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Who are your 2013 Green Bay Packers?

With the off-season activities now officially over with, we now turn our attention to the upcoming training camp and preseason.  The big question is:  What will the 2013 Green Bay Packers look like?

I’m taking a look at each position and listing who I think are the likely starters, as of today.  Training camp always tends to change that list quite a bit so this is obviously as of today, as it stands, and without having really seen many of these guys play.

Quarterback

Starter:  Aaron Rodgers

Backup: BJ Coleman

Bubble: Graham Harrell, Matt Brown

Quick hits: Rodgers is the league’s highest-paid player and let’s not forget he’s pretty good at what he does.  No question there and so the biggest debate is whether Coleman can leapfrog Harrell and will the team carry three active quarterbacks?  My thought is that if Coleman wins the backup spot, they will likely cut Harrell.  Illinois State’s Matt Brown could be a good candidate to land on the practice squad, much like Coleman did last season.

Running Back/Fullback

Starter:  DuJuan Harris

Backup:  Alex Green, Eddie Lacy, Johnathan Franklin

Bubble: John Kuhn, James Starks, Angelo Pease, Jonathan Amosa  Read more... (1485 words + 3 images, estimated 5:56 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football

I had an idea for a new Packers offseason gameshow while driving home from work today.

The first nine years of my adult life I had a job where I took a city bus to work. It was nice to not burn gas and spend half my salary on parking, but I always had to stay alert so I wouldn’t get stabbed. There are some, ahem, interesting people that rode the city bus on my route.

Now I have a job where I drive 30 minutes to work, in my own car. Yes, I’m burning gas (free parking, thankfully), but I don’t have to worry about getting stabbed. This frees up my brain and allows me to think of all kinds of silly things, like my idea for a Packers offseason gameshow.

I’ve already filmed the pilot episode, and am ready to share the transcript with all of you today. I brought back the ghost of Richard Dawson to host my show, mainly because I crack up whenever I see old Family Feud episodes when Dawson tries to make out with all the female contestants.

The name of the show is Will Johnny Jolly Play for the Packers Before…

Enjoy.

Richard Dawson: Welcome ladies and gentlemen to everyone’s favorite new favorite game show! The object of the game is to guess if Johnny Jolly will play a regular season snap for the Packers before another player currently on the Packers roster. It sounds confusing, but it’s not.  Read more... (1508 words + 1 image, estimated 6:02 mins reading time)

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Packers DL B.J. Raji

Despite being predictably quiet throughout free agency, the Packers have successfully locked up perhaps their two most valuable players.

The team locked up quarterback Aaron Rodgers and linebacker Clay Matthews to long-term contract extensions. Matthews signed a five-year deal that makes him the highest-paid defensive player in football, while Rodgers became the highest-paid player in league history.

The next guy in line for a new deal may be defensive lineman B.J. Raji.

The Packers spent the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft on Raji–a player they hoped would anchor the defensive line as they transitioned to the 3-4 alignment.

One Pro Bowl, a Super Bowl and four years later, Raji is entering the final year of his rookie contract.

Since becoming a weekly starter in 2010, he has started all but two regular-season games for the Packers. Statistically, Raji’s best season was in 2010 when he racked up 6.5 sacks and scored the deciding touchdown in the NFC Championship Game in Chicago. Following Raji’s breakout year in 2010,  he was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2011 despite an inconsistent season.

Pro Football Focus gave Raji a +15.1 season grade in 2010, -20.8 in 2011 and a +6.5 last season. And now, Raji has high expectations for himself as he enters the final year of his rookie contract.  Read more... (649 words + 2 images, estimated 2:36 mins reading time)

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Packers defensive linemen Neal, Wilson, and Pickett are all set to become free agents in 2014.

In the wake of the Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews contract extensions, many of us have been wondering how the Green Bay Packers will utilize their remaining cap space. How they use it will depend a lot on the current players who will be free agency following this season. Not counting the recent restricted free agent tenders and offseason signings, there are a total of fourteen Packers players entering their final year of a multi-year contract.

One of the major concerns, though, is that four of those players – or over a quarter of them – are defensive linemen. And not just any defensive lineman. They accounted for 38 starts, 51 total games played, and 2,108 defensive snaps in 2012. Take a look:  Read more... (786 words + 1 image, estimated 3:09 mins reading time)

• Ryan Pickett, DT, 33, 13th yr.
  (2012: 16 starts, 16 games, 658 snaps – 2^nd DL, 3.8 PFF grade – 2^nd DL)
• B.J. Raji, DT, 26, 5th yr.
  (2012: 14 starts, 14 games, 768 snaps – 1^st DL, 6.5 PFF grade – 1^st DL)
• Mike Neal, DE, 25, 4th yr.
  (2012: 0 starts, 10 games, 323 snaps – 5^th DL, 3.4 PFF grade – 3^rd DL)
• C.J. Wilson, DE, 26, 4th yr.
  (2012: 8 starts, 11 games, 359 – 4^th DL, -2.1 PFF grade – 6^th DL)

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After a two days of voting, the fans have had their say and the Packers’ Final Four players have been chosen. As a reminder this was a vote for the Packers’ BEST pure football players, not those with the most value to them.

I’ve also listed the top 20 vote getters along the way, in order – so these represent the players our readers consider the best 20 on the Packers roster.

1.  Aaron Rodgers
2. Clay Matthews
3. Randall Cobb
4. Josh Sitton
5. Casey Hayward
6. Jordy Nelson
7. James Jones
8. BJ Raji
9. Bryan Bulaga
10. Sam Shields
11. Desmond Bishop
12. Ryan Pickett
13. Tim Masthay
14. Jermichael Finley
15. Tramon Williams
16. Morgan Burnett
17. T.J. Lang
18. A.J. Hawk
19. C.J. Wilson
20. John Kuhn

Close but didn’t quite get there: Brad Jones, Jarrett Bush, Mason Crosby, Davon House, DuJuan Harris.

Any surprises for you?

Follow Jersey Al:

          Follow @JerseyAlGBP           Add to Circleson

Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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Last weekend, we picked our “Packers Players Elite Eight.” As March Madness continues, we will parallel the NCAA Basketball tournament and have you vote for the four BEST Packers on the roster; the “Packers Players Final Four.”

The players you selected fore the Elite Eight (in no particular order) were:

• James Jones
• Aaron Rodgers
• Casey Hayward
• Randall Cobb
• B.J. Raji
• Jordy Nelson
• Clay Matthews
• Josh Sitton

This time around, you get to vote for the Final Four. So select who you think are the Packers’ BEST four football players from the list. As a reminder, this isn’t a vote for the player’s value to the Packers, but rather who are the BEST football players on the roster.

The poll will be up through Sunday Night and the results will be posted on Monday.  Enjoy!

Follow Jersey Al:

          Follow @JerseyAlGBP           Add to Circleson

Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews

Through free agency, Ted Thompson’s Green Bay Packers have been Ted Thompson’s Green Bay Packers. Deafeningly quiet.

But in the coming weeks, the Packers will look to lock up their two most important players—Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews.

According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Packers are closer to a deal with Matthews than they are with Rodgers. But ideally, the team would extend both contracts before offseason workouts being April 15.

Packers beat writer Wes Hodkiewicz joined me and PackersTalk.com contributor Jacob Westendorf Wednesday to talk about the team’s impending contract extensions.

“Rodgers is going to be the highest paid quarterback in NFL history,” Hodkiewicz said. “I think that’s all but established. It’s just a matter of when they’re going to get that done.”

ESPN insider Adam Schefter suggested that Matthews is expected to get about $13 million per year on his new contract. Hodkiewicz says Rodgers should receive a contract worth between $22-25 million per season.

So with over $30 million potentially being tied up into two players, B.J. Raji could find himself in an interesting position.

After being selected with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Raji has been moved around the team’s defensive line. He enjoyed perhaps his best season in 2010, racking up 6.5 sacks before being named to his first Pro Bowl a year later.

But Rodgers and Matthews are clearly the Packers’ top two long-term priorities, leaving Raji’s future in question.  Read more... (431 words + 1 image, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

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