AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Aaron Rodgers stock fell a bit during the playoff loss to the Giants, but it remains high heading into next season.

The Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl and there will be no more meaningful football games for the next six months. That’s six months to reflect on how a team that lost twice to the Redskins during the regular season could go on to knock off the mighty Packers in the playoffs and keep rolling all the way to the Lombardi Trophy.

Depressing.

It’s hard to find a silver lining, but if you’re searching for one, take a few minutes and look over the Packers roster. It’s pretty good. Go ahead and cross off some of the players you think won’t be around next season, and it’s still pretty good. This team is going to contend again next season, and probably for the next couple of seasons after that. At least Packers fans have something to look forward to.

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks at AllGBP.com evaluating and grading every player on the Packers roster. Those report cards are done now, and it’s time to put this season in the rearview mirror.  Read more... (1632 words + 1 image, estimated 6:32 mins reading time)

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Packers GM Ted Thompson traded back into the first round to take Clay Matthews in 2009.

The day was April 25, the Saturday of the 2009 NFL draft, and Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson had a franchise-altering decision staring him in the face.

As he sat in the Packers’ war room, having already acquired nose tackle B.J. Raji from Boston College with the ninth overall pick, there was a name he couldn’t shake and a need he knew he needed to fill.

The name was Clay Matthews, and the need was 3-4 outside linebacker.

Matthews, a wavy-haired overachiever with Hall of Fame bloodlines, remained available as the first round came to a close. A walk-on at USC who didn’t play full-time until his senior year, Matthews was an ideal pass rushing outside linebacker for his new defense. And Thompson knew that if there were two positions most important to making the Packers’ new 3-4 defense under defensive coordinator Dom Capers work, it was nose tackle and outside linebacker. Raji was the answer inside, Matthews could be the same on the edge.

In his hand was a weapon he rarely held, and uncharacteristically, Thompson pulled the trigger.  Read more... (1290 words + 1 image, estimated 5:10 mins reading time)

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The hot topic around the water cooler all around Wisconsin (and other businesses that are home to hard working Cheeseheads) has been the fate of Donald Driver.  As the most veteran member of the Green Bay Packers as well as one of the most beloved professional athletes in Wisconsin, whether Driver will be back on the team has been “the” discussion so far of the Packers offseason.

There is another decision looming however that arguably would have an even greater effect on the Packers roster: whether or not to bring back RB Ryan Grant who is now an unrestricted free agent.

This isn’t meant to diminish what Driver has meant to the Packers.  He’s been a locker room leader for practically forever and his off the field efforts have made Driver a legend in the mind of Packer fans.  He deserves every ounce of praise he’s getting.

With the Packers’ roster loaded with talent at the wide receiver position, Driver’s potential departure would not have as much an impact on the field as the loss of someone like Grant would potentially have.  Read more... (925 words + 1 image, estimated 3:42 mins reading time)

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Receivers often gained yards after the catch against the Packers because of poor tackling.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look back on the Green Bay Packers 2011 season and identify the obvious reasons for their defensive collapse.

Cullen Jenkins was sorely missed at right defensive end, little to no production was received from outside linebacker opposite Clay Matthews and Nick Collins’ season-ending neck injury handicapped the back end.

But one factor that gets overlooked is just how poor the tackling was for the Packers defense, especially in the secondary.

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus effectively laid out just how bad it was for the Packers secondary in 2011.

According to the site, which reviews and grades every single play for every single player, the Packers trio of cornerbacks—Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and Sam Shields—was the worst tackling cornerback trio in the NFL.

And believe it not, the numbers weren’t even close.

Woodson missed 15 tackles on 87 attempts, Williams missed 16 on 80 attempts and Shields missed 10 on 40 attempts. Altogether, the three missed 41 tackles in 2011—a number that ranks them significantly above any other cornerback trio in the NFL.  Read more... (647 words + 1 image, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

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Morgan Burnett

1) Introduction: Drafted in the third round of the 2010 draft, Burnett won himself the starting safety job alongside Nick Collins to begin his rookie season. Just four weeks in, however, Burnett blew out his ACL and missed the rest of the year, which included the Packers run to the Super Bowl. The knee was back to full strength in time for the start of Packers’ training camp.

2) Profile:

Morgan Burnett

Position: S
Height: 6-1
Weight: 209 lbs.
AGE: 23

Career Stats:

3) Expectations coming into the season: There were a good number of talking heads that thought Burnett could be the Packers breakout defender in 2011. A healthy knee, plus the ball skills Burnett showed both at Georgia Tech and during the four games of his rookie season, gave him a real chance. And despite the Packers giving backup safety Charlie Peprah a two-year deal after the 2010 season, most fully expected Burnett to resume his starting role next to Collins in 2011.  Read more... (564 words + 1 image, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

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Charlie Peprah

1) Introduction: Peprah’s journey-man career finally found some footing during his second stint with the Packers. After rookie Morgan Burnett was lost for the year in Week 4 of the 2010 season, Peprah stepped in and started 11 of the final 12 regular season games and each of the Packers’ four postseason wins. A hard-working, tough backup, Peprah was re-signed on a two-year, $2.5 million deal after the season.

2) Profile:

Charlie Yaw Peprah

Position: S
Height: 5-11
Weight: 203 lbs.
AGE: 28

Career Stats:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Despite filling in admirably during the Packers’ Super Bowl run, the consensus was that Peprah would fall back into a backup role in 2011. Burnett’s knee was healthy and Nick Collins’ name was written in permanent marker atop the Packers’ depth chart.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: For all his gaffes during the 2011 season, Peprah also made a fair number of big plays. Peprah’s five interceptions ranked him second on the team to Charles Woodson. The two most important turnovers came in San Diego, where Peprah returned an interception for a touchdown in the first half then sealed the win by picking off Philip Rivers late in the fourth quarter. However, there were simply too many mental and physical mistakes. Peprah allowed over 500 yards receiving on just 54 targets covered, plus five touchdowns and eight plays over 20 yards.  Read more... (501 words + 1 image, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

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Nick Collins

1) Introduction: Over the last two and half decades, the number 36 has been kind to the safety position in Green Bay. LeRoy Butler was an All-Pro wearing the number during the Packers’ run in the 1990′s, and Nick Collins has now established himself as one of the NFL’s top game-breakers at the position with the same two digits. In six seasons leading into 2011, Collins amassed 22 interceptions, six defensive touchdowns and three Pro Bowl appearances.

2) Profile:

Nick Collins

Position: S
Height: 5-11
Weight: 207 lbs.
AGE: 28

Career Stats:

3) Expectations coming into the season: High. Collins was a Pro Bowler in each of the last three seasons (2008-10) and was expected to continue an All-Pro level of play at the backend of the Packers defense. There was nothing to suggest a drop off in production for a 28-year-old in his football prime.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: There wasn’t many on either end. On Collins’ 132nd snap of the season in Carolina, an attempted tackle on a leaping Jonathan Stewart resulted in a neck injury that would require a season-ending cervical fusion. It is a similar procedure to the one that knocked Peyton Manning out for the entire 2011 season. During the two games Collins did play, however, the Packers gave up over 400 yards passing to both Drew Brees and Cam Newton.  Read more... (417 words + 1 image, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

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