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Closing in on the final preseason game and many of the similar themes keep coming up: The health of Al Harris; Rodgers to Finley becoming very dangerous; the impact of rookies Burnett and Neal on defense; the TE conundrum; can the special teams improve?, etc.
However, there are plenty of storylines, good and bad, that are being buried. And they all could play large role in how the 2010 season plays out.
Can Clay Matthews avoid a “Sophomore Slump?” – One of the biggest areas of need on this team is the pass rush, but that is not anything new. However, almost everyone (myself included) are expecting great things from Matthews this season, building on his dominating rookie campaign. But I have to play devil’s advocate for a second and throw around the old sports cliche – “sophomore slump.” You hear it all the time in every sport when a rookie has success, like Matthews did. The unfortunate thing is that this does hold true sometimes. If it does and Matthews slumps, where does the pass rush come from? Brad Jones? Brandon Chillar? Brady Poppinga? Frank Zombo? Those names strike fear into not one offensive coordinator in the league. This question has to be asked since Matthews has missed almost all of camp to this point. I don’t think he will suffer a slump with his work ethic and football acumen, but I also thought A.J. Hawk was on the cusp of greatness after a solid rookie season.
Continue reading Underreported storylines for the 2010 season
Tuesday was the first of two scheduled cutdown days for NFL teams, with every team mandated to get down from 80 to 75 players.
The Green Bay Packers took a different approach. They cut no one.
Instead, the Packers placed three players on the PUP list and one more on injured reserve (they had only 79 players to begin with, not 80).
Cornerback Al Harris, strong safety Atari Bigby and running back James Starks were put on the PUP, meaning each player will be unavailable to practice and play with the team for the first six weeks of the season. They will all be eligible to return for the start of Vikings week, part one, in late October. Even if they aren’t quite ready yet at that time, each player is given three weeks to practice – without counting on the roster – before the team has to make a decision. The player has to be cut, activated to the roster or placed on injured reserve after those three weeks are up.
Speaking of injured reserve, that’s where promising rookie running back Quinn Porter found himself Tuesday. His season is now over.
Now that we’ve taken care of the specifics, let’s break down what this all means for the Packers.
Continue reading On a day when roster cuts are to be made, the Packers cut no one
Originally, I had planned on doing two roster prediction pieces – one midway through the preseason and one at the end, before the final roster cuts are made.
But since you guys and gals seemed to like the first one so much, I’ve decided to throw in a bonus roster piece. And don’t worry – I’ll have another one of these up after game four Thursday also. The Green Bay Packers will cut five players Tuesday – we’ll have reaction on that later in the day – and have until Saturday afternoon to get their roster down from 75 to 53, in case you weren’t sure.
(Quick aside: Keep an eye out for OBOD’s season/fantasy predictions, both of which should be up within the next week.)
As always, before I begin, I’d like to remind Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he should, please, not sue me for, basically, ripping him off. Imitation…flattery…remember?
Enjoy.
Quarterbacks (2): Aaron Rodgers, Matt Flynn
Comments: No change here from last time. I still haven’t seen enough from Graham Harrell to warrant giving him a spot, especially with this team so deep at other positions. There’s an outside chance he could change my mind with a great showing Thursday, but I doubt it. Lock him up a spot on the practice squad.
Running backs (3): Ryan Grant, Brandon Jackson, Kregg Lumpkin
Comments: First, let me say this idea that the Packers will keep only two backs and use John Kuhn as the third guy there is completely ridiculous. With the pounding NFL backs take, three full-time backs is a must. The Packers would be just one injury away from Kuhn seeing significant time at the position. Do you really want that? I don’t. Now, for the change here, Lumpkin is in and Quinn Porter is out. Porter’s got more potential, yes, but his ankle injury dooms him. Plus, there’s just something about Lumpkin that I like. He’s managed to hang around in some form or another for over two years now – that says something.
Continue reading With one preseason game left to go, here’s how the 53-man roster should look
The Green Bay Packers had been very quiet since Thursday night’s preseason pounding of the Indianapolis Colts.
(One more game and it’s finally over.)
That changed Sunday.
The Packers got back to work on the practice field and there was some fairly significant news to come out of it. So, that being the case, we’ve decided to whip up a batch of training camp stew for you. Not a bad way to start off the week, right?
As always, the information in this report comes courtesy of the fine folks at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Green Bay Press Gazette and ESPN Milwaukee’s Jason Wilde.
There were a great many positives to take away from the Green Bay Packers’ 59-24 pounding of the Indianapolis Colts at Lambeau Field on Thursday night.
The offensive line, Ryan Grant and Aaron Rodgers all turned in very good performances. The defense wasn’t perfect, but rebounded after a tough start to play well, despite the absence of a few key players. The much-maligned special teams unit had some blips of trouble, as always, but was much better overall than it had been in the first two preseason games.
But if you’re looking for the biggest positive, you need look no further than the 6-feet, 5-inch, 247 pound wrecking ball of humanity that is tight end Jermichael Finley.
With six catches for 85 yards and a touchdown in just one half of play, Finley showed himself to be a true matchup nightmare, capable of punishing opponents in a variety of ways.
Continue reading 2010 preseason game three vs. Indianapolis: America, meet No. 88
Well, the third preseason game is here. And, as Denny Green once famously informed us, this is the one that teams do not, in fact, play like it’s bull(expletive), bull(expletive)!
That could be especially true in this one, as the Green Bay Packers take on the Indianapolis Colts and some cat named Peyton at Lambeau Field tonight at 7 p.m. Lambeau Time on ESPN.
As usual in game No. 3, we should see the starters for each team play at least one half. That’ll be good, but here’s what I’d like to see from the entire team – starters, backups and guys who will be bagging groceries in a week:
Offense
(Note: The Stew will return later Tuesday. I promise.)
With 21 training camp practices, a “Family Night Scrimmage” and two preseason games under their collective belt, we’ve seen enough of a body of work to begin determining what the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster could look like come Sept. 12.
But what should it look like?
Obviously, this is just one man’s opinion, but if I were running the show in Titletown, here’s how my roster would look, as of now. I’ll provide comments after each position, as well.
(Also, please don’t sue me for ripping off your idea, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Greg Bedard. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Right??)
Quarterbacks (2): Aaron Rodgers, Matt Flynn.
Comments: If I had done this 10 days ago, I might have included Graham Harrell on here. But Harrell is still far too raw to deserve a roster spot, especially with how deep the team is at other positions. He’s a practice squad guy, though, for sure.
Running backs (3): Ryan Grant, Brandon Jackson, Quinn Porter.
Comments: As I’ve said before, if James Starks is healthy, this spot is set. His hamstring just isn’t healing, though, and I think he’s headed for injured reserve. Porter and Kregg Lumpkin are battling to a near deadlock, as of now, but Lumpkin’s injury and the fact that the team really seems to like Porter’s potential gives Porter the nod by a hair.
Fullbacks (2): John Kuhn, Quinn Johnson.
Comments: Kuhn has been getting some reps at running back recently, due to the team’s injury issues there. He hasn’t been terrible and is far too valuable in goalline spots to be let go. Johnson, while still raw, is very powerful and provides a change of pace as Kuhn and Korey Hall are, essentially, the same player. That earns him a spot.�
Continue reading Two games in, here’s how the 53-man roster should look
With the “dress rehearsal” preseason game – i.e., game No. 3 – against the Indianapolis Colts just five days away, Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy took a cautious approach Saturday night against the Seattle Seahawks.
In other words, a lot of players didn’t play.
The entire starting linebacking corps was out, for example, as were Charles Woodson and Donald Driver.
Still, some things of note came out of Green Bay’s 27-24 road win over the Seahawks. Since the Packers were shorthanded, to say the least, for this one, it seems sort of silly to write an actual game recap.
Instead, let’s take a trip to the question department to discuss some of what went on:
- Question: What, if anything, should we make of the collective performance of the “starting” units?
Answer: If you believe the preseason means anything – and everyone has differing opinions on that - you could say that the Packers very much were who we thought they were (copyright, Denny Green). In other words, this game didn’t change my feelings on the team one bit.
The starting offense was once again fantastic, with two scores in two drives. Aaron Rodgers personified this with yet another sterling showing (8-of-11, 116, two touchdowns, 20-of-24, 275 yards, three touchdowns, no picks in just over two quarters of preseason play). Jermichael Finley and Greg Jennings are clearly the top two targets and the offensive line looked great (and was much better in run blocking). Again, all pretty much what you expected.
Continue reading 2010 preseason game two vs. Seattle: What to say about this one?
(Two notes: First, the Stew will return next week. Second, big props to OBOD reader Kathy Wutkowski, who gave me the idea for this post. Writer’s block hits us all, sometimes, you know?)
Good thing Morgan Burnett got all those offseason reps with the starters, huh?
I say that because, on Thursday, we found out Atari Bigby’s return from ankle surgery could be much later rather than sooner. Originally told he’d be out until early September, we’ve now learned Bigby is indeed a candidate to be placed on the PUP list, meaning he may not be available to return to the Green Bay Packers until week seven, at the earliest.
Bigby told reporters he was unaware his ankle injury was as bad as it was. He also said that, had he known it was that bad, he would have opted for surgery much sooner than the Aug. 6 date of his procedure.
And, as an old friend of mine used to say, I’m calling shennanigans on this one.
That’s right – I think Bigby is lying through his teeth.
Continue reading News on Bigby disheartening in the wake of Harris’ struggle
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