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Minnesota quarterback Marqueis Gray with his fiancee, Alley Behr, and their three children — Tessa, top left, and nine-month-old twins, MarZell, left, and MarShawn, right. (Photo from Pioneer Press)

Green Bay Packers NFL Draft prospect profile: QB/WR MarQueis Gray

Player Information:

MarQueis Gray, QB/WR Minnesota
6-3, 240 pounds
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN

STATS

NFL Combine:

40 time: 4.73 second
Bench press: 15 reps
20-yard shuttle: 4.30

News and Notes:

I like to torture myself by following the Minnesota Gophers football team, so I thought I should do a draft profile for one of its players. … Highly recurited out of Ben Davis High School in Indiana as a dual threat QB. … Moved between QB and WR at Minnesota. … Has worked out some as a TE at the NFL combine and at his pro day. … More of a running threat than a passing threat at QB. … Ran for 11 touchdowns in his junior and senior seasons. … Had some buzz as a possible slot WR type of player, but slow 40 time at the combine has hurt him. … Gray says he’s been bothered by an injured ankle. … The Colts hold the last pick in the draft. Could Gray’s Indiana ties make him a candidate to be this year’s Mr. Irrelevant as the last player chosen in the draft?

What they’re saying about him:  Read more... (864 words + 1 image, estimated 3:27 mins reading time)

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Thanks to Aaron Rodgers, and the guidance of Mike McCarthy, the Packers are set at QB.

Packers quarterbacks:  That Aaron Rodgers guy is pretty good. Should he ever get hurt for an extended stretch (God forbid), things could go south in a hurry. Most teams are in the same boat as the Packers when it comes to quarterback. If the starter gets hurt, they’re screwed. Fans like to get all worked up over the backup quarterback. “Bring in a good backup,” they yell. “I want someone with experience,” they cry. Well, if the backup QB was good, he probably wouldn’t be a backup in the first place. And bringing in a veteran? I’ll take a low-cost young guy with a high ceiling over someone with experience who is overpriced, washed up, and probably no good, anyway.

Where are we now:

Here are the current suspects;

Aaron Rodgers (1st round)
Graham Harrell (7th round)
B.J. Coleman (7th round)

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

Aaron Rodgers: The most physically gifted quarterback in the game. By now, we all know what Rodgers is good at. If we wanted him to be even better, I suppose we could point to his tendency to hold the ball and ignore underneath receivers. Sometimes it feels like Rodgers is almost too talented for his own good. He’s always trying to wriggle around the pocket and keep his eyes downfield, hoping a receiver comes open deep for a bomb. Sometimes you want to shake Rodgers and tell him that there’s nothing wrong with a “normal” five-yard pass every now and then. That’s getting really nit-picky, though. It’s not like Rodgers never throws underneath and always holds the ball too long.

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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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Packers OT Andrew Datko

The Green Bay Packers have signed eight practice squad players to future contracts, according to the team’s official website.

Tight end Brandon Bostick, quarterback B.J. Coleman, tackle Andrew Datko, center Garth Gerhart, guard Joe Gibbs, linebacker Micah Johnson, cornerback James Nixon and safety Chaz Powell have all been signed by the team. This according to Packers general manager Ted Thompson.

Bostick was a pleasant surprise in training camp and remained on the Packers’ practice squad for the entire season. With the uncertainty surrounding Jermichael Finley’s future in Green Bay, Bostick could potentially challenge for a roster spot next season.

Coleman was selected by the Packers in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He showed impressive arm strength in training camp but was never activated on game day. He continues to be a backup quarterback-in-training for the Packers.

Datko was a seventh-round pick of the Packers last season. He was inconsistent throughout training camp and never found the field this season. With Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod returning next season, the Packers will be in much better shape at the tackle position.

Gerhart, an undrafted rookie free agent from Arizona State, and Gibbs, a first-year player out of Tennessee-Martin were both recent adds to the practice squad.

Johnson was added to the practice squad Dec. 31 after entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Johnson spent time with the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals before arriving in Green Bay. He was first-team All-Southeastern Conference as a junior at Kentucky.  Read more... (377 words + 1 image, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

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Packers Quarterback BJ Coleman

The Green Bay Packers have been enamored with BJ Coleman since before the NFL Draft. I was told this by an NFL Scout in the business for many years. He showed me his report on BJ Coleman, and here is just a short except:

SUPER SLEEPER-B.J. COLEMAN, Tennessee-Chattanooga
To me, he’s a poor man’s Philip Rivers, in that he has that moxie to compensate for a few mechanical flaws. Baltimore Ravens’ Joe Flacco went the same route early in his
college career, stepping down from the University of Pittsburgh to turn a stellar career at Delaware into a 2008 first round draft selection. Despite being slowed by a shoulder injury that limited him to just seven games as a senior, Coleman is still projected by many draft analysts as an “under-the-radar” prospect who is an outstanding field general with a great work ethic. Coleman has the athleticism and size that teams covet in a pocket passer. He has the functional mobility to consistently escape pressure. With his raw power, he has done an excellent job of standing tall in the pocket, along the leg drive to carry defenders when he runs between tackles, evident by his seven short area scoring runs for the Mocs. Compares To-MATT FLYNN-Seattle-Coleman is not going to hear his name heard until the draft’s third day, but there is first-day material in this kid waiting for a patient coach to develop. With the Packers history for turning around low draft picks into NFL starters, could this be a match made in heaven?  Read more... (743 words + 3 images, estimated 2:58 mins reading time)

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Approximately 20 minutes after roster cuts had to be submitted to the league office, the Packers’ final three moves became known.

The Packers waived QB BJ Coleman, placed OT Derek Sherrod on IR/PUP and LB Vic So ‘oto on IR (he suffered an ankle injury in last night’s game)

View the complete list of all the Packers roster moves here:

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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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Is it possible for a preseason game to suck?

If it is, then the Green Bay Packers experienced it last Thursday in their 21-13 loss to the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium in their preseason opener.  Not only did the Packers lose, the starting offense came out flat with reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers posting a quarterback rating of 0.0 (yes, it’s a meaningless stat, but the offense looked putrid regardless).

Throw in a possible season ending hamstring injury to starting linebacker Desmond Bishop and the 2012 season opened with a rather loud thud for Packer Nation.

That said, it’s a new week and football returns to Lambeau Field tonight when the Green Bay Packers take on the Cleveland Browns.

The Packers enter the game a little healthier than in the game against the Chargers, they still have a ways to go before they can be declared ready to go before the regular season starts.  Greg Jennings is still out with a concussion and the Packers must be more worried about his health than they are letting on.  Marshall Newhouse finally returned to practice and should see his first game action of the season.

With the starters likely seeing very limited action once again, here are some things to look forward to as the Packers’ preseason schedule hits the halfway point:

James Starks has been put on notice  Read more... (851 words + 1 image, estimated 3:24 mins reading time)

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