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Graham Harrell

1) Introduction: Was Harrell’s 2012 season the best ever by a backup quarterback? The second-year player from Texas Tech held the clipboard with perfect form. His posture and facial gestures while watching games from the sideline was second to none. His bored-to cup-to pour time — aka the amount of time it takes Harrell to snap out of staring straight ahead and being bored, sprint to the water cooler, grab a cup, fill it, and deliver it to Aaron Rodgers without spilling — was the best in league history. I can think of no other quarterback that is better suited to back up Rodgers than Mr. Graham Harrell.

2) Profile:

Graham “Mr. Wonderful” Harrell

• Age: Ageless
• Born: to play backup quarterback
• Height: He’s bigger than the game
• Weight: Harrell doesn’t wait for anything or anybody
• College: School of Hard Knocks
• Rookie Year: Doesn’t matter. Harrell has played like a veteran ever since setting foot on the field
• NFL Experience: Watching Harrell play is an experience we all should cherish.

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Stay the hell off the field. The Packers kept extra beer in the coolers at Lambeau just in case Harrell ever had to enter a game. It is unclear whether the beer was intended to distract the fans from Harrell actually being in the game, or to calm the nerves of the Packers coaching staff who had to try and make sure Harrell didn’t injure any teammate by hitting them in the nuts with an errant pass.  Read more... (441 words + 1 image, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

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So special teams is one of those things that no fan knows about but we all love to gripe about.  For instance, other than the kicker, punter, long snapper and gunner, do you know the name of any other position?  I sure don’t but I will yell at the screen when the guy misses a block.  This is essentially what happened during the “punt, pass and puke” play as quoted by Drew Olsen on Green and Gold Today.  We all know it was a terrible play, and head coach Mike McCarthy and special teams coach Shawn Slocum both got plenty of heat for the call.  But why call the play in the first place?

The Situation: The score is Green Bay 21, Chicago 10 with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter.  The Packers are sitting pretty well at the moment, the Bears offense hasn’t been able to move the ball (i.e. failing to convert a single 3rd down) while the Packers have had success both on the ground as well as in the air and look to burn some time with a two score lead.

Snap: The Packers come out with two players matching each gunner.  This is typically done to give the punt returner some more space on the edges but they give up any real chance of blocking the punt as well as being overmatched in the middle

 Read more... (1283 words + 7 images, estimated 5:08 mins reading time)

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Around the NFC North in week 10

Week 10 brings about two great matchups in the NFC North.  With the Green Bay Packers on a bye, the Chicago Bears host the Houston Texans while the Detroit Lions travel to Minnesota to finish out their season series against the Vikings.  Let’s look at some of the storylines surrounding the games.

Houston Texans (7-1) at Chicago Bears (7-1)

This is the marquis matchup for the NFL’s week 10 slate and is the Sunday Night game.  Each team comes in having lost just one game and playing well.  Chicago has won six straight and Houston has bounced back from their first loss of the season and won their last two in a row.  Each team’s last loss came at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.

Defense is the name of this game.  Houston ranks 3^rd overall in yardage allowed (286/game) while Chicago ranks 6^th (318/game).

The Bears are leading the league in takeaway’s with 28 and takeaway ratio at +16.  They’re turning those takeaway’s into points and have seven interception returns for scores this season by five different players.  Their defense has become nearly as potent, in terms of scoring, as their offense.

Chicago is tied with New England for fumbles caused with 11.  Just last week, Chicago forced five fumbles, two by CB Charles Tillman.  Tillman has been hot after the ball this season and has seven caused fumbles and has two of Chicago’s interception returns for touchdowns.  Some say he’s an early candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.  Read more... (981 words + 3 images, estimated 3:55 mins reading time)

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Cedric Benson Vs. Ryan Grant

Welcome to tonight’s Packers running back debate featuring Cedric Benson and Ryan Grant.

Television stations throughout Wisconsin were very upset that the last presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney drew a 0.0 rating. That’s right, not a single person tuned in to watch the presidential debate in Wisconsin. 

Research by Nielsen suggested that most television sets were tuned to highlights of the Packers 28-27 win over the Saints, or simply turned off because the weather was nice and people would rather stare at trees and grass than either presidential candidate.

Whatever the reason, Wisconsin television stations need to recoup the ratings that were lost during the debate and the there’s only one tried and true method to make that happen: Packers talk. 

Specifically, a Packers debate.

Tonight’s debate features present-day Cedric Benson vs. Ryan Grant in his prime. They will be debating who is the better running back. Remember, this is present-day Benson and Grant in his prime (late 2007-2009). We’re not focusing on overall career arcs or anything like that. We’re only focusing present-day Benson and Grant from late 2007 through 2009. 

Without further delay, let’s turn it over to our moderator, ALLGBP.com staff writer and the only undefeated team owner in the ALLGBP.com fantasy football league, Mr. Adam Czech.

Moderator: Welcome Mr. present-day Benson and Mr. in-his-prime Grant. Here are the rules for tonight’s debate:    Read more... (1418 words + 1 image, estimated 5:40 mins reading time)

• Don’t swear. The youth of America is watching.

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Packers Free Agent Ryan Grant

Since this has unofficially become running backs week at AllGBP.com, I’ll chime in with some thoughts on the one guy who hasn’t been mentioned, Ryan Grant.

This is also the first in what I hope will become a series of “I have a feeling” posts, based on nothing more than what my gut tells me and intended to spur active discussion and debate. So, let’s get started.

Earlier in the week, Matthew Stein asked the question, “Which running back gives the Packers the best chance to win?” That was followed up on Thursday by Adam Czech, who gave us a look at some other players in the mix; the Packers UDFA running backs.

After reading and dissecting both posts, I came to this rather unlikely (for me) conclusion; Ryan Grant could be the guy that gives the Packers the best chance to win.

Those of you who remember some of my past posts on Ryan Grant, (like “Ryan Grant can’t cut it“), can all pick yourself up off of the floor now. But lets remember that several years have passed since that particular post. In the time that has elapsed, I came to accept what Ryan Grant provides (when healthy) to this pass-first Packers offense; dependability and accountability.

While I’ll always be yearning for a more dynamic running back, having a big-time running back like Adrian Peterson, let’s say, would be a waste on this team. It’s apparent to anyone paying attention that the running game is given just token consideration in this offense.  Read more... (722 words + 3 images, estimated 2:53 mins reading time)

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Ryan Grant

1) Introduction: After back-to-back 1,200-yard rushing seasons, Grant came into the 2010 season as the Packers’ unquestioned No. 1 running back. Just halfway into the first game in Philadelphia, all that changed. An ankle injury cost him the entire season — although Grant said he could have came back in the postseason had he not been placed on IR — and he’s fought for playing time ever since.

 

2) Profile:

Ryan Brett Grant

Position: RB
Height: 6-1
Weight: 222 lbs.
AGE: 29

Career Stats

3) Expectations coming into the season: There was talk in camp that Grant could potentially be a cap cut, but he re-structured his deal to lower his base salary and cap number. From there, Grant was all but guaranteed a spot on the final roster. Packers coach Mike McCarthy made it clear early on that no back was going to get 25 carries a game, instead opting for a more modern style of two backs that split the workload. Grant and James Starks were the backs who figured into that equation.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: It looked early on in the season that Starks was going to force the Packers into giving him the majority of the carries. Grant looked slow and washed up. In Week 3 in Chicago, Grant got himself right back into the swing of things with a performance  (17 carries, 92 yards) that finally looked more like the Grant of old. A lost fumble in Atlanta then started an 8-game string of 30 rushing yards or less from Grant. Once the injury bug hit Starks, Grant started showing signs of life — including an 88-yard output against the Raiders. Over the last five games, Grant averaged almost five yards a carry and scored three touchdowns.  Read more... (557 words + 1 image, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

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C Scott Wells is one of eight free agents for the Packers in 2012.

It’s far from a Moneyball style stats movement, but the guys over at Pro Football Focus have slowly but surely put together one of the premier stat-organizing sites available for the NFL and its legion of fans. It’s not a fool-proof system, and I occasionally disagree with a rating or two from a given game. But PFF grades every player on every play for all 32 teams, so there’s no shortage of work these guys put into their grades and ratings.

With the 2011 season over in Green Bay, I used PFF’s ratings/grades to analyze the Packers’ eight free agents this offseason. If you’re not familiar with the ratings at PFF, don’t fret—a higher score indicates a better rating, and a negative score obviously isn’t what you’re looking for.

Also, for another look at the Packers’ free agents in 2012, check out this article from AllGBP’s own Adam Czech.

CB Jarrett Bush (-4.0, 321 snaps)

There was a time early in the season that Bush was rated as the Packers’ best cornerback. As the season wore on, however, teams exploited Bush in the passing game more and more. In the Packers’ final regular season game against Detroit, Bush played a season-high 83 snaps and allowed 105 receiving yards on 10 targets. Overall on the season, Bush allowed 19 completions on 38 attempts for 302 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions (72.5 passer rating). Bush also finished with seven tackles on special teams, which was good for third on the team.  Read more... (917 words + 1 image, estimated 3:40 mins reading time)

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