Green Bay Packers Week 5 Stock Report

The Week 5 iteration of the Green Bay Packers' stock report finds the team hitting a high note after starting the season 4-0 for the first time since its 15-1 2011 season with a win over the San Francisco 49ers.

However, it wasn't without its challenges. Though San Francisco's offense has regressed since the last time it faced the Packers and was relatively easy for Green Bay's defense to contain, the 49ers had more than some defensive success against the Packers. 

Green Bay only converted 33 percent of its third-down attempts, and the team was held to its lowest point total of the year with 17. 

Still, the majority of players stepped up to the challenge, and their stock is rising heading into the Week 5 matchup with the St. Louis Rams. Some players didn't perform well and landed in the falling stock category, one player for the second time in as many weeks. 

Let's break down who's trending upward and downward after Week 4. 

Week after week, outside linebacker Nick Perry continues to impress as he works his way toward earning a contract extension prior to becoming a free agent in March 2016. 

Perry had a huge day against San Francisco, and his motto of the night was clearly "double the fun" as he finished with two solo tackles, a team-high two sacks, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. 

On the season, Perry is now tied with Clay Matthews for the second-most sacks on the team, behind only linebacker Julius Peppers. 

Perry was also tied with defensive lineman Mike Daniels for the highest pass-rushing grade on the day by Pro Football Focus. 

Has it really just been injuries all along that have prevented Perry from playing to his true potential? Is he feeling motivated by the fact that the Packers declined the fifth-year option on his contract?

Whatever the reason for the spike in Perry's performance this year, it's been consistent since Week 1, and that's deserving of a rise in stock. 

For the second week in a row, offensive lineman Don Barclay, stepping in at right tackle for the injured Bryan Bulaga, finds his stock trending downward.

Though Barclay's performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3 was poor, his performance in Week 4 against the San Francisco 49ers was even worse. 

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers took three sacks against San Francisco. Per Pro Football Focus, Barclay was responsible for all of them, as well as an additional hit and a hurry.  

It wasn't just in protecting Rodgers that Barclay's play slipped, however. He was also a liability in the run game. Running back Eddie Lacy averaged just three yards rushing through the C-gap. 

ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported on Monday that Bulaga may be returning sooner than expected. The Packers are reportedly going to decide on his status for the Week 5 matchup against the Rams on Wednesday. 

This isn't the first time veteran wideout James Jones has landed himself on the upward-trending part of this list, and from the consistently high level of his play this season, it probably won't be the last. 

Jones turned in another great performance Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers, and his stock is rising despite the fact that it was the first game this season in which he didn't score a touchdown. Why, you might ask, is he trending upward then?

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has plenty of scoring targets, from Randall Cobb to Eddie Lacy to Richard Rodgers. While Jones, who has the veteran experience to make contested catches and get his feet down in bounds, is also a go-to end-zone target, what this offense needs most is a downfield threat. 

Jones doesn't appear to have the speed that he did earlier in his Packers career, and he'll never make the kinds of downfield and sideline catches that Jordy Nelson does in this offense. But what was important about Jones' performance against the 49ers is he demonstrated that he can be something of a big-yardage target for Rodgers. 

Jones' 98 yards were his second-most of the season, and he averaged 19.6 yards on five receptions. His longest reception was for 38 yards on a deep left bomb from Rodgers that got the Packers into the red zone and, eventually, into the end zone. 

Jones caught five of the six balls thrown his way, and Rodgers had a passer rating of 118.8 when targeting him, per Pro Football Focus. 

If Jones can make big receptions to move the Packers down the field and into the red zone, he won't need to be Nelson to have a huge impact on the offense. And he's proving that he can be just as valuable outside of the red zone as he is inside it.

Don Barclay wasn't the only Packers offensive lineman who struggled against the San Francisco 49ers. 

Left guard Josh Sitton allowed a quarterback hurry and took two rare penalties on Sunday, both for offensive holding. One turned a 1st-and-goal from the 8-yard line to a 1st-and-goal from the 18-yard line, but thankfully it did not prevent the Packers from capping that drive with a score, a one-yard run by John Kuhn.

Sitton's second holding call made a 2nd-and-2 in San Francisco territory a 2nd-and-12 from the Packers' own 45-yard line, and that drive subsequently ended in a punt. 

Sitton was also the worst-ranked lineman in run-blocking on the night, per Pro Football Focus. 

All things considered, Sitton's stock isn't down very far at all, especially considering he still performed much better than Barclay. However, Sitton is normally so consistent and error-free in his play that the two penalties and poor blocking on the night deserved to be noted.

No doubt Sitton will perform back at his usual level versus the St. Louis Rams, and he'll need to against that defensive front. 

Cornerback Sam Shields had the strongest performance of any member of the Packers secondary on Sunday against San Francisco, and in fact, he turned in one of the best defensive performances on the team.

The most flashy play Shields made against the 49ers was certainly his leaping interception on a deep ball intended for San Francisco wideout Anquan Boldin, but Shields was solid throughout the matchup.

Per Pro Football Focus, Shields allowed just one reception to 49ers receiver Vance McDonald on four total targets into his coverage and an average of 1.8 yards per reception. He didn't give up any touchdowns and, of course, had the pick.

It was the second week in a row with an interception for Shields, who now is tied for the second-most in the league among all players.  

Shields' stock is way up heading into Week 5, where he'll show what he can do against St. Louis Rams passer Nick Foles.