Adrian Amos is rising, Tavon Austin is falling in Packers stock watch

For the first time in nine seasons, the Packers earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl.

In that season, of course, they lost to the Giants in an NFC Divisional playoff game, 37-20, after Aaron Rodgers and other key starters sat in Week 17. This time around, everyone played in a 35-16 win over the Bears on Sunday, and the Packers should be both fresh and healthy entering their matchup against one of four teams (Washington, Buccaneers, Rams or the Bears) in less than two weeks at Lambeau Field.

Just like last season, the Packers lost their 10th game before reeling off six wins to finish the regular season 13-3 with a division crown and a playoff bye.

They’re the odds-on favorite to reach the Super Bowl out of the NFC and second only to the Chiefs in the NFL to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Here are some players (besides the obvious ones like Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams) whose stock is either ascending or dipping as the Packers enter their playoff bye week.

Rising

Adrian Amos, safety: Amos has been playing well of late in the secondary and finally got his second interception of the season against his former teammate Mitchell Trubisky as a fitting gift to end the regular season. Pro Football Focus ranked Amos as the NFL’s second-best safety this season. After registering only three passes defensed in the Packers’ first 12 games, Amos had at least one in and seven total in the final five games.

Rick Wagner, right tackle: Wagner has battled through multiple injuries and benchings this season to become a very sturdy piece for Green Bay’s offensive line. It’s largely because of him that the Packers are in good hands even with David Bakhtiari done for the season. According to PFF, Wagner didn’t allow a quarterback pressure in 52 pass-blocking snaps against the Titans in Week 16 and the Bears in Week 17.

Jaire Alexander, cornerback: Alexander is already a Pro Bowl starter, but he stated one final case for his inclusion as a first-team All-Pro, too. Don’t let the fact he only intercepted one pass this season fool you. Its plays like stripping Bears tight end Cole Kmet right before he hits the ground, tracking and then disrupting a Trubisky deep ball down the right sideline and stonewalling the much bigger Jimmy Graham on the goal line to end the game that make him special. Alexander logged only five passes defensed in Green Bay’s first 11 games but then had nine in the last six games.

Kenny Clark, nose tackle: Clark is the heart of a run defense that Packers coach Matt LaFleur has been “really proud” of for how they reversed their early season misfortunes. After holding Derrick Henry to 98 rushing yards in Week 16, Clark and the Packers stifled one of the hottest running backs in the league in David Montgomery. He ran 22 times for 69 yards (3.1 avg.) after averaging 105.8 rushing yards per game in the five games before Sunday’s matchup.

Christian Kirksey, inside linebacker: Kirksey’s only two sacks came in each of the last two games. He also picked off Ryan Tannehill for his second interception of the season. Kirksey may not be playing as much as earlier in the season – he played only 12 of 55 snaps against the Titans and 35 of 75 snaps against the Bears – but he’s making more of an impact. Maybe that’s the best formula to get the most out of Kirksey while undrafted rookie Krys Barnes handles the brunt of the work at inside linebacker.

Dominique Dafney, fullback: The undrafted rookie out of Indiana State caught his first career touchdown, leveled one of the best kick returners ever and had a key block on Aaron Jones’ 17-yard swing pass-and-run against the Bears on Sunday. Adams called Dafney one of the most versatile players he’s ever been around. Not a bad secret weapon for the Packers to unleash in the playoffs considering he’s an unknown player.

Rashan Gary, outside linebacker: Gary showed this season why the Packers drafted him No. 12 overall in 2019. He played significantly better than Preston Smith this season despite Smith playing more in every game this season. He pressured Tannehill six times in Week 16 and recovered a fumble against the Bears. This season, if anything for Gary, has been a nice audition for his expanded role when the Packers presumably cut Smith for cap space this offseason.

Falling

Tavon Austin, wide receiver: As if the Packers’ special teams couldn’t get any worse, Austin coughed up a punt return that the Bears recovered on Green Bay’s 20-yard line. Luckily for Austin and the Packers, the defense held firm and only allowed a field goal on a short field. The Packers could use kick returner Malik Taylor on punts, too, if they chose to relegate Austin after his fumble.

Jace Sternberger, tight end: His stock isn’t falling because he missed three games with a concussion, rather because Dafney is doing things the Packers would otherwise count on Sternberger to do. Even before his concussion, Sternberger had struggled to emerge as a pass-catching option with Robert Tonyan rightfully dominating the tight end reps in that regard.

Kamal Martin, inside linebacker: Barnes, the undrafted rookie, has played far more and better than Martin, the rookie fifth-round pick. Martin also badly missed a tackle Sunday, and at times this season has seemed to play too fast for himself. As the Packers enter the playoffs, he sits behind Barnes and Kirksey on the inside linebacker depth chart and there won’t be much playing time for him when Mike Pettine gets out of his base defense.

(Photo of Amos: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)