AllGreenBayPackers.Com

2013 NFL Draft

Johnathan Franklin, RB USC – My top choice, tough, hard worker, smart, good citizen

Le’Veon Bell, RB, Michigan State – Ryan Grant in his prime with some moves and the ability to block

JJ Wilcox, S, Georgia Southern – Nick Collins II?

Jonathan Cyprien, S Florida Int’l – Over hyped by fans, but still the #4-5 safety in the draft.

Philip Thomas, S Fresno State –  Instictual ball hawk, good tackler.

Kevin Minter, ILB LSU – Tough as nails, on-field leader.

Khaseem Greene, ILB, Rutgers – Plays with abandon ala CM3… But he’s not CM3.

Robert Woods, WR, USC – Good fit for the Packers

Stedman Bailey, WR, West Virginia – Even better fit for the Packers

Quinton Patton, WR, Louisiana Tech – Greg Jennings II?

Ryan Swope, WR Texas A&M – 4.34 at the Combine, but doesn’t look it on the field.

Dwayne Gratz, CB, Connecticut – This year’s Casey Hayward

David Amerson, CB, N. C. State – Cornerback or Safety?

Brandon Williams, DT, Missouri Southern – Boy can he move for a big guy…

Jamie Collins, OLB, Southern Mississippi – Day two 3-4OLB most likely to have very good career.

Barret Jones, OL, Alabama – Solid, versatile, Packers’ type of guy.

Brian Schwenke, C, CAL – Looks like a perfect ZBS center…

David Quessenberry, OL, San Jose State – my favorite “all-purpose” OL. Can play any position on the line.  Read more... (315 words + 3 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers NFL Draft prospect profile: RB Rex Burkhead

Player Information:

Rex Burkhead, RB Nebraska
5-10, 214 pounds
Hometown: Plano, TX

STATS

NFL Combine:

40 yard: 4.73

Bench: 21

Vert: 39″

Broad: 125″

3 cone: 6.85

20 yard shuttle: 4.09

60 yard shuttle: 11.51

News and Notes:

A lot of times draftniks and media types alike try to fit round pegs into square holes: one common example is calling for the Packers to draft a offensive tackle this year, only they have forgotten that Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod were both 1st round picks and drafting a 3rd OT in 4 years is getting close to Matt Millen levels of insanity.  Other examples include cornerback and inside linebacker, two positions where the Packers have the most depth.  Really, people should think of it the other way around; there are only a few exceptional players every year that are talented enough to change how a team operates (think RGIII or Russell Wilson), most other players have to learn to play in the system already set in place.  So really the question you have to ask is, what player fits best into the system that the Packers have in place?  One of those players I believe is Rex Burkhead.

 What they’re saying about him:   Read more... (966 words + 1 image, estimated 3:52 mins reading time)

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Packers Cornerbacks:  All eyes were on the cornerback group during Training Camp in 2012. This unit, above all others, had some serious competition going on for a starting job. And the result was that this competition continued throughout the season until we ended up with Tramon Williams, Sam Shields, and Casey Hayward as the clear leaders of the secondary.

For expanded coverage of this topic, listen to the podcast using the player below or download the podcast from the Packers Talk Radio Network on Itunes.

Where are we now:

Here are the current suspects:

Tramon Williams (UDFA, 2006)
Jarrett Bush (UDFA, 2006)
Sam Shields (UDFA, 2010)
Davon House (4^th Round, 2011)
Casey Hayward (2^nd Round, 2012)
James Nixon (UDFA, 2012, Practice Squad)

How many teams can say that their top two cornerbacks went undrafted as rookies? The Packers can, though they can also say that their past two draft selections on cornerbacks are also beginning to make names for themselves.  Read more... (936 words + 1 image, estimated 3:45 mins reading time)

• Williams: After a horrible showing in 2011 thanks to an early shoulder injury, Tramon Williams was looking to get back to his championship form of 2010. Unfortunately, he only seemed to get about halfway there. He showed clear improvement but still came up short, especially in key moments. The big question is whether he’ll continue the upward trend or start falling again.

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Packers vs. Bears: Week 2 key Matchups

After a tough loss at home to open this season, the Packers gladly move on to week 2 to face their long-time rival Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Thursday. The good news is that they have a chance to get the bad taste of a week 1 loss to the 49ers out of their mouth. The not so good news is that they have only 4 days rest and prep time before that game. The Bears also will have just 4 days to prepare and travel to Green Bay to face the Pack. They are riding high after a 41-21 week 1 romp over the Indianapolis Colts at Soldier Field.

Both the Packers and Bears have made several changes to their roster during the offseason. The Pack added 6 defenders in addition to free agents Jeff Saturday and former Bear RB Cedric Benson. The Bears traded for standout WR Brandon Marshall, who was a teammate of Jay Cutler’s in Denver. They also added RB Michael Bush and recently acquired D lineman Amobi Okoye. Rookie draft picks Shea McClellin, Alshon Jeffery and Evan Rodriguez have cracked the starting roster and will likely see time against the Packers. Let’s take a look at some of the matchups to watch for in this week’s game.  Read more... (2304 words + 2 images, estimated 9:13 mins reading time)

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Imagine you’re a student and you have a practical exam coming up; in this test you’re asked to perform a specific skill and the instructors will not only be grading you for your ability to conceptualize what you are doing and why but to also that you can put it all together and actually get some results.  I’ve been tested this way dozens of times as a undergraduate and graduate student and I can safely say that just because you know what you are doing and why doesn’t always mean you can do it in real life.

The same is true for football players; as instructors to the game, coaches often will be assessing a player’s ability to conceptualize what they are doing and why, but also how well they perform that skill.  And just the same as any other student, just because you know what you are doing and why doesn’t always mean you can do it in real life.  There are countless examples of players who have the mental aspect of football down pat but lack the technique required to be successful in the league.

Now imagine a practical exam where you can study and figure out what you need to do and why, but weren’t actually given a chance to practice that skill before the exam, how well do you think you would do? Again from experience I can tell you you often don’t get the desired results because while your mind knows what to do your body doesn’t have the muscle memory to successfully perform that skill.  Read more... (1063 words + 1 image, estimated 4:15 mins reading time)

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Receivers often gained yards after the catch against the Packers because of poor tackling.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look back on the Green Bay Packers 2011 season and identify the obvious reasons for their defensive collapse.

Cullen Jenkins was sorely missed at right defensive end, little to no production was received from outside linebacker opposite Clay Matthews and Nick Collins’ season-ending neck injury handicapped the back end.

But one factor that gets overlooked is just how poor the tackling was for the Packers defense, especially in the secondary.

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus effectively laid out just how bad it was for the Packers secondary in 2011.

According to the site, which reviews and grades every single play for every single player, the Packers trio of cornerbacks—Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and Sam Shields—was the worst tackling cornerback trio in the NFL.

And believe it not, the numbers weren’t even close.

Woodson missed 15 tackles on 87 attempts, Williams missed 16 on 80 attempts and Shields missed 10 on 40 attempts. Altogether, the three missed 41 tackles in 2011—a number that ranks them significantly above any other cornerback trio in the NFL.

The Philadelphia Eagles were the first team that came to mind in comparison, but their trio of Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie only missed 27 tackles last season.

All three of the Packers cornerbacks ranked in the bottom 20 of tackling efficiency, too.  Read more... (647 words + 1 image, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

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There’s a very interesting article about NFL cornerbacks on ProFootballFocus.com that provides some unexpected insights about the trio of Green Bay Packers cornerbacks. Overall, Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and even Sam Shields compared very favorably to the rest of the cornerbacks in the NFL.

I see it as a rather ironic development, as last off-season, many Packers followers (including myself) thought cornerback to be one of the Packers’ biggest positions of need. So naturally, Ted Thompson did nothing to address it in the draft, but then miraculously struck gold with UDFA Sam Shields. The combination of Woodson, Williams and Shields would prove to be a point of strength for the Packers in 2010, surprising just about everyone.

The Pro Football Focus article  ranked NFL cornerbacks based on several statistics.  First, they looked at the “times thrown at per coverage snaps.” I would expect this to be reflective of a player’s reputation, and the results mostly seem to bear that out. In the top four are Nnamdi Asomugha, Sean Smith, Asante Samuel and Darelle Revis. No surprise is Charles Woodson also being in the top 20, coming in at #18.

A shocking development, however, is Sam Shields coming in at #9. How in the world was he thrown at so few times? After the first game in Philly, I wrote that Eagles fans should be furious at their coaches for not going after Shields (see the last paragraph here). I was convinced that Shields would be attacked much more frequently as the season progressed. The stats here show it just didn’t happen.  Read more... (651 words + 3 images, estimated 2:36 mins reading time)

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