main contenders in the division — the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings — both have tough matchups in the first half of the campaign.

The Lions must face the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Seattle Seahawks, as well as a key Thursday night contest against the Packers. Minnesota drew the Chiefs as well as three other playoff teams (and Super Bowl challengers at that) in the first seven games of the year: the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Chargers. Even a .500 start likely puts the Packers at the top of the NFC North entering the middle of November before their schedule gets a little tougher.

Keisan Nixon struggles on kickoff returns

Fourth-year cornerback Keisan Nixon was a revelation on kickoff returns last year. He led the NFL with 1,009 kickoff return yards, his 28.8 yards per kickoff return was the best in franchise history, and he became the first Packers player since Randall Cobb in 2011 to return a kickoff for a touchdown. He earned NFL First-Team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl nomination for his exploits. Nixon also had 100-plus kickoff return yards in four straight games, the first Packers returner to achieve the feat since Steve Odom in 1975.

But achieving long-term success as a returner is difficult in the NFL and has been exceedingly rare for the Packers. In the last 30 years, 11 players have averaged at least 23 yards per kickoff return in a season. Randall Cobb was the only player among those 11 to achieve that benchmark for the Packers the following season. Nixon might still be effective in 2023, but history suggests he will be nowhere near as good as he was in 2022.