In a poll of 30 Green Bay Packers, quarterback Jordan Love (10) was voted the team’s best leader.
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Mere minutes after the Green Bay Packers lost to the Chicago Bears on Jan. 5, Xavier McKinney and Rashan Gary gave impassioned speeches to their teammates.
They talked how their recent performances fell below the Packers’ standard. They spoke of selflessness and putting pride on the back burner. And they talked of ways to ensure Green Bay could avoid being one-and-done this postseason.
“It was powerful stuff,” said Packers right guard Sean Rhyan, whose team faces Philadelphia in an NFC wild card game Sunday. “They just talked real, and I think they said it really well.
“We have to come in, be real critical of ourselves because it’s a team game. We didn’t put in all this work just to go one and out. Just come in, not get hurt when the coaches call us out for doing bad things because this is our (expletive) job.”
Second-year cornerback Carrington Valentine agreed.
“It was emotional,” Valentine said of Gary and McKinney’s talk. “It’s win or go home now. We’re going into the postseason, and if we lose, we’re out. So we’ve got to get our (expletive) together and go to Philly and get it going. But those guys gave a great speech that hopefully gets us going.”
The fact McKinney and Gary addressed their teammates that day should come as no surprise.
Over the last six weeks, I asked 30 Packers who the top leaders on the team are. Green Bay is the NFL’s youngest team for the second year in a row, and many outsiders have wondered if there are enough leaders on the roster.
The way the Packers viewed it, there are plenty of leaders — and players that lead in a multitude of ways.
Players were asked to rank their top five leaders, with five points awarded for a first place vote, four for second, three for third, and so on. Players were not allowed to vote for themselves.
Eleven players listed a sixth leader on their ballot, and in those instances, I awarded one point for both the fifth- and sixth place votes.
Twelve players received votes, with six players receiving first place votes.
Quarterback Jordan Love finished in first place overall with 117 total points and 12 of the 30 first place votes. McKinney was second with 107 points and also had 12 first place votes.
Running back Josh Jacobs was third with 73 points (one first place vote), while Gary (46 points, 0 first place votes) and left guard Elgton Jenkins (38 points, two first place votes) rounded out the top five.
Long snapper Matt Orzech received two first place votes and finished sixth with 25 points, while Josh Myers had one first place vote and was seventh with 23 points.
“I feel like we have different kinds of leaders,” tight end Tucker Kraft said. “We’ve got servant leaders, we’ve got spiritual leaders and we’ve got sage leaders. We’ve got guys on the team that have age, that have been in situations before. For a young team, I think we have some great leaders.”
Here’s how the voting finished:
1. Jordan Love — 117 points (12 first place votes)
2. Xavier McKinney — 107 (12)
3. Josh Jacobs — 73 (1)
4. Rashan Gary — 46
5. Elgton Jenkins — 38 (2)
6. Matt Orzech — 25 (2)
7. Josh Myers — 23 (1)
8. Kenny Clark — 20
9. Quay Walker — 5
10. Tucker Kraft — 4
11. Christian Watson — 2
12. Isaiah McDuffie — 1
Here’s a look at each player that received votes and what teammates and coaches said about them.
1. JORDAN LOVE, QB
Love, now in his fifth season, became Green Bay’s starting quarterback in 2023 after sitting behind Aaron Rodgers for three years.
• “Jordan’s chill, but also when we’re out on the field, you see that dog in him,” Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “I think that drives us and gives us energy. He does a great job, does all the right things and keeps the guys together.”
• “Jordan’s so humble and super approachable,” Matt Orzech said. “He talks to everybody and makes everybody feel valued and important. That’s huge.”
2. XAVIER MCKINNEY, S
McKinney spent his first four seasons with the New York Giants, then came to Green Bay in free agency in March, 2024.
• “I can’t say enough about what X has done,” cornerback Eric Stokes said. “Coming in as a free agent, he was a leader from Day 1 — and he’s great at it. He’s smart, he keeps us all together, and when he talks people listen.”
• “Everybody’s way of doing things and leading is different,” wideout Romeo Doubs said. “There’s always ways to learn from everybody in this locker room, and I’m a firm believer in that. But I like watching X. He’s a natural leader.”
3. JOSH JACOBS, RB
Like McKinney, Jacobs signed a free agent deal with the Packers last March after spending his first five seasons with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders.
• “Just the way Josh works and the way he comes to work, ready to go every day is impressive,” running back Emanuel Wilson said. “He played at ‘Bama, so he knows the ropes and he knows how to lead. He’s just different. I look up to him.”
• “He’s a coach’s dream,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of Jacobs. “He does it the right way.”
4. RASHAN GARY, DE
Gary, a 2019 first round draft pick, made his first Pro this season.
• “RG is definitely a vocal leader,” rookie safety Evan Williams said. “He’s a guy that gets us pumped up before the game and just always brings the right words that we need to hear before like a Wednesday practice when you’re a little banged up, giving us that motivation.”
• “He’s a motor,” cornerback Carrington Valentine said of Gary. “He gets everybody going. He’s very vocal and he’s passionate about his play.”
5. ELGTON JENKINS, LG
Jenkins, a second round draft pick of Green Bay’s in 2019, is the longest-tenured member of the Packers’ offense.
• “Elgton is just sage,” tight end Tucker Kraft said. “He’s been here longer than a lot of the guys, and when he says something you listen. His voice and his opinion matter a lot.”
6. MATT ORZECH, LS
Orzech offers Bible study for Green Bay’s players, while his wife, Destiny, offers it for Packer wives and girlfriends. The Orzech’s also host a Bible study for couples at their house each week.
• “Matt Orzech is definitely our spiritual leader,” Kraft said. “He’s constantly trying to get guys to maybe understand the deeper meaning to themselves, to help them become better men, as well as becoming a better player and better teammate.”
7. JOSH MYERS, C
Myers received Green Bay’s Ed Block Courage Award, which recognizes NFL players who best exemplify commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Myers lost his father, Brad, to lung cancer in July, 2023.
• “I have so much respect for Josh Myers,” Orzech said. “He’s had such a rough year, but he’s such a fighter and such a competitor. It’s hard not to be a Josh Myers fan.”
• “What better person to get it than Josh,” Jordan Love told the team website. “For him to be able to handle that adversity, and be able to show up here every day and be the pro that he is and still put in the work and not let that affect his work life, has been huge.”
8. KENNY CLARK, DT
Clark, now in his ninth season with Green Bay, is the Packers’ longest tenured player. He was also the Packers’ nominee for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
• “He’s put so much good tape out there, that you’ve got to respect his game,” defensive end Aaron Mosby said. “And when he talks, everybody listens. So he’s more the quiet guy, he don’t really say too much, but a lot of guys follow his actions.
“He don’t really say too much, but what he puts on tape, how he carries himself, I mean, he got the (Packers) Man of the Year award. Just things like that — on the field, off the field — and when he speaks, a lot of people listen.”
• “I can be vocal, but mostly I lead by example,” Clark said. “I can lead in front of the whole team or pull guys aside. But most of the time, I just lead by example, try and do the right thing and try to be somebody they can depend on and somebody who’s always going to be there.”
9. QUAY WALKER, LB
Walker, a 2022 first round draft pick, has led Green Bay in tackles each of his three NFL seasons.
• “I like Quay’s style a lot,” safety Evan Williams said. “He’s another dude that doesn’t talk much. More of a quiet dude, but he reminds us that when things are too (relaxed) or not to the standard we need them to be, he’s one of the first people to come forward and just remind us where we’re planning on going, what our goals are and just what our habits need to look like.”
10. TUCKER KRAFT
Kraft, a rugged second-year player, was named a Pro Bowl alternate.
• “We’ve got a lot of first- and second year guys that have started to step up the more they’ve been playing,” Kenny Clark said. “Tucker’s definitely one of those guys. I think that’s been cool.”
11. CHRISTIAN WATSON, WR
Watson averaged 21.4 yards per reception on his 29 catches before suffering a torn ACL in Week 18. Watson also battled a bevy of injuries in 2022 and 2023, including hamstring issues that he worked through much of last offseason.
• “He’s a guy that worked so hard last offseason to make it back,” second-year wideout Jayden Reed said of Watson. “And when you watch a guy work that hard, it means a lot. He’s a great teammate and a great leader.”
12. ISAIAH MCDUFFIE, LB
McDuffie has finished second on the team in tackles each of the last two years and is one of the most focused, ferocious players in the locker room.
• “He comes from a tough family. His father’s a tough guy, he’s a football guy,” Packers linebackers coach Anthony Campanile said of McDuffie. “He’s got a really strong relationship and a great environment. He came from a home where his father really raised him to be a do-your-job guy, a tough guy. He’s a guy you can count on and … he is what’s right with football.
“It’s still about being tough, doing your job, and he’s going to come every day coming to practice 1,000 miles an hour. You can’t wear that guy out. He’s a very prideful person, he really is a prideful person. He’s a guy like away from football you like to hang around because he’s a guy you can trust and he’s going to do his job and do the right thing all the time. It’s important to him, it’s super important to him.”
