I am not too excited about the Packers but not necessarily because I think they will be bad. They just didn't do a whole lot to excite anyone and they were mostly the same level of team the last two seasons. The big acquisition is Golden. He looks good, but he is what he is, and I am not sure expecting him to be the spark plug that puts us at the next tier is fair.
Most of the time, I feel I can peg what the Packers are during preseason. I have usually been able to predict when they won't make the playoffs, what tier they are in, give or take a few games, and barring when they have serious injuries in-season.
This year, I really do not know what to expect. I could see this team missing the playoffs entirely or legitimately contending winning the NFC. I don't know if their defense gets better in year 2; we have seen DCs fade after early results. I don't know if Jordan Love is serviceable or the star he looked like he could be. I don't know if their younger guys develop enough to get pressure with a base defense - what is LVN? Are the Lions dropping off? The Vikings without a vet QB? Just lots of uncertainty. You can make a case for anything from 7-13 wins and defend the argument rationally.