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1) Introduction: With BJ Raji spending more time at defensive end and Jerel Worthy and Mike Neal being higher on the DL pecking order in the nickel formation, Ryan Pickett mostly played as the nose tackle while occasionally appearing as a defensive end, usually on running downs.  While this might be considered a downgrade by some, really it catered towards Pickett’s strengths, namely being his strength and his ability to eat up blockers.

2) Profile:

Ryan Lamont Pickett

• Age: 33
• Born: 10/08/1979, in Zephyrhills, FL
• Height: 6’2″
• Weight: 338
• College: Ohio State
• Rookie Year: 2001
• NFL Experience: 12 years

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Moderate.  As one of the Packers better run defenders and “block eaters” Pickett’s role is understated but no less important.  Pickett was expected to do much of the dirty work of taking on interior blockers and letting his fellow linemen and outsider linebackers go out and make plays.  While Pickett rarely collapsed the pocket, he rarely broke containment.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Pickett’s best performance was in week 3 against the Seahawks where Pickett was responsible for 6 tackles, 3 assists and 3 negative offensive plays.  Pickett’s lowlight was probably week 1 against the 49ers where he played the majority of snaps but only managed one assisted tackle.

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: While very hard to quantify, Pickett provided stability and leadership in a very young defensive line rotation as well as taking on double teams.  Nose tackles aren’t as important to 3-4 defenses as they used to be but Pickett was certainly not a liability.  Read more... (341 words + 1 image, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

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The new season starts now. As Packer fans our season ended earlier then anyone wants. Now after all the Fire the coaches, maybe still going on for some, the players are not this or not that talk lets look at where the Packers are and where they might be going.

Mike McCarthy has said many times it is not as bad as some think and was not as good as some think.

For me when you look at the two teams in the Super Bowl this year you see two things, two of the better or best Defensive lines and Offensive lines in the NFL. Both Super Bowl teams have a high number of first round draft picks on both sides of the ball.

You can have all the skilled position players you want, but the games are won and lost in the trenches. San Francisco’s offense was able to keep the Packers offense off the field, in both games they played this year, the 49ers had a the ball on offense way more then the Packers. In the Playoff game the 49ers had the ball for over 38 minutes. The Packers were just beat by the more talented team. The outcome of every game at the highest levels of the NFL comes down to a hand full of plays by the best players, this is where that talent make a difference..  Read more... (1407 words + 1 image, estimated 5:38 mins reading time)

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Packers CB Tramon Williams found himself in the falling category. Safety Morgan Burnett was steady.

The Packers end of season, full roster stock report is upon us. Below are over 2,300 words of insight, analysis, opinions and nonsense about every player currently on the Packers roster.

Read closely and enjoy, because many of these players likely won’t be around in 2013.

I incorporated each player’s performance from this season, and their future outlook while categorizing. Please agree or disagree in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading the weekly stock reports. Onto the last one:

Rising

Aaron Rodgers
It wasn’t as great as his MVP campaign, but it was still damn good. With chaos and injuries swirling all around, Rodgers kept the Packers offense moving forward and limited mistakes. A fine all-around performance and no reason to think it won’t continue in 2013.

Randall Cobb
With Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson hobbled most of the season, Cobb broke out and turned into the Packers most dangerous weapon. I worry a little about his durability, but his production when healthy was great. Oh, and he needs to drop fewer passes.

DuJuan Harris
Is this too much praise for the 5-foot-7, 210-pound rolling ball of butcher knives? Maybe. But if I’m buying Harris stock, I want in right now. I think he’s going to stick with the Packers and get a chance to make some noise.  Read more... (2396 words + 1 image, estimated 9:35 mins reading time)

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So Packers vs. Vikings part II with a definite part III coming up.  Again, if there is any play in particular you would like to see my analyze, please leave comments below.  As for this week I’ve decided to take a look at one of the times where quarterback Christian Ponder was able to beat the Packers defense through the air.  My belief is that the Packers at best can only slow down Adrian Peterson, so it becomes paramount to stop Christian Ponder and the passing since the Packers have already proven that Adrian Peterson can destroy the Packers run defense and still lose the game.

The situation: The score is tied at 27 all with the Packers surging in the 2nd half with 12 minutes left in the 4th quarter.  The Vikings know they have to make a big move soon or be on the losing end of a scoring race to the finish line.  To their advantage is that Adrian Peterson has maintained his regular season form and is playing lights out, which makes the Packers very susceptible to play-action as every Packers defender is fixated on Peterson.  Read more... (1152 words + 7 images, estimated 4:36 mins reading time)

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Rodgers in a baseball cap and waving a celebratory towel would be a welcome sight on Sunday. Green Bay can clinch a playoff bye with a win

Here we are in week 17 and another season is nearly in the books.  The Green Bay Packers end their regular season schedule with a trip to Minnesota to face the Vikings.  A few years back, the NFL changed its schedule making such that the last week of the season would be a divisional game for all teams.  This was in the hopes that the games would be meaningful and teams wouldn’t rest slews of their starters in preparation for the postseason.

The NFL has gotten its wish this year and with this game.  Each team has something on the line.  The Vikings need to win to secure a playoff spot.  The Packers can clinch the second seed in the NFC with a win.  Should the Vikings win, the Packers can still gain the #2 seed with a San Francisco and a Seattle loss.

Last week’s format was a success so I’m going stick with a “Keys to the Game” theme.  Let’s see what will likely determine the outcome of tomorrow’s contest.

Vikings Running Back Adrian Peterson

I feel like a broken record with the thoughts I share about Peterson but given the season he is having, they bear some repeating.  According to ESPN, Peterson has 1,898 yards in 15 games.  102 yards shy of 2,000 yards, an accomplishment only six other running backs can claim.  Peterson is also 208 yards shy of the 28 year-old and all-time single-season rushing record set by Eric Dickerson in 1984.  Read more... (1953 words + 3 images, estimated 7:49 mins reading time)

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DuJuan Harris is one of the players that makes this a very likable Packers team.

As I was watching the Packers 55-7 win over the Titans on Sunday, I realized that this is the most likable Packers team I’ve seen in a long time.

Of course, it’s the Packers. I’ll like the Packers no matter what. You could make Bernie Maddoff the quarterback and Dick Cheney head coach and I’d still bleed green and gold.

But this team is just really likable. Every category of likability is covered.

There’s Aaron Rodgers, the golden-boy MVP quarterback. Super talented, open with fans, funny, intense, exciting to watch, confident…I could go on and on…

There’s Mike McCarthy, the coach who seems to have a knack for guiding his teams through injury and adversity. McCarthy also isn’t one of those annoying fake tough guy, look-at-me kind of coaches (see: Schwatz, Jim and Carroll, Pete). He also doesn’t completely blow off the media, and every now and then gives us great lines like “We’re nobody’s underdog,” or “Self-pity is a waste of time, it’s a wasted emotion.”

There’s a young secondary that keeps getting better. Every likable team needs players that people do not know much about, but play so well that people are forced to care as the season progresses. That’s what’s happening with Casey Hayward, Jerron McMillian, Sam Shields and M.D. Jennings.  Read more... (504 words + 1 image, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

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The Packers need to bear down on Johnson this Sunday and keep him from running free

I’m going to depart a bit from the usual Key Matchups format because the Tennessee Titans are an unfamiliar opponent of the Green Bay Packers and also due to the injuries on both sides.

We will return to our regularly scheduled “Key Matchups” next week when the Packers visit the Minnesota Vikings to round out the 2012 regular season.  For this week, it’s more of a “What to Watch For”.

Titans Running Back Chris Johnson

Johnson gets hidden, sometimes even forgotten, in Tennessee because they are one of the smaller markets.  And let’s be honest, the Titans have been very forgettable the past four seasons.  But 1,200 yards and five touchdowns is nothing to overlook this week for the Packers.

Johnson had a 94 yard touchdown run in Tennessee’s Monday night’s dismantling of the New York Jets.  With that run, Johnson set a new NFL record with six career touchdown runs over 80 yards.

He’s still a very good running back and clearly has the ability to break a long run at any time.  Green Bay struggled to contain another great running back three weeks ago when Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had a long scoring run and ran wild all day.  Read more... (1430 words + 3 images, estimated 5:43 mins reading time)

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