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Maybe being so tough backfired on Tramon Williams last season.

If you haven’t read Tyler Dunne’s story on Packers CB Tramon Williams and his injured shoulder in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, take a few minutes and check it out.

Williams sounds like a tough guy, doesn’t he? Sounds like the type of guy that would fit in just as well in the Vince Lombardi era as he does in the Mike McCarthy era. From Dunne’s story:

 “His shoulder was torn, strained, bruised – and worst of all – Williams suffered nerve damage. That nerve damage zapped Williams’ aggressiveness and his play suffered.”

You can’t question Williams’ toughness, but is too much toughness a bad thing?

After a breakout season in 2010 earned him a new contract, Williams was terrible in 2011. The lack of a pass rush and overall ineptitude of the defense didn’t help, but there’s no sugar-coating the fact that Williams got torched way too often.

It sounds like Williams’ injured shoulder changed how he played and probably was to blame for at least a few of those torchings.

The injury also meant that Williams couldn’t press cover. When teammates were in the area of the ballcarrier, Williams avoided contact as much as possible, letting other players make tackles (or miss them). He also stayed away from pile-ups.

Now Williams is saying that the shoulder still bothers him and he might not be back to 100 percent before training camp.  Read more... (633 words + 1 image, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)

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2012 NFL Draft

So here is part II of the reasons behind the draft picks (see part I here)  Again, I’m not assigning grades to the draft or to the players because I don’t believe you can tell whether or not a player will pan out within the first 30 something days.  What I am interested in is what the Packers were thinking of when they decided to draft a player; with that in mind, this is what I think the Packers want to accomplish with each draft pick and which player each rookie could be potentially be replacing.

Jeron McMillian – Projected Strong Safety – Round 4, Pick #38 (#133 overall) – Replaces Pat Lee

Rationale: First off let’s be honest here, I don’t think we have the next Nick Collins in McMillian; I was actually very surprised that McMillian was drafted at all by the Packers simply because he doesn’t fit into the mold of what the Packers look for in safeties.  The Packers are probably more interested in playing two free safeties (which there really wasn’t one this year in the draft), consider their preferred pairing of Collins and Morgan Burnett (who ironically never really played together): both have good ball skills and the ability to jump passing routes.  What McMillian does best is run support, which is almost the exact opposite of a ball hawk.   Then again even if McMillian is the next Collins I highly doubt that the Packers can afford to stick him out there in his first year, which is even more reason why I think Woodson will have to make the move to safety.  Read more... (1506 words + 1 image, estimated 6:01 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays With No Packers Football

The Packers signed free agent center Jeff Saturday this week to replace the departed Scott Wells. Yes, I said the Packers signed a free agent. A free agent that I actually heard of, nonetheless.

I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react to this occasion.  It’s been a while since Ted Thompson blew the dust off the checkbook he uses to sign free agents from other teams and actually brought someone in. Fans from other teams often celebrate like they just won the Super Bowl after inking a free agent so….congrats fellow Packers fans?

Thompson obviously didn’t know how to react to the occasion, either. He was so confused and out of sorts about what he just did that he turned around and did it again, signing free agent defensive lineman Daniel Muir.

Now, Muir fits the mold of a Packers free-agent signing much more than Saturday. Muir is a journeyman that Thompson signed and released once before. He’ll have to fight hard just to make the team and anything he contributes during the season will be a bonus.

Saturday, on the other hand, will be expected to be what he’s been his whole career: A reliable pass-blocking center who quarterbacks the offensive line for one of the most explosive offenses in the league, often during no-huddle situations. I’m sure Saturday is up to the task, but he’s also going to be 37 years old when the season starts.  Read more... (916 words + 1 image, estimated 3:40 mins reading time)

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With Pat Lee headed out of Green Bay and Jarrett Bush re-signed for three years, the Packers’ defensive back situation is looking more and more clear for next season.

Pat Lee’s four years with the Packers have to be considered a disappointment after being drafted in the 2nd round with the 60th overall pick. Lee struggled to make an impact on defense and failed to stick as a return man, but was a contributor in Super Bowl XLV following Charles Woodson’s shoulder injury. Although it didn’t show on the stats (1 tackle), Lee was decent enough to keep the Packers from complete collapse defensively.

There are no immediate plans to move Charles Woodson to safety, so he will continue to cover the slot with Tramon Williams and Sam Shields working the outside. Jarrett Bush will continue to be the team’s fourth cornerback with Davon House taking Pat Lee’s spot behind Bush. That would leave one more roster spot if the Packers keep six corners like they did last season. Brandian Ross from the practice squad will likely compete with a draft pick.

Shields was probably the player most hurt by the lockout and lack of off-season workouts following his successful rookie campaign in 2010. Instead of building on his success, Shields regressed in many ways in 2011, including his tackling and other fundamentals.  Read more... (684 words + 1 image, estimated 2:44 mins reading time)

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1. Release LT Chad Clifton: The writing is on the wall.  Even Chad Clifton knew that it was unlikely that he would ever finish his 3 year and had most of the money guaranteed up front (which was helped by the cap-less season before the lockout).  Clifton has had issues staying healthy in the twilight of his career and this year was no different with Clifton being out for the majority of the season.  Added to that a $5.5 million salary in 2012, ascending player in Bryan Bulaga, 1^st round draft choice Derek Sherrod and up and at least a serviceable backup in Marshall Newhouse and the Packers have set themselves well for life after Clifton.
2. Renegotiate Charles Woodson and Donald Driver contracts:
   1. Charles Woodson: Woodson has undeniably lost a step and his high-risk high-reward style of play backfired a couple times last season.  Woodson currently leads the Packers roster with a salary of $11.5 million, some of which was a bonus for a NFL defensive player of the year award in 2009.  But what Woodson is still capable of is shutting down the new breed of tight end, like Jermichael Finley.  For instance, Woodson is still quick enough and physical enough to handle a Jimmy Graham, and I’m not sure who else on the defense could.  Unfortunately Woodson will turn 36 next season and at some point he’s going to have to realize that aging veterans start getting marginalized.  Hopefully Woodson doesn’t let his fiery attitude get in the way of business.

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Pat Lee

1) Introduction: Excuse me for sounding like Jon Gruden, but here’s a guy that really needs no introduction.   Pat Lee has emerged as a convenient scapegoat for Packer fans ever since his embarrassing performance against the Detroit Lions.  Throw in multiple mishaps the past couple seasons, and this is likely the final time AllGreenBayPackers.com will be evaluating Lee.

2) Profile:

Pat Lee
Height: 6’0”
Weight:  196
AGE: 27

Career Stats

3) Expectations coming into the season: Lee was expected to be nothing more than a contributor on special teams.  While he’s no Jarrett Bush,  Lee was expected to step it up on a special teams unit that notoriously stuggled throughout 2010 (Dan Connolly anyone?)

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights:  Highlights? Well, he recovered a fumble  against the Chiefs in the preseason.  That about covers it.

Now there are plenty of low-lights. Let’s start with the game in Detroit on Thanksgiving.  Before the famous Ndamukong Suh stomp, Lee was ejected after a punt return when he supposedly took a swing at Aaron Berry of the Lions.  It was a classic case of the second person getting caught, but it still stung to see a Packer player.

Lee also made the blooper of the season in the season finale also against the Lions.  Lee ran out of the end zone to recover a kickoff at the one yard line and then kneeled in the end zone. POOF! Instant safety and an instant “face palm” for Packer fans.  Read more... (410 words + 1 image, estimated 1:38 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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