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Who are your 2013 Green Bay Packers?

With the off-season activities now officially over with, we now turn our attention to the upcoming training camp and preseason.  The big question is:  What will the 2013 Green Bay Packers look like?

I’m taking a look at each position and listing who I think are the likely starters, as of today.  Training camp always tends to change that list quite a bit so this is obviously as of today, as it stands, and without having really seen many of these guys play.

Quarterback

Starter:  Aaron Rodgers

Backup: BJ Coleman

Bubble: Graham Harrell, Matt Brown

Quick hits: Rodgers is the league’s highest-paid player and let’s not forget he’s pretty good at what he does.  No question there and so the biggest debate is whether Coleman can leapfrog Harrell and will the team carry three active quarterbacks?  My thought is that if Coleman wins the backup spot, they will likely cut Harrell.  Illinois State’s Matt Brown could be a good candidate to land on the practice squad, much like Coleman did last season.

Running Back/Fullback

Starter:  DuJuan Harris

Backup:  Alex Green, Eddie Lacy, Johnathan Franklin

Bubble: John Kuhn, James Starks, Angelo Pease, Jonathan Amosa  Read more... (1485 words + 3 images, estimated 5:56 mins reading time)

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Neal saw more time at outside linebacker at Tuesday’s OTA’s

The Green Bay Packers resumed OTA’s and one of the big stories from today’s practice was defensive end Mike Neal, who lined up at outside linebacker during a portion of today’s activities.  He was also with the OLB’s as well as the defensive ends during position drills.  Neal spent some time at OLB last week as well.

It should be noted that there are some question marks at outside linebacker, especially in those who are proven at the position.  Behind starter Clay Matthews is Nick Perry, Dezman Moses, Nate Palmer and Andy Mulumba.  Perry is expected to re-assume the other starting OLB spot when the season begins, although he still is not 100% back from a wrist injury that ended his rookie season after just six games.  Moses filled in some last year after being signed as an undrafted free agent, but doesn’t appear likely to make a big jump.  Palmer was the Packers’ sixth round selection in this year’s draft and, while the team seems very high on him, he has yet to play a down at the NFL level.  Mulumba was an undrafted free agent that the Packers signed immediately following the draft and, like Palmer, has yet to play a down at the pro level.  Green Bay lost OLB’s Erik Walden and Frank Zombo to free agency.

It’s too early to tell if the team has seen enough to think that Neal can move outside on a more regular basis, but he clearly did enough last week to get another look.  Read more... (760 words + 3 images, estimated 3:02 mins reading time)

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Packers WR Randall Cobb.

Breakout WR/HB/KR/PR Randall Cobb touched the ball 159 times and amassed a Packers franchise record 2,342 all-purpose yards in 2012.

It was quite the season for the second-year talent out of Kentucky, and very necessary. Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson all missed significant time with injuries. Cobb, along with James Jones, stepped up to fill the void left by Jennings and Nelson and helped negate the Packers struggles running the ball.

But 159 touches is a lot for a player who is 5-foot-10 and 191 pounds. Cobb injured his ankle and missed the season finale against the Vikings. He also managed just six catches for 31 yards in two playoff games and was taken off of punt returns against the 49ers, only to see rookie Jeremy Ross muff one deep in Green Bay territory that led to a San Francisco touchdown.

I was at the wild-card win over the Vikings and watched Cobb limp around on that ankle. He was hurting. The explosion wasn’t there.

With Jennings gone, it’s assumed Cobb will have an even bigger role in the offense. His role probably will be bigger, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll touch the ball 159 times again.

Cobb was targeted 104 times in 2012, the most since Jennings’ 125 targets in 2010. If Nelson stays healthy, and Jones repeats his stellar 2012 season, perhaps that number will come down a bit.  Read more... (632 words + 1 image, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers NFL Draft prospect profile: WR Robert Woods

Player Information:

Robert Woods, WR USC
6-1, 201 pounds
Hometown: Carson, CA

STATS

NFL Combine:

40 yard: 4.51

Bench: 14

Vert: 33.5″

Broad: 117″

3 cone: 7.15

Shuttle: 4.47

News and Notes:

When it comes to drafting wide receivers, the Packers don’t follow the mold.  Going back a couple years, in 2008 the Packers pretty much could have picked any wide receiver they had wanted in the 2nd round (the first wide receiver was Donnie Avery with the 2nd pick of the 2nd round for reference).  There was the star (Mario Manningham), the speedster (DeSean Jackson) and the physical specimen (Limas Sweed).  The Packers however decided to select Jordy Nelson, who up to that point no one had every heard of.  Now 5 years later, Jordy Nelson is probably considered the best wide receiver in the 2008 draft (I could see people arguing for Jackson, but inconsistency and a big mouth put Nelson higher up in my book).  The point is, the Packers don’t emphasize measurables as much as they do emphasize route running, versatility and football acumen; so while fans and the media will hype players like Tavon Austin and Cordarrelle Patterson, past history would dictate that the Packers probably aren’t so interested.  However, a wide receiver that the Packers might be interested in would be Robert Woods.

 What they’re saying about him:  Read more... (1038 words + 1 image, estimated 4:09 mins reading time)

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After a two days of voting, the fans have had their say and the Packers’ Final Four players have been chosen. As a reminder this was a vote for the Packers’ BEST pure football players, not those with the most value to them.

I’ve also listed the top 20 vote getters along the way, in order – so these represent the players our readers consider the best 20 on the Packers roster.

1.  Aaron Rodgers
2. Clay Matthews
3. Randall Cobb
4. Josh Sitton
5. Casey Hayward
6. Jordy Nelson
7. James Jones
8. BJ Raji
9. Bryan Bulaga
10. Sam Shields
11. Desmond Bishop
12. Ryan Pickett
13. Tim Masthay
14. Jermichael Finley
15. Tramon Williams
16. Morgan Burnett
17. T.J. Lang
18. A.J. Hawk
19. C.J. Wilson
20. John Kuhn

Close but didn’t quite get there: Brad Jones, Jarrett Bush, Mason Crosby, Davon House, DuJuan Harris.

Any surprises for you?

Follow Jersey Al:

          Follow @JerseyAlGBP           Add to Circleson

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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Last weekend, we picked our “Packers Players Elite Eight.” As March Madness continues, we will parallel the NCAA Basketball tournament and have you vote for the four BEST Packers on the roster; the “Packers Players Final Four.”

The players you selected fore the Elite Eight (in no particular order) were:

• James Jones
• Aaron Rodgers
• Casey Hayward
• Randall Cobb
• B.J. Raji
• Jordy Nelson
• Clay Matthews
• Josh Sitton

This time around, you get to vote for the Final Four. So select who you think are the Packers’ BEST four football players from the list. As a reminder, this isn’t a vote for the player’s value to the Packers, but rather who are the BEST football players on the roster.

The poll will be up through Sunday Night and the results will be posted on Monday.  Enjoy!

Follow Jersey Al:

          Follow @JerseyAlGBP           Add to Circleson

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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Pick the Packers’ Elite Eight

After a few days of voting, the fans have had their say and the Packers’ Elite Eight players have been chosen. As a reminder this was a vote for the Packers’ BEST pure football players, not those with the most value to them.

I’m holding back the order and percentages of the top eight (for now), so as not to influence our Final Four voting. Don’t fret, when this is all over, I’ll publish all of the results at each stage for your perusal and discussion.

I will show you the order and percentages of the eight that didn’t make it. And here’s a little nugget: the last player to make the Elite Eight was a full 14% higher that Bryan Bulaga, so there was no real battle for that last spot.

These are your Packers Elite Eight ( in random order):

VOTING RESULTS:

• James Jones
• Aaron Rodgers
• Casey Hayward
• Randall Cobb
• B.J. Raji
• Jordy Nelson
• Clay Matthews
• Josh Sitton

THOSE ELIMINATED:

• Bryan Bulaga  (34.49%)
• Sam Shields (31.02%)
• Desmond Bishop  (26.77%)
• Ryan Pickett  (24.20%)
• Tim Masthay (23.42%)
• Jermichael Finley  (23.17%)
• Tramon Williams  (22.65%)
• Morgan Burnett  (13.77%

The biggest surprises for me are Morgan Burnett being last (shouldn’t Masthay be last?) and Ryan Pickett not being higher on the list. Personally, I’d rate Pickett higher than Raji.

What do you think?  Read more... (280 words + 3 images, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

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