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March-Madness-Packers

As the NCAA Basketball Tournament is being played out across the land, I wanted to do something Packers-related with a “March Madness” theme. So here’s the idea:

We’re going to pick the 16 BEST players on the Packers roster.  And by we, I mean me and YOU – the readers. To make it simpler, I’ll pick the first 12. Then you will get to choose the last four from a group of 10 in the poll below.

This isn’t necessarily the Sweet Sixteen in terms of importance to the team (for example, Brett Goode might be in that group), simply the 16 best football players on the roster.

We’ll let the voting run through the weekend and announce the results on Monday? Sound good?

Disclaimer:  My top 12 are not necessarily ranked in order, they’re  just in the order in which they came to mind.

Green Bay Packers Sweet 16 – Best Football Players

1) Aaron Rodgers

2) Clay Matthews

3) Josh Sitton

4) BJ Raji

5) Ryan Pickett

6) Tramon Williams

7) Randall Cobb

8) Desmond Bishop

9) Morgan Burnett

10) Jordy Nelson

11) James Jones

12) Sam Shields

That last one was tough. I could have gone with Bryan Bulaga or Jermichael Finley, for example, but I’m still amazed Shields did not get drafted, with all the athletic ability he’s shown.  Read more... (326 words + 3 images, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

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Who’s Rising on Defense?

Here we are at the start of the 2013 NFL season. Let the great debates roll on!   Sign a FA?  Keep your own?  Difference maker free agent? Hole filler? Last gasp?  Which leads to next big thing, the team has to draft this position this year! { fill in your choice}.

Everyone goes nuts this time of year, I am of the use Free Agency to fill a hole in depth crowd,  but first and foremost keep your own.

From most of talk across the web, Packer fans are screaming for “DEFENSE” and I can’t disagree, but for many, players already on the team are over looked waiting for that big signing. { like that is going to happen in Green Bay in the first place}

So while many are playing fantasy GM with all the if’s, maybes, should have’s, could have’s, lets look at players on the team that are on the way up and will improve the team from the inside.

I consider C.J. Wilson on the way up. He missed games with a knee injury last year, in the eleven games he played, he was looked at as one of the Packers better run stoppers, he had 24 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Nothing to get excited about, but Wilson did improve in his second year, not bad for 7th round pick that played 4-3 DE in college. He is a better athlete then given credit for at 6-3 300# he ran a 4.83 40, 32 reps at #225, 1.67 ten yard time 4.50 shuttle and 7.65 3 cone drill. His best football is still in front of him.  Read more... (720 words + 1 image, estimated 2:53 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football

Adam Czech usually puts together this post on Sunday, but he had other commitments this week, so I’ll do my best to pick up the slack.

Last Sunday, Adam called into attention the injury woes of the Packers’ recent first-round picks. Bryan Bulaga, Derek Sherrod and Nick Perry missed a combined 33 regular-season games last year. It’s a concern to a certain degree, but at the same time, all three players will be expected to compete for a major role with the team in 2013.

On the flip side, the Packers have struck gold recently in round two. This past week, the team decided not to place the franchise tag on wide receiver Greg Jennings, a second-round pick in 2006. Jennings played seven years with the Packers, made two Pro Bowls and helped the team to Super Bowl XLV.

This year’s draft may lack elite talent in the top-half of the first round, but it’s an extremely deep class in the first few rounds. The NFL went to a three-day format in 2010, featuring round one on Thursday and rounds two and three on Friday.

Let’s take a look at the Day 2 gems Ted Thompson has brought to Green Bay:  Read more... (897 words + 1 image, estimated 3:35 mins reading time)

• 2012: Casey Hayward (2nd, No. 62)
• 2011: Randall Cobb (2nd, No. 64)
• 2010: Mike Neal (2nd, No. 56) and Morgan Burnett (3rd, No. 71)
• 2008: Jordy Nelson (2nd, No. 34) and Jermichael Finley (3rd, No. 91)

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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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Aaron Rodgers and Josh Sitton are two of the Packers “blue chip” players.

Now that my fellow staff members and I have completed our annual player evaluations and report cards, I thought it might be fun to take a look at the Green Bay Packers’ impact players. Taking a page from Michael Lombardi, former NFL Network analyst who now works in the front office for the Cleveland Browns, I have categorized the players into representational colored chips.

I’ve added a couple more categories beyond the usual blue and red chips, but for the latter groups, I have taken some of the qualifications as used by Lombardi. While some players might have fallen short of their expectations this past season, I have attempted to look at their entire body of work and where they stand going into 2013.

One thing I did notice in this exercise was the lack of playmakers on the defense, which Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, and Dom Capers need to work on correcting.

Feel free to chime in with any agreements, disagreements, or additions to the lists!

Blue Chip Players:

» Demonstrates rare abilities and creates mismatches that have an obvious impact on the game.
» Is a premier player in the league and a weapon on the field.
» Combines competitiveness and skill to provide a consistent championship-level performance.  Read more... (914 words + 1 image, estimated 3:39 mins reading time)

• Aaron Rodgers – One of the best quarterbacks in the modern NFL era, Rodgers is the heart of this team. His exceptional football intelligence, technique, and work ethic make everyone else around him look better.

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Pickett is currently the oldest player on the Packers roster at 33

Since the Green Bay Packers’ 2012 season ended, the team has lost three of their oldest veterans in that of Donald Driver (37, retired), Jeff Saturday (37, retired) and Charles Woodson (36, released).  That makes defensive lineman Ryan Pickett their oldest player at 33 and the only veteran on the current roster with 10 or more years of experience.

It’s impossible to say what the team’s average age will be come the end of this year’s training camp, but it is clear that the team is headed for a youth movement for the next year or two.

The Packers being one of the league’s youngest teams is nothing new to most of us who will recall that from 2006 – 2009, they were the NFL’s youngest.  In 2011, the Packers were third youngest and in 2012 they were fifth youngest roster in the league.  In 2013, the Packers will be strong contenders for the “youngest” label once again.

Here is a list of players , courtesy of ESPN, that were on the roster during the 2012 season.  I don’t expect the team to bring running backs Cedric Benson nor Ryan Grant back in 2013.  That leaves John Kuhn as the only player currently 30 years old or more.  Several players are set to turn 30 this year; AJ Hawk, Aaron Rodgers, Tramon Williams and Greg Jennings.  Read more... (910 words + 3 images, estimated 3:38 mins reading time)

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Casey Hayward

1) Introduction: As part of the attempt to bolster the defense with talent, the Packers selected CB Casey Hayward in the 2012 NFL Draft with their third overall pick (Round 2, Pick 62). He was the unquestioned leader of the Vanderbilt defense in college, and Hayward was praised by scouts for his athleticism, awareness, and big play ability. Some have even likened him to Charles Woodson with respect to his instinctive style of play.

2) Profile:

Casey Hayward

• Age: 23
• Born: 09/09/1989, in Elko, GA
• Height: 5’11″
• Weight: 192
• College: Vanderbilt
• Rookie Year: 2012
• NFL Experience: 0 years

Career Stats and more

3) Expectations coming into the season: For a rookie, there were actually some pretty high expectations for Casey Hayward. Many fans were hoping he’d be an immediate answer to the concerns at cornerback. As training camp progressed, it was clear Hayward had a shot for the third cornerback position, but second year player Davon House showed better technique and understanding of the defense. When the roster finally got trimmed down to 53 players, it was clear that Hayward would still be battling throughout the season for playing time.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Casey Hayward’s six interceptions were the most by any Packers cornerback in 2012, though his best game came against the Houston Texans when he snatched two of them. And though he was targeted four times in that game, he allowed zero completions. There weren’t many “lowlights” for Hayward, though his failure to complete the sack on Colin Kaepernick in the final playoff game was certainly a stinger.  Read more... (513 words + 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

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