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Cut him or keep him? The Packers might just stay uncomfortably married to AJ Hawk.

The topic of A.J. Hawk gets debated to death by Packers fans every offseason.

Some fans view Hawk as an overpaid bust who has no business on the field. Others view him as a serviceable player even though he hasn’t lived up to his status as a high draft pick. A few delusional fans even think some other team would trade a first or second day draft choice for Hawk.

If I were in charge of the Packers, I’d release Hawk. If released after *June 1, it would save $5.45 million against the salary cap — money that could be used to extend Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji — and cut ties with a player who hasn’t forced a turnover since 2010 and didn’t break up a single pass in 2012.

Hawk has always been a ho-hum player. I believe the Packers committed to him because they weren’t sure about their other options. The Packers were the 35-year-old woman who married a guy that wasn’t quite perfect, but time was running out and the other options were iffy. Settling on Hawk was better than being left alone and vulnerable (with a house full of cats).

Here’s the big question regarding Hawk’s future in Green Bay: Are there finally some other options for the Packers this offseason?  Read more... (572 words + 1 image, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

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Packers Inside Linebackers:  If nothing else, the 2012 team showed us how deep we are at inside linebacker. After losing two starters in Desmond Bishop and D.J. Smith, the Packers were still able to keep things together with Brad Jones in the lineup. The caveat, however, is that while the group is deep, there are no real “blue chip” players to be found.

(Note: Listen to the combined linebackers podcast at the end of this article:)

Where are we now:

Here are the current suspects:

A.J. Hawk (1st Round, 2006)
Desmond Bishop (6th Round, 2007)
Brad Jones (7th Round, 2009)
Robert Francois (UDFA, 2009)
D.J. Smith (6th Round, 2011)
Jamari Lattimore (UDFA, 2011)
Terrell Manning (5th Round, 2012)

For all the talk of the deficiencies at defensive line and outside linebacker, we seem to forget about the fact that inside linebacker is leaving us with something to be desired. It’s not a horrible group by any means, but there’s also nothing special about it. Desmond Bishop is currently the best player of the bunch, A.J. Hawk isn’t worth his contract weight, D.J. Smith was a bit of a disappointment this year, and despite his solid play, Brad Jones wasn’t much of a playmaker either. Terrell Manning seems to be the current roster’s last shred of hope among an otherwise lackluster crew, but he needs to make it onto the field first and foremost.  Read more... (1586 words + 1 image, estimated 6:21 mins reading time)

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Jamari Lattimore

1) Introduction: Jamari Lattimore was one of the Packers’ undrafted free agent projects in 2011. He has floated between the outside and inside linebacker positions during practices, but Lattimore’s live game experiences have come exclusively at outside linebacker. Aside from that, he’s been just another special teams player.

2) Profile:

Jamari Lattimore

• Age: 24
• Born: 10/06/1988, in Miami, FL
• Height: 6’2″
• Weight: 237
• College: Middle Tennessee State
• Rookie Year: 2011
• NFL Experience: 2 years

Career Stats and more

3) Expectations coming into the season: There was never too much to get excited about with Jamari Lattimore. Making it onto the 53-man roster is an accomplishment in and of itself, but beyond that, there was never any real chance of him becoming a starter. He’s been relegated to the back-up role and special teams core player.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: How many times can one make the highlight reel on special teams?

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: With only seven combined tackles on the year, Jamari Lattimore is nothing to write home about. He played the fourth-most snaps on special teams units with 269, so that counts for something, however small. Lattimore also filled in at left outsidel linebacker for eight snaps against the Arizona Cardinals, but didn’t do much with them.

6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: Nothing of note outside of his normal special teams duties.  Read more... (286 words + 1 image, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

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So I’m going to do something a little bit unusual from the usual Packers Playbook series; first off I’m going to breakdown a special teams play, namely Davon House’s blocked punt which turned into a special teams touchdown, but ru because I want to hear your rationale for running this play because frankly I don’t really understand it.

The Situation: The score is 7 to 3 in Green Bay’s favor and the Packers defense has just forced a 4th down.  The Jaguars have stayed in the game longer than most people had predicted but it’s probably more because the Packers seem to be off rather than any offensive firepower displayed by the Jaguars.

The Formation: To be honest I wasn’t able to find any of the position names for any of the positions, so I will be using my best approximations.  Naturally first off is KR Randall Cobb (18), who for obvious reasons is not in the picture and since this is a blocked punt play, is irrelevant to the play.  In the gunner/jammer positions are CB Davon House (31) aligning to the top of the screen and CB Jarrett Bush (24) and CB Casey Hayward (29) aligned to the bottom of the screen.  In terms of linemen (are they called linemen?), at RDE is ILB Jamari Lattimore (57) and at LDE is OLB Dezman Moses.  In the “middle” at DT is ILB Robert Francois (49) and TE Ryan Taylor (82).  In the “backfield” are SS Sean Richardson (28) and FS MD Jennings (43).  Read more... (941 words + 9 images, estimated 3:46 mins reading time)

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Packers LB Jamari Lattimore is rising.

It’s time to bring back the Packers stock report.

I’m back in my blogging chair after spending three booze-fueled days and nights in Madison, Wis. I gained about 10 pounds and reduced the functionality of my liver by about 7 percent. A typical weekend in Madison.

The only way to get my body back to where it was pre-Madison is to type a couple hundred words about the Packers. For the first Packers stock report of the 2012 season, I’m going to focus on players who entered training camp on the roster bubble. There will be plenty of stock reports dedicated to guys like Aaron Rodgers and Charles Woodson during the season, but for now, let’s focus on the guys who may or may not make the team.

Rising

Dezman Moses
The buzz about Moses grew louder during OTAs and he’s lived up to that hype during training camp. Perhaps hype is a poor word choice. I don’t think anyone is expecting Moses to come in and be an All-Pro. But he looks like a wild-card type of player, someone that could show flashes of brilliance and deliver production from a roster spot that you originally didn’t think would yield much of anything. Whichever word you want to use, Moses is definitely rising.  Read more... (766 words + 1 image, estimated 3:04 mins reading time)

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Jamari Lattimore

1) Introduction: As the “other” outside linebacker from Middle Tennessee State (Erik Walden) on the Packers roster, Jamari Lattimore was perhaps the polar opposite of Vic So’oto.  While So’oto was more powerful that quick, Lattimore was more quick than powerful.  While So’oto exploded onto the scene during the preseason, Lattimore remained relatively unknown.  But perhaps more importantly during the regular season, when So’oto was inactive, it was Lattimore who had taken his spot.

2) Profile:

Jamari Lattimore

Position: OLB
Height: 6-2
Weight: 230 lbs.
AGE: 23
Career Stats

3) Expectations coming into the season for that player: Next to nothing; Lattimore hadn’t shown much during the preseason and many were surprised that he made the team at all.  Lattimore was probably retained due to his special teams potential, which requires speed and agility over power.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Highlights include 2 special teams tackles in the game against the Chicago Bears during week 3, which is the only time he posted more than one tackle in a game (which ended up being 4 total for the season).  Lowlights would probably be during the preseason where more powerful offensive linemen and tight ends consistently outmatched Lattimore; in particular Arizona tight end Jim Dray pancaked Lattimore on one play.

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: Surprisingly high; considering he lacks the power or experience of an 3-4 linebacker, it’s surprising that Lattimore even made the team, but once on the roster he was active for 9 games and became a welcomed addition to the special teams unit  Read more... (331 words + 1 image, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

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Packers QB Matt Flynn has a perfect stage in Week 17 for his looming free agent status.

The Green Bay Packers (14-1) and Detroit Lions (10-5) face off in Week 17 of the NFL season Sunday.

The basics 

When: 12:00 CST, Sunday, January 1, 2012.

Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI.

TV: FOX; Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick with the call, Laura Okmin on the sidelines.

Radio: 620 AM WTMJ (Milwaukee); Packers Radio Network; NFL Sunday Drive.

Series: Packers lead, 92-65-7 (Packers won last regular season game, 27-17, on Nov. 24, 2011 at Ford Field.)

Five things to watch

1. Money to be made

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Friday that he wants all three quarterbacks to play on Sunday, but the middle man in the group has a golden opportunity to bump up his price tag this summer. Matt Flynn, the Packers backup quarterback and a free agent after the season, will likely see the majority of the snaps against the Lions. Another solid performance on the big stage may propel a quarterback-needy team to give Flynn the opportunity to start for their franchise—and the money that goes with it—next season.

2. Who needs receivers?

The Packers offense may be one of the most receiver-dependent outfits in the NFL, but they’ll be down two at that position on Sunday. Both Greg Jennings (knee) and Randall Cobb (groin) were ruled out this week by McCarthy. Their absence should mean an increase in snaps for the Packers’ four tight ends, and more specifically, rookies D.J. Williams and Ryan Taylor.  Expect the two first-year players to log career highs in snaps and receptions on Sunday.  Read more... (793 words + 1 image, estimated 3:10 mins reading time)

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