20 Below Lambeau

Why it Matters

With the Packers heading into the playoffs as the number one seed(now the only seed that receives a bye week under the new NFL CBA) in the NFC, it’s important to acknowledge the players that them there. Obviously the easy players to credit for the teams’ success are the high-earners(Rodgers, Smith, Bakhtiari, etc.). However, the guys that really win championships for you are the underpaid, widely underappreciated players. When a front office finds the late round, undrafted players to plug in and perform, that team becomes infinitely better.

10. Marquez Valdes-Scantling

$2,677,553 APY

MVS has been the ultimate heart-breaker this year. Rarely does one find a more consistently inconsistent player. Despite his %11.1 drop rate(usually on wide open passes downfield) MVS has contributed 33 receptions for 690 yards. His favorable contract coupled with his relatively high production is part of the reason the Packers felt confident in not taking any receivers in the 2020 draft.

9. Jamaal Williams

$741,498 APY

Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones have become one of the best 1-2 punches in the whole league. Williams won’t dance around guys the way Jones will but he hits the hole harder than most backs in the whole league. Not only does his 505 rushing yards do enough talking for itself to cement himself as a great number two back, but he provides an energy for the team unparalleled by any other.

8. Darnell Savage

$3,129,422 APY

Savage has really started to come into his own. In 15 games, he’s had 4 picks, 75 combined tackles and a sack on 9 blitzes. He has proven to be a reliable starter in just year 2 with plenty of room to grow.

7. Davante Adams

$14,500,000 APY

No, Adams is far from a cheap player and by far the highest paid player on the list, but when you really think about his production versus his salary, he is one of the most valuable players on the team. As the 15th highest paid receiver in football, Adams produced 1374 yards on 115 catches with 18 touchdowns in 14(!!!) games. Statistically speaking, he has beat any and every other receiver in the league in less games than almost all of the other top guys who are getting paid way more than him.

6. Lucas Patrick

$1,487,500 APY

Patrick signed with the Packers as an UDFA in 2016 and made the practice squad. He was signed to the final roster in 2017 playing in 12 games. In 2019 he signed a contract extension basically to be one of the most reliable 6th lineman in the NFL. With the injury to Lane Taylor, Patrick started 15 games in 2020 and performed just about as consistently as they come in the NFL.

5. Krys Barnes

$695,000 APY

As a rookie UDFA, Barnes has been one of the brightest spots on a defense full of very high draft picks and high-priced free agents. in just 10 starts he has put up 80 combined tackles and outplayed both Christian Kirksey(brought in on $8 million per year) and Kamaal Martin(5th round pick).

4. Elgton Jenkins

$1,691,785 APY

Jenkins is so valuable to the success of the team it is mind-blowing. He has played every single position at one point or another this season, succeeding at all of them. As just a second year player, he has completely adapted to the NFL game and then some. Because of his reliability and mobility, he is due for a massive pay day, but for the time being he is outperforming his his contract like crazy.

3. Robert Tonyan

$660,000 APY

Tonyan has emerged from the shadows of Jimmy Graham to become one of the best tight ends in football. His connection with Rodgers is one of the most efficient QB-TE connections to ever play in Green Bay. Tonyan put up 586 yards on 52 receptions-on 59 targets. Tonyan did not have a single drop all year. He has become yet another one of Green Bay’s UD weapons.

2. Aaron Jones

$650,000

There’s not much to say about Jones that the average fan does not already know. Not only is he one of the shiftiest backs in the league with incredible field vision and patients, he is the exact mold that Matt Lafleur’s zone running scheme requires. You would think in a year where the quarterback throws for 48 touchdowns, the running back would see much less production. In comparison to last years 16 touchdowns, Jones would seem to have taken a step back at just 9, however he ran for 1104 yards which is more than last year. He has turned himself into one of the league’s best backs.

1. Jaire Alexander

$3,012,672 APY

Alexander may not get the interceptions you see other players get around the league, but it’s hard to pick off the ball with only 80 targets in 16 games. Those targets resulted in just 41 completions lining up against the opposition’s number 1 receiver every week. Alexander is undoubtedly one of if not the best corners in the league in just his third year in the league. Although he was not one of the “hidden gems”  like many other guys on the list being drafted in the first round, he is by far the best value in a premier position.

When my mother was a child, one of her family’s favorite traditions was to always get a real Christmas tree. As my Grandma recalls, they would even cut down their own at a local farm. In this particular year, my Grandma and Papa had gotten the tree much earlier than normal. To preserve it, my Grandma had the idea of putting it through a chair they had with wide metal slats and into a bucket of water. 

At the time this idea had seemed just fine being that it was a warm year. But as time went on, the tree and its makeshift setup had not been watched over and as the mild November turned December the temperatures dropped quickly.

This realization came one chilly day when Grandma thought it would be a good idea to see how the tree was doing. While Papa was at work, Grandma walked out to the tree and saw that the tree had been frozen in the water.

Grandma knew Papa wouldn’t be happy so she immediately grabbed all her kettles and started boiling water. She tried to dump the boiled water onto the frozen water but it was not going as planned.

Grandma’s neighbor Mrs. Moterson could see the steam rising high above the fence that separated the two houses. When she approached the fence, she peeked through the tiny slats to find complete chaos. Grandma was running around back and forth time and time again and finally loosened it up.

As the story goes, Mrs. Moterson yelled through the slats, “Lois, What are you doing?!” To which the two could only laugh about for years and family holidays to come. 

The question I was left with was whether or not Papa ever found out about this situation. Grandma had nothing to say except “Oh yeah!!”