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The 2024-25 season didn't end the way the Green Bay Packers wanted as they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in the Wild Card round.
It's not that losing to the Eagles is a shameful thing in itself. They were 14-3 this season and the No. 2 seed in the NFC, after all. Jalen Hurts is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, Saquon Barkley almost broke the NFL's single-season rushing record, and the Eagles' defense was elite all year.
No, there's no shame in losing to that Eagles team. There was shame in how the Packers looked over the past few weeks of the campaign, though. First, they lost to the Minnesota Vikings on the road, and the final score made it look much closer than it really was. Then, they inexplicably lost to the Chicago Bears at home.
The vibes were terrible as the Packers figuratively limped into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, and they didn't improve in Philly. The Packers basically no-showed, at least offensively, and went down, 22-10.
After the game, second-year tight end Tucker Kraft, a budding star, basically confirmed what we all knew. The vibes felt off for the Packers.
“Well we certainly didn’t win anything; the whole last few games that we played – you could kind of feel what was brewing for us: we just didn’t finish. I wouldn’t necessarily say the season was a failure for, we learned a lot about some of the individuals on our team and how these players can impact the future of this building,” Kraft told the media after the loss to the Eagles.
Kraft went on to say that he's willing to give it all, and he's certainly one of the young and impactful budding stars for this team that will take the Packers into the future. He's not the only one, though. Here's a breakdown of Kraft and two others.
Tucker Kraft has the goods to be a superstar tight end for the Packers
Kraft can do everything you want from a modern-day tight end. He's a big and strong dude at 6-foot-5, 250 who can stay in-line and block, or lead on a counter or pull. With that said, he's also a very good pass-catcher for his age and one of the things that has already made him a fan favorite around Green Bay is his ability to catch the football and make tough runs after the catch.
He's very George Kittle or Travis Kelce-esque, and it's worth noting that head coach Matt LaFleur can Kraft playing that kind of role for the Packers.
“100% and I think that's on us to make sure that we find him and feature him,” LaFleur told the media when asked if Kraft can play a Kittle or Kelce-like role. “He is, when he gets the ball in his hands, you feel him. If there's an area that we've gotta do a better job in, it's featuring the tight end.”
Kraft finished his second NFL season with 50 catches for 707 yards and seven touchdowns, and it's worth remembering he's only 24 years old.
Edgerrin Cooper already looks like a star linebacker for the Packers
In-game announcers were already talking about rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper as a rising star for the Packers by the end of the season and keep in mind, he missed a few games with injury. He also missed some time in the preseason.
What that means is he got far less development time than the average rookie, but by the end of the season he was Green Bay's starting middle linebacker and arguably the Packers' most impressive defensive player not named Xavier McKinney, who was an All-Pro.
Cooper finished the regular season with 57 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble and an interception. He was third on the team with seven tackles in the Wild Card loss to the Eagles.
He's extremely athletic but also very good at reading what's happening in front of him and quickly making a play. The Packers have a rising superstar in their second-round pick out of Texas A&M.
Carrington Valentine looks like he has a future with the Packers
There's not a general manager in the NFL who would be unhappy with the results that Carrington Valentine gave the Packers in 2024. He notched 18 tackles, two forced fumbles, five passes defended, and two interceptions. This is incredible production considering the fact that he was a seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Valentine may not be a superstar in the making like Kraft or Cooper, but he's a nice young piece that the Packers can build around in the secondary — especially with the future of Jaire Alexander with the Packers looking bleak.
If the Packers can find a true lockdown corner to be CB1 this offseason, Valentine could slide in nicely as a playmaking CB2 on the depth chart.
