AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Ryan Taylor

1) Introduction: Ted Thompson raised a few eyebrows in April when he took Taylor just two rounds after selecting D.J. Williams at the same position. The Packers then had five tight ends, including Taylor, with a chance to make the final roster at the beginning of training camp. By September 3, Taylor and his four peers had, in fact, made the 53.

2) Profile:

Ryan Lawrence Taylor

Position: TE
Height: 6-2
Weight: 245 lbs.
AGE: 23

Career Stats

3) Expectations coming into the season: A special teams captain in two of his four years at North Carolina with experience playing linebacker, Taylor reminded some of Spencer Havner. If he was able to make the 53-man roster in 2011, most expected Taylor to play a similar role.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Taylor played on just 32 offensive snaps but did catch his first career touchdown pass in Week 14 against Oakland. It ended up being Taylor’s only catch of the season. To his credit on special teams, Taylor was active in 15 of 17 games and finished second on the team with eight total tackles.  Read more... (368 words + 1 image, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

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Mason Crosby Game Winning Field Goal Against the Giants

Mason Crosby kicked a walk-off field goal for the Packers on Sunday. It happened right in front of me, as the picture to the right (which I took) will attest.

Crosby jogged onto the field, glanced over at me in the second row, set himself, calmly hit the game-winning field goal and then turned to give me a raucous two handed middle-finger salute.

Of course, it didn’t really happen that way, but symbolically, it might as well have.

Anyone who reads this blog knows or has heard me on CheeseheadRadio should know that I haven’t been the biggest of Crosby fans. For the uninitiated, here’s a brief history of my writings on the subject of Crosby:

August 2, 2009: I call for some training camp competition for Crosby.

March 2010: I railed about Crosby doubling his salary by reaching what must have been some fluff incentives after a bad 2009 season.

March 17, 2011: I did give Crosby a B grade for the 2010 season, mainly on his performance over the Packers’ Super Bowl run.  Read more... (606 words + 1 image, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

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Aaron Rodgers has been rising all season and has the Packers 7-0 heading into their bye week.

It was my niece’s baptism on Sunday, so I watched the Packers beat the Vikings with my parents and my brother’s family — all Vikings fans. It was a rough first half, and my parents would not stop trash talking. You know you take this silly game of football far too seriously when you start getting annoyed with your parent’s trash talk.

Anyway, at halftime my dad decided to go deer hunting and my brother went on a hike with his wife. Even though their team was beating the Super Bowl champs 17-13, they said the hell with it and went and did other things.

Those are Vikings fans in a nutshell.

On to the Week 8 stock report:

Aaron Rodgers
No further explanation needed. Just look at the box score. Then the season stats.

Mason Crosby
Crosby hasn’t missed a field goal since clanking one off the upright in week 13 last season. He’s made 21 straight since, and nailed a 58-yarder on Sunday that would’ve been good from much longer.  Read more... (665 words + 1 image, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

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Photo courtesy JSOnline.com

The Green Bay Packers (3-0) face off against the Denver Broncos at Lambeau Field.

The Packers will look for their 10th consecutive win including playoffs, but hope to pull away from their opponent instead of having the game in doubt going late into the fourth quarter.

The Broncos meanwhile are looking to bounce back from another close loss.  Tim Tebow will finally see some action under center today according to reports from the Broncos and are hoping their passing offense will finally come to life.

Pregame Thoughts

Champ Bailey is out for the Broncos.  He likely would have seen some time against Jermichael Finley so this could possibly mean another big game for the Packers tight end.

Word out of Denver that Tim Tebow could see some red zone action today.  I have watched Tebow for a long time and you can’t underestimate his abilities in the red zone.  The Packers have a tendency to struggle against athletic quarterbacks, so this added wrinkle will be interesting to watch.

Very sunny day today at Lambeau. Beautiful day for football.

How many Cheeseheads will have their eyes on their phones checking the Brewers score? I kid. Sort of.  Read more... (1163 words + 1 image, estimated 4:39 mins reading time)

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Despite a lockout that made fans sweat bullets, the calendar has turned to August and football is indeed back. Even though it seems Packer Nation didn’t really get to celebrate the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl XLV title due to the work stoppage, we must put last season behind us and focus on the new season that has just begun

For Cheeseheads, the start of football season means players on bicycles and practices at Ray Nitschke Field behind the Don Hutson Center.  While it may feel different this year due to free agency occurring at the same time training camp opened, there are many other things that remain timeless at Packers training camp.

The aforementioned bicycles are one.  Players ride kids’ bikes to and from practice each day.  It’s a tradition like no other in the National Football League.

A couple thousand fans turn out in the stands for each practice with hundreds more lining the fence waiting to get a glimpse of how their team is shaping up for the upcoming season.  Read more... (1108 words + 1 image, estimated 4:26 mins reading time)

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Mason Crosby is a below-average NFL kicker. If you disagree, please allow me to prove it to you.

I really didn’t want to write about Mason Crosby again. Most of you know how I feel and I’ve handled the topic before. I’ve railed on the Packers coddling of Crosby. I’ve presented some stats that questioned Crosby being rewarded with a 100% raise in 201o.

Yet, some of you still believe (or have convinced yourselves) that the Packers are lucky to have Crosby. You have a ready set of excuses.

• He kicks in the cold weather.
• He’s has to kick a lot of long field goals.
• He went five for six during the Packers playoff run.
• He does a great job with kickoffs.
• He’s not great, but he’s an above-average NFL kicker.
• There is nobody available that would be any better.

The first three of those statements are true but are not valid excuses, as I will show. The last three items are just outright untrue. If you believe them, you also believe in unicorns and pots of gold at the end of rainbows. I am going to dispel all of these myths with something that can not be disputed – cold hard facts.  Read more... (2010 words + 1 image, estimated 8:02 mins reading time)

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Fans could have split feelings on Mason Crosby's new 5-year deal with the Packers.

According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online, placekicker and unrestricted free agent Mason Crosby has agreed to a new 5-year contract with the Green Bay Packers. The deal is reportedly worth $14.75 million, which includes $3 million in guaranteed money.

“The contract puts Crosby in the upper echelon of kickers in the National Football League,” noted Silverstein, “just below top-paid kicker Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders.”

Silverstein also reminds fans that post-lockout rules prevent teams from signing unrestricted free agents until Friday a 6 p.m. Teams are, however, able to negotiate terms with free agents prior to that time.

This news will probably be received differently depending on which Packers fans you talk to.

Mason Crosby has spent his entire 4-year NFL career in Green Bay. Taken in the sixth round of the 2007 draft, he was widely considered the best college kicker that year. His main selling point has always been his strong leg, having a reputation for forcing touchbacks against his collegiate opponents.  Read more... (445 words + 1 image, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

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