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Packers RB DuJuan Harris – Forgotten Man?

It was only a month before the NFL draft that Mike McCarthy was singing the praises of DuJuan Harris:

“Oh he’s going to play for us next season. That’s his responsibility if he wants to be the starter…  Once he got ready, I felt great about the way DuJuan finished the season. Looking forward to having him for an offseason and look for good things for him.”

March was a good month for Harris. You couldn’t go two clicks of the mouse without finding a feature on Harris. JSOnline did a feature piece on him and what he was doing to prepare this offseason. Our own Adam Czech posed the question, “Real Deal or Flavor of the Month?”

And then the draft happened.

The Packers added not one, but two dynamic running backs in the first four rounds of the draft. Before a down has been played, Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin are already being described as the “Thunder and Lightning” tandem the Packers haven’t seen since Hornung and Taylor.

Rob Reischel of JSOnline.com wrote a fine piece the other day titled, “There’s a Storm Brewing in Packers Backfield.” It was a well-written and informative piece, but I had one problem with it; there wasn’t even a mention of DuJuan Harris. He’s suddenly the Rodney Dangerfield of the Packers’ backfield.  Read more... (540 words + 3 images, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

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The Packers will move Bryan Bulaga from right tackle to left tackle for the 2013 NFL season.

The Green Bay Packers aren’t waiting until training camp to shuffle their offensive line.

Details of the Packers new-look line can be found in this excellent Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story by Tom Silverstein. To summarize:

• Bryan Bulaga moves from right tackle to left tackle
• Josh Sitton moves from right guard to left guard
• T.J. Lang moves from left guard to right guard
• Marshall Newhouse (last season’s starting left tackle), Don Barclay (who got a few starts in 2012) and Derek Sherrod (coming off a major leg injury that forced him to sit out last season) will compete to start at right tackle.
• Evan Dietrich-Smith is the starting center

Essentially, Packers coach Mike McCarthy is moving his two most talented and experienced offensive lineman from the right side to the left, which is Aaron Rodgers’ blind side, the Packers franchise quarterback who just signed a five-year contract extension worth $110 million.

Having a shutdown left tackle isn’t as important as it used to be in the today’s NFL. If you have a quarterback like Rodgers — someone who is mobile, smart and reads the opposing defense like a coach — you can get away with having an average left tackle.

But why take that risk? Why not combine your all-world quarterback with a reliable left tackle? If I climbed inside McCarthy’s head, I’m guessing that’s what his thinking behind the move would be.  Read more... (552 words + 1 image, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

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Packers RB Johnathan Franklin

Much has been made over the Packers’ running game in recent years, and this year’s draft class proves that upgrading the ground game is a top priority headed into 2013.

No, the Packers may not have landed the No. 1 running back in the draft — last Giovani Bernard mention — but they may have gotten Nos. 2 and 3.

Bernard was the first back off the board, going to the Cincinnati Bengals with the 37th pick. Former Michigan State power back Le’Veon Bell went to the Steelers at No. 48, and the Denver Broncos drafted Montee Ball ten picks later.

Prior to the draft, Eddie Lacy was expected by most to be the first back off the board. NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock had Lacy as the 18th-best player in the draft.

But then draft day happened, and the Packers grabbed him with the second-to-last pick in round two.

As Bob McGinn put it, the Packers almost reluctantly turn in the card for the former Alabama standout when he was still on the board at No. 61. Most draft analysts loved the pick. Everyone (Mayock, Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, Matt Miller) had Lacy as the top running back in the draft, and the Packers — a team that lacked a running game — stole him with a late second-rond pick.  Read more... (845 words + 1 image, estimated 3:23 mins reading time)

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Alabama RB Eddie Lacy

On the deepest second day of the NFL Draft in recent memory, the Packers only made one selection, but it landed a player that many expected to be the team’s first-round pick.

Alabama’s Eddie Lacy was the Packers’ lone second-round pick at No. 61 overall. He was regarded as the No. 1 running back in the draft by ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller and NFL Network’s Mike Mayock.

But three running backs were taken ahead of Lacy. The Cincinnati Bengals took North Carolina all-purpose back Giovani Bernard with the No. 37 pick at the top of round two. Bernard was the No. 1-rated running back on my board; Jayme Joers, who previewed the running backs for the CheeseheadTV Draft Guide, also had Bernard at the top.

But after Michigan State’s Le’Veon Bell was picked to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Wisconsin’s Montee Ball was taken by the Denver Broncos, the Packers moved down from No. 55 to No. 61 and stole Lacy with the penultimate pick in the second round.

It’s hard to say definitively how the Packers ranked the running backs, but Packers Director of College Scouting Brian Gutekunst said the team had a high opinion of both Ball and Lacy.

“We liked Montee Ball a lot,” Gutekunst said. “We had (Lacy and Ball) in the same range. They’re different kinds of backs. The history of running backs from the SEC is very, very good. They tend to make it.”  Read more... (1227 words + 1 image, estimated 4:54 mins reading time)

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Packers RB DuJuan Harris will surely be back with the Pack in 2013.

As far as personnel, the Packers underwent more changes at running back than any other position. James Starks was the starter through training camp before the team signed Cedric Benson after the first preseason game. Injuries added up, allowing DuJuan Harris–a former used car salesman–to take over as the team’s feature back.

Where are we now:

Here are the current suspects;

DuJuan Harris (UDFA, Signed as FA in 2012)
Alex Green (3rd round, 2011)
James Starks (6th round, 2010)
Brandon Saine (UDFA, 2011)
John Kuhn (UDFA, Signed as FA in 2007)

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

Harris: For the 2012 Packers, DuJuan Harris (5-9 208) was a huge blessing in a small package. After starter Cedric Benson was lost for the season with a Lisfranc injury, and reserves Alex Green and James Starks both battled injuries of their own, the team turned to Harris to be the lead back. Harris played in a total of six games last season and recorded a team-high four rushing touchdowns.

Green: After Cedric Benson was lost for the season while James Starks was already out of the lineup, Alex Green was the next man up. Green broke off a season-long run of 41 yards later in the game Benson got hurt but never grabbed hold of the starting job. For the season, Green averaged just 3.4 yards per carry.  Read more... (1284 words + 1 image, estimated 5:08 mins reading time)

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Packers RB DuJuan Harris

Packers running back DuJuan Harris has been getting a lot of attention lately.

Here’s what Packers coach Mike McCarthy recently said about him:

“Oh, he’s going to play for us next season. That’s his responsibility if wants to be the starter….I wish we would have had DuJuan earlier. He was a young man that we were just getting ready to try to put in the game. Everybody’s like ‘Just put him in there.’”

Cheesehead TV co-founder and senior NFL video producer at Bleacher Report Aaron Nagler recently Tweeted this about Harris:

“Watching DuJuan Harris run the football is one of my favorite things.”

Tyler Dunne had a feature story on Harris at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Here’s an excerpt:

“The second-year pro from Troy finished as the Packers’ top back, rushing for 257 yards on 62 carries with four scores in six games. This off-season – as outside pressure mounts for Green Bay to land a bigger, durable, every-down back – Harris has hit the mute button.”

So, is Harris for real? Could a 5-foot-7 dude plucked from an auto dealership halfway through last season really be the Packers answer at running back?

Maybe.

Let’s look at why Harris might be the real deal, and why he might be just another flavor of the month.

Real Deal  Read more... (656 words + 1 image, estimated 2:37 mins reading time)

• Have you seen the guy run? Holy cow! Quick. Decisive. Explosive. Good vision. Strong. Moves forward. Packs a punch. Physical. You ask yourself why a guy like him was selling cars instead of ramming into NFL defenders.

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March Madness: Packers’ Sweet Sixteen”

As March Madness was zeroing in on the “Sweet Sixteen,” the ALLGBP readers voted for the Packers best sixteen players over the weekend.

With the top 12 already selected, our readers voted for the last four to make the list of “Sweet Sixteen.”

Here are the 12 that made it by default.

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

And now here are the voting results for the last four spots. (The percentage numbers represent what percentage of the voters cast a vote for that player.)

93% Casey Hayward

86% Bryan Bulaga

67% Jermichael Finley

50% Tim Masthay

47% T.J. Lang

24% Brad Jones (write-in)

23% Dujuan Harris (write-in)

20% Davon House (write-in)

17% A.J. Hawk

9% C.J. Wilson

7% John Kuhn

5% Mason Crosby

5% Jarett Bush

Other random players received a vote here or there, not much worth mentioning, except that Aaron Rodgers got a write-in vote. Either someone didn’t read very well or they thought he was twice as good as anyone else on the roster. I guess we’ll never know.  Read more... (319 words + 3 images, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)

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