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Packers C/G Evan Dietrich-Smith

1) Introduction: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers often had positive things to say about Evan Dietrich-Smith on his weekly radio show. Rodgers made it sound like Dietrich-Smith may not have taken football as seriously as he should have early in his career, but now has seen the light. I’d like to think Dietrich-Smith finally got one too many tattoos and decided to take his anger out on opposing teams, but Rodgers probably knows more than me in this situation, so we should go with the quarterback’s story.

2) Profile:

Evan Dietrich-Smith

• Age: 26
• Born: 07/19/1986, in Salinas, CA
• Height: 6’2″
• Weight: 308
• College: Idaho St.
• Rookie Year: 2009
• NFL Experience: 4 years

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: The “sixth man” on the offensive line. The sixth man usually sees the field at some point during the season, and that’s what happened for Dietrich-Smith.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Dietrich-Smith got going once he replaced Jeff Saturday as the starting center. He’s a little small, but his physicality was a nice addition up front and he picked up the offense and line calls without a problem. Dietrich-Smith’s lowlights mostly came during his four-plus games at left guard, where he allowed all three of his sacks and racked up five penalties, according to Bob McGinn.  Read more... (374 words + 1 image, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

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Packers T Marshall Newhouse

1) Introduction: Marshall Newhouse may have been the Packers best offensive lineman down the stretch. But overall, his numbers were about the same as they were a season ago, when Newhouse was a struggling first-year starter. Was Newhouse’s strong finish a sign of good things to come? Or just an average player having a good three-game run?

2) Profile:

Marshall Newhouse

• Age: 24
• Born: 09/29/1988, in Richardson, TX
• Height: 6’4″
• Weight: 319
• College: TCU
• Rookie Year: 2010
• NFL Experience: 3 years

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Improvement. It took a little while, but Newhouse got better at the end of the season. He handled Jared Allen in consecutive weeks and was decent against the 49ers in the playoff loss. Newhouse is kind of the Jeff Saturday of tackles: he’s good enough at pass blocking, but gets mauled too often trying to run block.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Newhouse’s highlights were definitely his two-week run against Allen and the Vikings at the end of the season. Actually, overall, Newhouse had a very good season pass blocking, registering just six weeks with a negative pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus. Newhouse’s worst stretch came in week 12-15 where he looked lost for some reason.

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: In a passing offense, you need tackles who can pass block. Newhouse can pass block. He’s not a shut-down blocker, but he’s good enough to do the job. Will the job be his next season? Depends on the draft, depends on Derek Sherrod, and depends if Mike McCarthy wants a more physical and run-blocking line.  Read more... (347 words + 1 image, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)

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Packers T Bryan Bulaga

1) Introduction: If Bryan Bulaga looked into a crystal ball, what would he see? Would he see a season where he finally stays healthy and is solid at right tackle? Would he see a move to left tackle? Would he see himself handing over half of his annual salary to me? It’d be nice if he saw the third scenario, but the first two are more likely.

2) Profile:

Bryan Bulaga

• Age: 23
• Born: 03/21/1989 in Barrington, IL
• Height: 6’5″
• Weight: 314
• College: Iowa
• Rookie Year: 2009
• NFL Experience: 3 years

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Lots of talk in training camp about this being Bulaga’s time to rise to pro-bowl status. Bulaga and Sitton were finally going to give the Packers some muscle in the running game and act like a brick wall for Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately, Bulaga hobbled around and struggled early, then went down with a hip injury for good in week 9.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: The hip injury is the obvious lowlight. Bulaga says it’s not a Bo Jackson type of injury, but we’ll see. Rams defensive end Chris Long was held in check by Bulaga in week 7. Bulaga also stepped up big-time when the Packers needed him against Houston. An obvious lowlight was Bulaga’s terrible game against Seattle, where he looked like he was playing in quicksand.  Read more... (354 words + 1 image, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

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M.D. Jennings

1) Introduction:  Packers safety M.D. Jennings entered 2012 trying to crack the roster at safety after playing primarily on special teams in his rookie season of 2011.  With Charles Woodson moving from cornerback to safety and with the team having drafted rookie Jerron McMillian in April’s draft, Jennings faced some stiff competition for reps at safety.  Because of the team’s many sub packages on defense, Jennings did get on the field as early as week one.  When Woodson went down midway through the season, Jennings started several games and gained valuable reps at safety.

2) Profile:

Melvin Delanie “M.D.” Jennings

• Age: 24
• Born: 7/25/1988 in Grenada, MS
• Height: 6’0″
• Weight: 195
• College: Arkansas State
• Rookie Year: 2011
• NFL Experience: 2 years

Career Stats and more

3) Expectations coming into the season:  Jennings was expected to develop and see some reps in the team’s nickel package as well as back up Burnett and Woodson.  The team’s hope was that Jennings could push to eventually become a regular on the team’s defense when Woodson eventually departs.  He was also there to compete with rookie McMillian.  Jennings continued to be an important part of the team’s special teams coverage units.  Read more... (526 words + 3 images, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

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Jerron McMillian

1) Introduction:  Packers safety Jerron McMillian was the second of Green Bay’s two fourth round draft picks in 2012 (133rd overall).  When the team lost safety Nick Collins in 2011, it quickly became a position of need for the Packers.  Charles Woodson would move back to safety, but the team needed some young talent to infuse for the future.  Enter McMillian who, much like Collins, was a Packers draft pick from a small school and a guy the team was hoping was a diamond in the rough.  McMillian was drafted for his football smarts and ability to be equally as effective against the pass and in run support.

2) Profile:

Jerron McMillian

• Age: 23
• Born: 4/2/1989 in Newark, NJ
• Height: 5’11″
• Weight: 203
• College: Maine
• Rookie Year: 2012
• NFL Experience: 1 year

Career Stats and more

3) Expectations coming into the season:  The team knew they had both Woodson and Morgan Burnett as starters at safety so McMillian was not immediately expected to start.  Heading into training camp, the team likely wasn’t sure what they had in the rookie from Maine.  He proved a quick study and was sharing reps with M.D. Jennings on second team defense during the offseason.  By the end of training camp, the team had already inserted McMillian into the defensive game planning for the upcoming regular season.  Read more... (547 words + 3 images, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

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Morgan Burnett

1) Introduction:  Packers S Morgan Burnett was the lone holdover from 2011 as a starter and pure safety.  Charles Woodson was a starter on the 2011 team, but was listed as a cornerback in addition to playing a hybrid safety role.  The Packers decided to release the other starting safety, Charlie Peprah, early in training camp.  Remember, Burnett missed most of his rookie season in 2010 so this was essentially his second year as a regular player in the defense.  This was the first season that Burnett did not miss a game due to injury.

2) Profile:

Morgan Mark Burnett

• Age: 24
• Born: 1/13/1989 in College Park, GA
• Height: 6’01″
• Weight: 209
• College: Georgia Tech
• Rookie Year: 2010
• NFL Experience: 3 years

Career Stats and more

3) Expectations coming into the season:  Burnett was the Packers’ “rock” at safety.  He was on the field for more of the defensive sub packages than any other safety.  He was largely responsible for making sure that youngsters M.D. Jennings and Jerron McMillian knew their responsibilities and, when Charles Woodson went down with a collarbone injury, he became the most experienced safety on the roster.  Burnett showed flashes of being able to get after the football in 2011 and the team was hopeful that he could continue to grow in his coverage abilities and help force some turnovers in 2012.  Read more... (645 words + 3 images, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

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Erik Walden

1) Introduction:  Packers outside linebacker Erik Walden came into the 2012 training camp with slim odds of staying on the roster.  The team had just drafted Nick Perry with their first round pick and Perry would surely get every opportunity to start opposite Clay Matthews.  The team also saw undrafted rookie Dezman Moses emerge durin camp and it looked lik Walden was all but out the door.  When it became apparent that the Packers would need some depth as Perry developed, they decided to hang onto Walden.  When Perry went down early in the season and Moses wasn’t quite ready to be an every-down player, Walden became the starter at LOLB as he had been in 2011.

2) Profile:

Erik Lashawn Walden

• Age: 27
• Born: 8/21/1985 in Dublin, GA
• Height: 6’02″
• Weight: 250
• College: Middle Tennessee State
• Rookie Year: 2008
• NFL Experience: 5 years

Career Stats and more

3) Expectations coming into the season:  Walden’s initial expectations were low as his ability to stay on the roster was in question from day one of the Packers offseason program.  When he was kept after training camp, Walden was there to serve as a veteran backup.  With Frank Zombo on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, the Packers needed the depth at this vital position in its defense.  When Perry went down early in the season, Walden became the starter and was expected to solidify the left side of the pass rush/run defense and improve over his 2011 performance.  Walden moved to the left side when Matthews moved back to the right side.  Read more... (712 words + 3 images, estimated 2:51 mins reading time)

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