Javon Bullard carries the weight of the Packers' 2024 rookie class

If the 2023 Packers were going to be anything at all, their young players had to be good. This was apparent at the time, and is even more apparent in retrospect. The Packers were carried by their young players in ways we’ve rarely seen and to an extent we’ve rarely seen.

That reality fell especially hard on the 2023 rookie class, and part of the reason expectations were what they were for the 2023 Packers was because nobody — me included, perhaps me especially — expected the Packers’ rookie class to produce like it did. There were just so many guys in such big roles that it seemed hard to see a way that they could all rise to the occasion at once, but they largely did.

But it had to be that way for the Packers to be good. And although I feel certain that was the case for 2023, I feel exactly the opposite for the 2024 rookie class. The Packers’ 2024 rookie class does not need to be good for the 2024 Packers to be good. 

With one exception: Javon Bullard.

As far as the 2024 rookie class goes, Bullard might carry the entirety of the weight of expectations as far as contributions this year go. There’s no other player in this year’s draft class that comes even close to the opportunity that Bullard has.

Jordan Morgan is in the midst of what we might call a crash course apprenticeship. You know the challenge rookies face jumping from college football to the NFL? Well, Morgan gets to do that while learning four NFL positions, and he may not even get starting reps this year.

Edgerrin Cooper? He certainly has a shot at being a contributor this year, but his ceiling right now seems to be “Quay Walker’s sidekick” and that’s about it, however big or small that role may actually end up being.

But Bullard, the third of the Packers’ top three selections this year, is not only a part of the Packers’ completely revamped safety room, he’s one of the key pieces. Between Bullard and Xavier McKinney, you have the Packers’ presumptive starters at safety. And not only that, but Bullard’s skill set is supposed to be what allows McKinney to unlock his full potential under Jeff Hafley.

And not only that, Bullard has a shot to be a key part of the Packers’ secondary in a (pardon the pun) secondary way. Though he played primarily as a traditional safety in 2023, he played more than 500 snaps in the slot for Georgia in 2022. And whatever you think of Keisean Nixon, it’s always good to have redundancy. For all of 2022, the Packers had virtually none behind Nixon, who soaked up virtually every slot snap last year. But that changes with Bullard around. It’s possible that Bullard may be the future at the position as far as Green Bay is concerned, and if Nixon is hurt at any point this season, he might be the present.

I don’t think any other Packers rookie faces that confluence of potential and expectations this year. But if he meets the challenge this year, Bullard could be a huge factor for the 2024 Packers.