AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Overview: To kick off the next series of evaluations on AllGreenBayPackers.com, the ALLGBP staff are going to be analyzing each position group starting off with the specialists.  Overall, the specialists did a pretty good job keeping their names off the papers and blogs, outside of about 6 weeks of utter CROSBPOCALYPSE.

Where We Are Now

Here are the current suspects;

• LS Brett Goode (Undrafted, 2008)
• P Tim Masthay aka Ginger Wolverine (Undrafted, 2010)
• K Mason Crosby (6th round, 2007)

Listen to expanded coverage of this topic using the player below or download the podcast from the Packers Talk Radio Network on Itunes.

So that’s where we are.  Not much to report here; specialists are often drafted in the later rounds or not at all, and the Packers are no different, only using a 6th round pick on Crosby and picking up both Goode and Masthay off the free agent street.

• Goode: Goode again finished the season without a bad snap and even recorded a tackle in week 9 against the Cardinals, a pretty hard feat considering Goode has the least idea of what’s going on on the field since his head is between his legs at the beginning of the play.  Goode was also not responsible for any blocked or batted kicks which overall for a long snapper basically is a job well done

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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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Surviving Sundays With No Packers Football

The only thing you need to survive this Sunday without Packers football is Tom Silverstein’s story in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on the Packers front office and scouting operation.

Once again, the Packers were shorthanded at the NFL combine thanks to the departure of John Dorsey for Kansas City. In 2011, John Schneider left for Seattle and Reggie McKenzie departed for Oakland in 2012. All three of Ted Thompson’s right-hand men took general manager jobs.

You want your favorite NFL team to have as much talent as possible, both on the field and in the front office. It’s never a good thing to lose a talented player, just like it’s never a good thing to lose a talented executive. Silverstein’s story does a nice job of showing just how much of a team sport scouting, player evaluation and draft day can be.

However, every team has a star. On the field, the Packers have Aaron Rodgers. In the front office, they have Thompson.

As long as Rodgers is playing, the Packers should be good. As long as Thompson is the general manager, the front office should be fine.

I don’t get overly worried when Packers executives start making their annual exit from Green Bay for opportunities elsewhere. As long as Thompson is around, the Packers should remain on the right track. He’s the star. He’s the one that makes everything go.  Read more... (754 words + 1 image, estimated 3:01 mins reading time)

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1) Introduction: If there’s one thing to be said about long snappers it’s that you only notice them when something goes horribly wrong.  No one ever noticed Brett Goode, which makes him a fine long snapper indeed, to the point that general manager Ted Thompson thought it wise to resign Goode mid-season to the tune of a 3-year deal $2.715 million, something that typically only happens to the player that the Packers want to keep the most.  Goode again showed his worth by not botching up a snap the entire season (nor has he ever in his entire career) and continues to be perhaps the most consistent player on special teams.

2) Profile:

Brett Jackson Goode

• Age: 28
• Born: 11/02/1984, in Fort Smith, AR
• Height: 6’1″
• Weight: 255
• College: Arkansas
• Rookie Year: 2007
• NFL Experience: 5 years

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Goode hasn’t botched a snap in his entire career and it nothing less than perfection was expected from him.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: With long snappers living in relative anonymity, Goode’s highlight of the season was probably being a part of the Aaron Rodgers’ cream pie-in face prank that’s probably the biggest prank pulled on Rodger’s to date.  Other than that it was a relatively quiet year for Goode, no in game highlights nor lowlights to mention

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: Again, people only notice long snappers when they botch a snap, so overall, while Goode certainly didn’t win the Packers any games, he more importantly didn’t lose any.  Read more... (305 words + 1 image, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

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1) Introduction: After the disasters that were Derrick Frost and Jeremy Kapinos, Tim Masthay was a godsend.  While Masthay will probably never be known for his big leg, Masthay’s forte is his accuracy and his “Aussie style” punts.  Much like long snapper Brett Goode and Mason Crosby, Masthay was also the recipient of a contract extension this year, a 5-year $6.005 million contract, which settles down the kicking unit for the next couple years at least.  Masthay has brought back consistency to punts and in stark contrast to the up and down season that fellow kicker Mason Crosby faced this year, Masthay was good from opening day to the divisional championship.

2) Profile:

Timothy James Masthay

• Age: 25
• Born: 03/16/1987, in Pittsburgh, PA
• Height: 6’1″
• Weight: 200
• College: Kentucky
• Rookie Year: 2009
• NFL Experience: 3 years

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: While Masthay’s rookie season had it’s typicaly ups and downs, Masthay really became a reliable weapon on special teams in 2011 and it was expected that Masthay continue to win the field position battle for the Packers

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Masthay punted six times on opening day against the 49ers and pinned them back at their own 20 four times with only one touchback; it could be argued that Masthay was the Packers most consistent weapon that day.  Masthay’s worst game was probably week 15 against the Bears where he punted five times, twice went out of bounds and the other 3 were returned for 42 yards, the highest of the season.  If you want to talk about Masthay as a passer, he did managed to throw a special team touchdown in week 2 against the Bears but also threw a duck against Jacksonville, so the jury is out on that one.  Read more... (409 words + 1 image, estimated 1:38 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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Some of McCarthy’s decisions have led to many questions about whether they will help or hurt the Packers from here on out

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has a track record that speaks for itself:

73 wins

37 losses

.664 winning percentage in regular season

5-3 record in playoffs including a Super Bowl Championship

Two appearances in the NFC Championship game

Three NFC North division titles

Not bad, right?  Even by the sky-high standards of the Green Bay Packers and their fans, those numbers exude success.  But McCarthy has become somewhat of an intrigue lately.  As we know, he calls the offensive plays for the Packers during games.  He has done so since his arrival in Green Bay.

At times, especially this season, he has had fans and analysts alike scratching their heads with some of his decision making.  Now, I realize that he gives quarterback Aaron Rodgers some freedom to alter the play at the line if Rodgers sees something he thinks he can take advantage of.  It’s hard to say exactly whether some of these offensive failures were McCarthy calls or Rodgers check-out’s.  Whichever is the case, McCarthy is responsible for all of it as head coach.  Read more... (1219 words + 3 images, estimated 4:53 mins reading time)

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