AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Packers WR Donald Driver might be a cut Ted Thompson makes this offseason. (Photo: Getty images)

It didn’t take long into Ted Thompson’s reign as Green Bay Packers GM for the unwavering 52-year-old to firmly establish that football moves under his direction would be made without the cling of emotion, void of any sentimental feelings that could effect a given decision one way or the other.

Among Thompson’s first moves as GM in 2005 were the releasing of guard Mike Wahle and safety Darren Sharper and declining to re-sign guard Marco Rivera, three players that were stalwarts for Packers teams that had won consecutive NFC North titles from 2002-04. Despite their undisputed contributions, each was shown the door both because of age and Thompson’s need to manage the Packers’ out of control salary cap.

Wahle was 28 years old and had played in 103 straight games when Thompson released him, but the move saved over $11 million in cap space. Axing Sharper, a 29-year-old All-Pro safety, saved another $4.3 million. Rivera went on to sign a five-year, $20 million contract with the Cowboys after Thompson let him walk at the age of 32.

All three of the moves were spurred by the Packers’ cap situation as he entered the job. No matter how unpopular, each needed to be made to get Thompson back into his salary cap comfort zone.  Read more... (1236 words + 1 image, estimated 4:57 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Howard Green

1) Introduction: One of the many memorable plays from Super Bowl XLV was Howard Green’s bull rush that forced a Ben Roethlisberger interception and resulted in a pick-six for Nick Collins. Green filled the space-eater role for the Packers in 2010, but never returned to form in 2011. Don’t expect him to return in 2012.

2) Profile:

Howard Green Jr.

Position: NT
Height: 6-2
Weight: 340 lbs.
AGE: 33

Career Stats

3) Expectations coming into the season: Immovable object. Nobody has ever mistaken Green for a quick and nimble pass rusher. The Packers claimed him off waivers from the Jets midway through last season to occupy space and stuff the run. They wanted him to do the same this season, but like most of his teammates on the D-line, Green didn’t make many plays and was just sort of there.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Move along folks, no highlights to see here. Green played in all 16 regular season games and managed just 11 tackles. Lowlights include a terrible game against the Bears on Christmas and never adequately filling in when Ryan Pickett was hurt.

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: Even though there were no memorable plays like the Super Bowl bull rush, other teams can’t ignore a guy who weighs 340 pounds. Green might have been blown off the ball more often than a 340-pound guy should have been, but teams at least had to work a little bit to move him around.  Read more... (308 words + 1 image, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

C Scott Wells is one of eight free agents for the Packers in 2012.

It’s far from a Moneyball style stats movement, but the guys over at Pro Football Focus have slowly but surely put together one of the premier stat-organizing sites available for the NFL and its legion of fans. It’s not a fool-proof system, and I occasionally disagree with a rating or two from a given game. But PFF grades every player on every play for all 32 teams, so there’s no shortage of work these guys put into their grades and ratings.

With the 2011 season over in Green Bay, I used PFF’s ratings/grades to analyze the Packers’ eight free agents this offseason. If you’re not familiar with the ratings at PFF, don’t fret—a higher score indicates a better rating, and a negative score obviously isn’t what you’re looking for.

Also, for another look at the Packers’ free agents in 2012, check out this article from AllGBP’s own Adam Czech.

CB Jarrett Bush (-4.0, 321 snaps)

There was a time early in the season that Bush was rated as the Packers’ best cornerback. As the season wore on, however, teams exploited Bush in the passing game more and more. In the Packers’ final regular season game against Detroit, Bush played a season-high 83 snaps and allowed 105 receiving yards on 10 targets. Overall on the season, Bush allowed 19 completions on 38 attempts for 302 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions (72.5 passer rating). Bush also finished with seven tackles on special teams, which was good for third on the team.  Read more... (917 words + 1 image, estimated 3:40 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Shields just one of many who had down years...

Man, this blog has turned into a depressing place this week. Scroll through the titles of the last couple of posts and you’ll see words like “regression” and “loss” mixed with phrases like “it’s over” and “fart in the wind.”

It’s probably best to make sure you don’t have any sharp objects nearby while reading.

This post is no exception. After coming up big in 2010, several Packers on defense took a step backwards. Who regressed the most?

Tramon Williams
After Williams got the best of Calvin Johnson on Thanksgiving, I thought the Tramon of 2010 was back. It looked like he was healthy and ready to blanket the other team’s No. 1 receiver as the Packers headed down the home stretch.

It didn’t happen.

Instead of taking the next step and establishing himself as a legit No. 1 CB in the NFL, Williams started giving up big play after big play. In addition to struggling in coverage, Williams was a tackling liability (his tackling was especially pathetic in the Christmas game against the Bears). He capped his lackluster season by allowing seven catches in eight attempts for 125 yards in the playoff loss to the Giants.  Read more... (722 words + 1 image, estimated 2:53 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson return to the rising category this week.

I’m still recovering from my Christmas food hangover, so no witty banter from me this week. We’re going straight to the stock report:

Rising

Aaron Rodgers
Welcome back to the rising category, Mr. Rodgers. We missed you last week and I hope you never leave us again. You will likely get to take a breather in week 17 and you’ve earned it. Even though you often make it look so easy, I’m sure it’s a lot of work to throw for 4,643 yards, 45 TDs and only 6 INTs in 15 games. Throwing for five TDs against the Bears is a great way to cap an MVP season.

Jordy Nelson
The Jordy Nelson stiff-arm returned on Sunday night. So did the play where Rodgers fakes a handoff, bootlegs right, and hits Nelson for a long TD after No. 87 runs by two defensive backs. That’s the kind of game Nelson needs to have if Jennings is less than 100 percent for the playoffs.

Scott Wells
No sacks. No penalties. Very few Bears defenders getting close to Aaron Rodgers. It was a statement game for the Packers offensive line and Wells deserves a lot of the credit. Early this season, it looked like the offensive line might be a strength for the Packers (for a change). Then injuries hit and the unit has been up and down. Through it all, though, Wells has been great, so great that Ted Thompson might have to step outside of his comfort zone and pay a guy who’s on the wrong side of 30 years old.  Read more... (582 words + 1 image, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Ryan Pickett was ruled out for the Packers on Sunday. (Photo: Jim Biever, Packers.com)

The Green Bay Packers could very well be without two of their most heavily used defensive lineman against the Chicago Bears, as coach Mike McCarthy ruled out Ryan Pickett and made Mike Neal questionable for Sunday’s game.

Pickett suffered a concussion against the Oakland Raiders in Week 14 and hasn’t played since. McCarthy made it sound early in the week like they were holding him out of practice just to be cautious, but Pickett obviously hasn’t shown enough improvement to give it a go on Sunday. His situation is worth monitoring now that this second concussion has caused him to miss two straight games.

Neal, who has dealt with shoulder injuries throughout his brief career in Green Bay, hurt his shoulder against the Kansas City Chiefs and has been limited this week in practice. It’s 50/50 whether he’ll play on Sunday. He’s been ineffective since returning from a knee injury suffered in training camp.

If neither can go, the Packers will be relying on a rotation of B.J. Raji, Jarius Wynn, C.J. Wilson and Howard Green as down lineman on Sunday. Even Green was listed with a foot injury but is probable to play.

A matchup to watch on Sunday will obviously be the Packers’ injury-plauged defensive line against Chicago’s much-maligned offensive line.  Read more... (341 words + 1 image, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Whether you think it is a large-scale problem or not, the Green Bay Packers defense has undeniably taken a step back in 2011.

The numbers don’t lie. Just a season ago, the Packers defense finished ranked No. 5 in total yards (309.1/game) and passing yards (194.2/game) and No. 2 in points (15.0/game). Eight games into 2011, the Packers rank No. 30 in total yards (399.6), No. 31 in passing yards (299.6/game) and No. 17 in points (22.4).

Somewhere along the way, the Packers have managed to allow 90 yards and a touchdown more this season than the last.

What has caused this sharp decline?

Let’s take a look at some of the potential reasons:

Lack of pressure from front seven

Everything from a defensive standpoint begins up front with pressuring the quarterback, so let’s start here. In terms of sacks, the Packers have 19 in 2011, or roughly 2.4 a game. In 2010, the Packers had 47 total sacks in the regular season, or almost 2.94 a contest. That’s a drop off of almost half a sack a game. Measurable, but not an eye-popping number. To be perfectly honest, the sack statistic alone is the most overvalued and outdated stat we have on defensive pressure. You have to look deeper into the Packers ability to pressure the pocket to get a better idea.  Read more... (1790 words + 1 image, estimated 7:10 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny