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Brandon Saine

1) Introduction: After an up-and-down career at Ohio State, Saine signed with the Packers as undrafted free agent on July 28. During the 2011 preseason, no skill player saw more touches than Saine (25; 19 rushes for 51 yards, six receptions for 36). A big back that fits the positional mold of Ted Thompson, Saine was retained on the Packers 8-man practice squad to start the 2011 season.

2) Profile:

Brandon Croft Saine

Position: RB
Height: 5-11
Weight: 220 lbs.
AGE: 23

Career Stats

3) Expectations coming into the season: Expectations are never high for a player who starts the season on the practice squad. With both Ryan Grant and James Starks healthy, and third-round pick Alex Green showing a capacity to contribute on third downs and special teams, Saine looked destined to spend the 2011 season on the Packers’ practice squad.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Injury spawned him a chance. Saine was promoted off the practice squad on Oct. 31 following a season-ending knee injury to Green against Minnesota in Week 8. Saine didn’t get many opportunities (just 75 snaps) in the nine games he was active but did show an ability to both break tackles (team-high 2.7 yards after contact) and catch the football (10 receptions, no drops). His highest carry totals came against New York (six for 16 yards) and Detroit in Week 17 (eight for 28).  Read more... (399 words + 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

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The Packers signed star AFL quarterback Nick Hill Friday.

Ted Thompson and the Green Bay Packers announced the signings of nine different players, including all eight on the practice squad and former Arena Football League quarterback Nick Hill.

Thompson brought back the eight players that ended the season on the practice squad, which includes T Chris Campbell, FB Jon Hoese, C Sampson Genus, WR Diondre Borel, WR Tori Gurley, DL Johnny Jones, S Anthony Levine and CB Brandian Ross.

The first move from outside the organization was the signing of Hill, who last season played for the Orlando Predators and tossed 97 touchdowns in 16 games. He made his entrance into the NFL in the summer of 2008, when the Chicago Bears signed the undrafted quarterback from Southern Illinois in May. Chicago released Hill (6-3, 215) in July of that year. At Southern Illinois, Hill set school records for passing yards, touchdowns and completions during his senior year.

Hill throws left-handed and will wear No. 17.  Read more... (303 words + 1 image, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

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Packers GM Ted Thompson

At this point of the season, it’s safe to say most readers of this site probably know where every team in the NFC North stands and why they’re in the position that they’re in. So instead of updating everyone with information they probably already know, we’ll take a different approach by examining recent NFC North draft classes.

I went back and listed every team’s draft choices from 2008-11 and broke down each team by examining their picks in the following categories:

Current starters: How many players drafted since 2008 are currently starting? I was fairly liberal in labeling players as “starters.” For example, Jordy Nelson does not “start” for the Packers (until Jennings got hurt, anyway), but for all intents and purposes, he’s a starter.

Home runs: These players are absolute studs, already pro bowlers or force other teams to game-plan specifically for them.

Future stars?: These players are already good, but haven’t reached their ceiling. A pro bowl or more could realisticially be in their future.

Late-round discoveries: Players drafted in rounds 4-7 that contribute and play much better than a typical player drafted in rounds 4-7.  Read more... (1312 words + 1 image, estimated 5:15 mins reading time)

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Frankly, I was more than a little surprised that wide receiver Tori Gurley decided to remain on the Green Bay Packers practice squad instead of signing to the 53-man roster on the Minnesota Vikings.  Many people dream of being on a NFL team (which practice squad players technically aren’t as they are unrestricted free agents), and Gurley just might be giving up his only chance to be a real NFL player.  From a Packers fan standpoint, most were quick to laugh as the Vikings, who are notorious for stealing players from NFC North rivals such as Ryan Longwell, Darren Sharper, Bernard Berrian and Devin Aromashshodu, couldn’t even get a practice squad player playing wide receiver on the NFL’s deepest and most talent wide receiving corps to sign with them.

But I have to admit; it’s a pretty smart move by Gurley, who is essentially betting on the winning team.  From an economic standpoint, Gurley is probably going to make more money as Packers practice squad member than as a Minnesota Viking.  Read more... (791 words + 1 image, estimated 3:10 mins reading time)

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According to a source, Gurley will be promoted to the Packers' active roster soon.

According to a source close to the situation, the Green Bay Packers are working on promoting rookie receiver Tori Gurley from the practice squad to the active roster in the coming days.

The source, speaking on terms of anonymity, said that the Packers are working on a deal to pay him money in the range of an active player. Combined with Greg Jennings’ injury that will keep him out 2-3 weeks, there’s a good chance that the Packers could activate Gurley sometime before Green Bay takes on the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday.

Gurley had an extended talk with both quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers coaching staff on Monday and came away from the meetings encouraged about the upcoming situation, the source said. That would help explain Gurley’s tweet about an hour before McCarthy’s press conference on Monday that said “God works in mysterious ways ;- ) Go Pack Go.”

The source also said that another team was in talks to claim Gurley off the Packers practice squad. The team wasn’t named, but that likely helped give Gurley even more leverage to get onto the active roster.  Read more... (390 words + 1 image, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

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There were a lot of things that can be taken away from the Packers more-difficult-than-it-should-have–been 45-38 win over the San Diego Chargers, in particular on the defensive side of the ball, but there is one player I want to focus on and what his role should be in the Packers defense going forward.

Erik Walden, come on down.

After watching his breakout game against the Chicago Bears in the 2010 regular season finale, my initial reaction was that we were witnessing another Ted Thompson-discovered diamond in the rough and that he would be a key player in the defense going forward, in particular with Nick Barnett gone.

Turns out Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Dom Capers agreed with me.  When the season started, Walden was named the starter at right outside linebacker, opposite of Clay Matthews.  With Barnett having left for Buffalo, Walden beat out Frank Zombo in large part due to an injury Zombo suffered during training camp.

With Zombo finally becoming healthy, the time has come to evaluate Walden’s progress after half of the Packers’ schedule.

The verdict? Zombo better start sharpening his Zorro sword.  Read more... (772 words + 1 image, estimated 3:05 mins reading time)

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With the bye week now in the rear view mirror, Mike McCarthy and the Green Bay Packers have shifted their focus to the one team standing in their way of becoming 8-0: the San Diego Chargers.

In his post-bye Monday press conference, McCarthy noted that practice today was full pads—something he plans to do twice this week—and the concentration was on fundamentals and getting ready for the Chargers.

“San Diego is an uncommon opponent,” McCarthy said. “We haven’t traveled out to the West Coast this year. We are taking extra time getting ready for this game.”

There was an obvious respect level from McCarthy when asked about the Chargers and their organization, starting with head coach Norv Turner and extending down to defensive coordinator Greg Manusky.

“A good football team,” McCarthy said. “Norv Turner has always done an excellent job offensively, the way he challenges your scheme. I have a lot respect for Greg Manusky. He does an excellent job [defensively] and they are very well-coordinated. The Chargers have always been a talented football team and that’s no different this year. This will be a big challenge for us.”  Read more... (581 words + 1 image, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

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