You have spoken and decided on the final squad for our All-2000s team!
Over the last two-plus weeks, you — readers of Acme Packing Company — have helped us determine the best Green Bay Packers of the last 25 years. Our All-Quarter Century Team project has been a lot of fun, and we’ve been surprised by at least a few of the results.
Together, we have consolidated a team consisting of 31 positions plus a head coach. In total, you selected 29 players for the squad, with two individuals earning the nod at multiple positions. It’s not crazy to say that this lineup would match up to any other team’s squad from the last two-and-a-half decades, and the offense in particular would be nearly unstoppable.
So, on the morning that the Packers hold their first public practice of training camp for the 2025 season, let’s look at the team of the last 25 years.
OFFENSE
Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers
Running Backs: Ahman Green, Aaron Jones (flex), William Henderson
Wide Receivers: Davante Adams, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver
Tight End: Jermichael Finley
Offensive Line: David Bakhtiari, Josh Sitton, Corey Linsley, Josh Sitton, Mark Tauscher
What an offense this would be. Of course we start with a 4-time NFL MVP, who still holds the NFL career records for passer rating, adjusted yards per attempt, and interception rate. We already saw what Rodgers did with a young and healthy Nelson and Finley in 2011, and adding peak Davante Adams (probably circa 2020/2021) into the group along with turning the clock back on Driver would be a truly incredible receiving unit. Oh, and let’s add a pair of dynamic running backs who would provide this team with a fantastic 1-2 punch that would provide a level of balance to the offense that the 2011 running game never did (all apologies to Ryan Grant and James Starks).
Although you don’t have a hugely physical, road-grading offensive line that would destroy opponents in the run game with their power, Green and Jones should be able to find plenty of holes, particularly using more of a zone running scheme. And good luck getting near Rodgers, who would have all the time in the world to sit in the pocket and pick apart defenses. Sitton’s inclusion at two positions on this team shows how dominant he was both before and after flipping guard positions, while this team gets one of the two or three best pass-blocking left tackles of this century across the entire NFL to keep Rodgers’ blind side protected.
DEFENSE
Edge Rushers: Clay Matthews, Aaron Kampman, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (front 7 flex)
Defensive Tackles: Kenny Clark, B.J. Raji
Linebackers: Nick Barnett, A.J. Hawk
Cornerbacks: Charles Woodson, Al Harris, Tramon Williams (DB flex), Micah Hyde (slot)
Safeties: Nick Collins, Morgan Burnett
Defensively, this Packers squad looks a lot like the group that took the field in 2009 when he team ranked 2nd in yards allowed and 7th in points given up. That year was Woodson’s Defensive Player of the Year season, while Matthews and Raji were in their rookie years.
Assuming that a nickel personnel grouping is the primary lineup, you could have your choice of slot corner between Woodson, Williams, or Hyde depending on the matchups, with either of the first two outside opposite Harris. Then there’s a safety tandem that the Packers only ever saw for a few games in 2010 and 2011, as Burnett missed most of his rookie season before Collins was injured early in 2011. That group is going to intercept a hilarious number of passes — Woodson had 38 in 100 games as a Packer, Collins had 21 in 95 games, and Williams got 30 in 159 contests
Godspeed to opposing quarterbacks. Matthews and Kampman bring the rush from the outside on base downs, Clark and Raji were both pocket-collapsing interior linemen, and you have one of the NFL’s best pure speed rushers coming off the bench as a situational pass-rusher. You also can’t forget about the blitz potential from the linebacker group, as Barnett and Hawk combined for 34.5 sacks in 17 total seasons with the team.
While the linebacker group is perhaps the most questionable layer of this defense, the exceptional talent level around Barnett and Hawk should help get the most out of them, as that 2009 unit showed.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker: Mason Crosby
Punter: Tim Masthay
Long Snapper: Brett Goode
Kick Returner: Keisean Nixon
Punt Returner: Micah Hyde
Green Bay’s special teams have been an issue for some time and Crosby had his own issues with inconsistency, but he was always clutch in the postseason. The kicking trio is the same group that helped deliver the Packers a win in Super Bowl XLV.
As for returns, there’s dynamic ability here, especially if we look at rules from before the NFL’s current kickoff scheme. Hyde was a true weapon on punt returns, while Nixon deservedly got two All-Pros as a kick returner. Imagine what he might have done under pre-2010 rules (the wedge was banned prior to that season).
HEAD COACH
Mike McCarthy
Yeah, we all know how McCarthy’s tenure in Green Bay ended, but the truth of the matter is that he had a fantastic run as the Packers’ head coach. The team won its only Super Bowl of the century (so far) with him at the helm, and the team made four NFC Championship Game appearances and 9 playoff appearances overall in his roughly 13 seasons.
Once, McCarthy was a cutting-edge offensive mind and playcaller. While some schematic changes may have passed him by late in his Packers tenure, his scheme and quarterback tutelage was a huge reason for Rodgers’ early-career success and for the Packers finishing in the top ten in scoring for a whopping 8 consecutive seasons (2007-2014).