The Packers had one of their worst seasons in the Aaron Rodgers era in 2017, going 7-9, finishing 3rd in the NFC North, and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Their worst finish since 2013 when they went 8-7-1. Because of that, the main stream sports media seems to be counting them out quite early for the 2018 season. All I’ve been hearing is “Watch out for the Vikings!” or “Watch out for the Eagles!” Not one mention of Green Bay when predicting conference winners and/or Super Bowl contenders. One question I have is why? They addressed key off-season issues that have plagued them as a team over the years. Secondary and defensive line being at the top of the list with the additions of Muhammad Wilkerson and Tramon Williams and also adding players through the NFL draft.
Green Bay as a team under Rodgers has been very successful. Since 2008, they’ve won the division five times in the last nine seasons and had made the playoffs eight straight times before Rodgers got hurt in week 6 of the 2017 season against the Vikings, effectively ending the streak and the season. They’ve recorded 10+ wins in 7 of the last 9 seasons and have made the NFC Championship in 2 of the last 4. To say with a straight face that Green Bay isn’t a contender for the Super Bowl in the NFC this season would be asinine. I’d say they’re up there with the likes of Philadelphia, Minnesota, Los Angeles, and New Orleans within the conference.
Since 2008, (2008-’17, 9 seasons), Green Bay has posted 100 wins in the NFC, the most in the conference within that span. Aaron Rodgers as starter has posted 94 of those 100 wins. 56-14 at home. I don’t understand why the media is counting out such a successful team after one bad year in about 5 years. There is absolutely no reason to.
As long as Green Bay has Aaron Rodgers under center, they always have a fighter’s chance in the NFL. His play on the field speaks for itself. With Rodgers as QB, the Packers have posted 103 wins and just 55 losses (regular and postseason combined). Good for a .652 win percentage. 8th-best in the NFL among active QBs. Without him, the Packers are a measly 5-11-1.
The moral of the story here is never count Green Bay out. Especially this early. Rodgers makes them that much better when he is on the field. There is still work to be done, sure, but to say that Green Bay hasn’t improved as a team since the end of 2017, at least on paper, would be blasphemous. Whether those improvements show themselves on the field remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure, don’t sleep on them this season, especially with a 100% healthy Aaron Rodgers at the helm.
When you mention the top five wide receivers in the NFL right now, you’ll get different answers at different spots on the list from fans around the league. Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr, AJ Green, etc, etc. One name that is missing usually when mentioning them is a guy in Green Bay, 4th year WR Davante Adams. Rightfully so in some aspects. Adams’ career so far has/had been overshadowed by another great WR in Green Bay, Jordy Nelson. With him moved onto Oakland though, Adams looks to take over the role as the #1 WR.
Since 2016, he has caught a total of 22 touchdowns, the most of any WR in that span. In comparison, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham, & AJ Green have caught a total of 34 TDs COMBINED in that span. He will also see his overall workload increase a bit as a result of taking the #1 spot. That shouldn’t be an issue though due to the amount of catches he had last season at the #2 spot (74 total with 10 TDs). Nelson had 53 total receptions and 6 TDs as the #1 WR in 2017.
Adams should have no problem taking over as the #1 WR for Rodgers. He and Adams already have built a connection with each other that only is getting better with each passing season since his rookie one in 2014. Since then, Adams has started in 52 of 59 games with a total of 2,811 yards and 26 touchdowns on 237 receptions.
Let’s also not gloss over the fact that he had Brett Hundley throwing to him in weeks 7-15 & 16-17 & still put up almost 1000 yards with 10 touchdowns. He had 885 yards on 73 catches good for 12 yards per catch. Adams is no slouch at wide receiver & continues to shine regardless of the quarterback or situation that is put in front of him. He looks to take a firm hold of the #1 spot this season & use his leadership skills to better equip the younger, more inexperienced rookie wide receivers who are just beginning their time in the NFL with Green Bay. I do know one thing, people need to stop sleeping on him and start talking about him in the same breath as Julio, Odell, & other top tier wide receivers. Adams has definitely earned it.
When drafted in 2015 out of Stanford, Ty Montgomery was primarily going to be used as a wide receiver and special teams/return man. Little did he know, he’d be used as much more. 2015, he was used as a return man and wide receiver. 2016 saw him transition to a full-time running back due to the injury issues at the position at the time. He had 77 attempts for 457 yards and 3 total touchdowns. He was good for 5.9 YPC, the highest on the team at the time.
2017 saw him transition into a wide receiver/running back hybrid but due to a nagging ankle injury, he saw the field on a limited basis. He only caught 23 passes in 5 games for 173 yards and 1 touchdown. He ran the ball 71 times for 273 yards and 3 touchdowns. Good for only 3.8 YPC. Overall in 14 games started, he’s carried the ball a total of 151 times for 744 yards and 6 touchdowns.
He was asked about it in an interview on Thursday, saying: “I feel like this is what I should be doing, doing multiple things, running the ball out of the backfield, catching the ball out of the backfield, and catching the ball outside.” “You know, it’s one of the benefits of me being able to keep my number 88 and having the skill set that I have is what personnel do you have out there, how do you line up to this set or this formation or this personnel that we’re in.” “So I think it’s about matchups and creating mismatches.”
It also creates questions for defensive coordinators. How do you defend a guy who can play multiple positions at a high level every game? That’s exactly what you want an offensive weapon like Montgomery to do. It helps the offense be more effective and efficient as a whole as well. Green Bay as an organization knows that they have a special player with him. Someone who can be a multi-positional threat. Montgomery looks to get back to his peak form in 2018 for Green Bay and if he does, look out.
Green Bay wide receiver Randall Cobb seems to have been left in the dust when discussing wide receivers in the league. His stats over the last 3 seasons are among the elite. Since 2014, Cobb has more touchdowns (26), than Julio Jones (23), Jarvis Landry (23), and Larry Fitzgerald (22). Although his numbers have dipped a bit, he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. With Jordy Nelson now gone, his playing time and overall production should rise in 2018.
In 2017, he had 66 receptions for 653 yards and 4 touchdowns. Even as the third string receiver behind both Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams, Cobb still proved to be a vital part of the Packers’ offense. Often, he was used as a decoy on pass plays or as a running back. Both instances make him a threat on the field. According to Pro Football Focus, Cobb rated at 73.0 as a wide receiver last season.
As far as efficiency goes, he was that and more in 2017. He had a catch rate of 71.7% (7th overall in ‘17), of his 76 total targets, 82.6% were catchable (14th overall in ‘17), 2.03 yards per separation at target (11th overall in ‘17), a 96.8 passer rating when targeted, and finally, he had a total of 424 yards after catch (7th overall in ‘17). He also only had 2 total drops (95th overall in ‘17).
With the addition of Jimmy Graham into the offense combined with Jordy Nelson leaving for Oakland, Randall Cobb should see an increase in both targets out wide and in the slot. That should only bode well for him in 2018. He is still an important and vital part of what makes Green Bay a threat in the NFL even though his numbers have dipped from previous seasons. He has the speed to get into the open field after a catch and has great hands for being a relatively small receiver at only 5’10”. Randall Cobb is still a capable, durable, and dependable receiver and the numbers prove it.
Green Bay ended up signing another tight end Thursday night with veteran Marcedes Lewis coming over from Jacksonville. He announced it himself via his Twitter. This now makes it three total tight ends on the roster along with Graham and Kendricks. The addition of Lewis makes the Packers offense even more dynamic and multidimensional. He’s one of the best blocking tight ends in the league and with struggles from the offensive line in Green Bay, Lewis can help shore that up on both the run and pass.
Lewis spent 11 seasons with the Jaguars from 2006-’17. At 6’6″, he’s yet another tall target for Aaron Rodgers. In his 11 year career, he’s caught 375 passes for 4,572 yards and 33 touchdowns at an average of 12 yards per catch. Having spent his career with mediocre to average quarterbacks, I’m sure he’s very happy to start catching passes from one of the best QBs, if not the best in the league today. Only time will tell, but it looks like Green Bay has improved in all facets of the game, at least on paper.
Before the Lewis signing, Green Bay had gone through Jermichael Finley, Andrew Quarless, Jared Cook, and most recently, Martellus Bennett, under Rodgers’ leadership. That’s a lot of tight ends. Hopefully, this signing helps Green Bay stay steady at the tight end position. They know how important that position is in a pass-heavy league with Aaron Rodgers. One thing is for sure, Green Bay’s offense is going to be a very tough one to stop this season.
With the insane amount of money getting dished out to NFL quarterbacks around the league recently, it’s not out of question to say that Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers deserves that and more. Back in April of 2013, Rodgers signed a then 5-year, $110M contract ($54M in guaranteed money), making him the highest paid player at the time. But now that San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo (5-years, $137.5M, $74.1M guaranteed), Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins (3-years, $84M fully guaranteed), and now most recently, Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan (5-years, $150M, $100M guaranteed), have gotten their deals, the Packers want to make sure Rodgers is taken care of. Rodgers currently sits at 9th on the highest paid QB list. Now, we wait.
The ball is now in Packer GM Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball’s court. Rodgers said himself back in March that he is confident that his agent and Green Bay’s front office will get something done. But now that the numbers are out for other QBs in the league, it’s time to start finalizing a deal for the best one in the league today. $100M seemed like a reasonable price for Rodgers, but now with Ryan most recently signing one worth $150M with $100M in guaranteed money, that is now the leaping point instead of the starting point in regards to Rodgers’ new deal.
I expect Green Bay to get one done sooner rather than later. Most likely by the end of the pre-season if not sooner. Now until late August would be the expected timeframe for the new deal to get done. Aaron Rodgers is going to be a very, very rich man when all is said and done, as he should be. I expect upwards of $160M total with $120-30M in guaranteed money. It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility, especially for a QB the caliber of Rodgers.
Alexander is a guy who I initially wasn’t very high on when Green Bay drafted him. After some research and film review though, this is a player who will thrive on a defense like Green Bay’s with new DC Mike Pettine. He is very physical in coverage, plays the ball VERY well, is sure-handed, and has tremendous deep ball coverage. All of those traits should translate very well for him at the next level with Green Bay. Excellent pick.
Grade: A
RD 2, PK 45: Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa.
I honestly didn’t expect Green Bay to go cornerback, cornerback in back-to-back rounds but that’s just what they did. I actually called this pick the night before. This is guy who I was very high on and still am. He reminds me a ton of former Packer and Hawkeye, Micah Hyde. He has excellent ball skills, very good hands, and is excellent in pass coverage. He’s very lanky and has great leaping ability. He’ll fit very well in Green Bay. Yet another great pick.
Grade: A
RD 3, PK 88 (Trade up via Carolina Panthers): Oren Burks, OLB, Vanderbilt.
Unlike starting LB Blake Martinez, Oren Burks can provide a coverage element at ILB for Green Bay. Martinez was a tackling machine last season for them, leading in total tackles with 144. Burks can also be a tackling LB while still providing pass coverage which will benefit the secondary and provide huge dividends for both Burks and the Packers as a whole on defense. Very good pick for trading into the 3rd round.
Grade: B
RD 4, PK 133: J’Mon Moore, WR, Missouri.
Moore is a big body receiver who lacks deep speed, but he has tremendous foot movement, lateral quickness, and leaping ability. He seems to be the heir apparent to the recently departed Jeff Janis, who left for Cleveland early in the offseason. He also will provide Rodgers with yet another threat in the passing game.
Grade: B-
RD 5, PK 138: Cole Madison, OL, Washington State.
Madison is a guy who, even though he’s not a guard, reminds me a lot of a former Packer Josh Sitton. While with Green Bay, Sitton had a tremendous ability to pass protect even under the harshest of conditions. He also had great hands and tremendous footwork while blocking. I see a lot of those traits in Madison and I believe he will be a very good asset to the offensive line and will provide Rodgers with great protection up front as well.
Grade: B+
RD 5, PK 172: JK Scott, P, Alabama.
Originally, this was a head scratcher for me but after I thought about it, I realized it actually was a good pick. Green Bay has had some punter problems over the years. This is not to say that currently Justin Vogel isn’t a good punter, but with possible injury always a concern and punting somewhat of an issue the last few seasons (pinning opponents in the 10-5 yard lines consistently), this was a good pick overall.
Grade: B
RD 5, PK 174: Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR, USF.
This pick was yet another great one. Valdes-Scantling is another athletic freak at wide receiver. At 6’4″, he ran a 4.37 40 yard dash and had a 30 ½ vertical. He’s a tall, fast receiver that will benefit very much having Aaron Rodgers throw to him. This pick seemed to me to possibly be a replacement for the recently departed Jordy Nelson, who left Green Bay back in March to join Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders. From his tape, he seems to have great, shifty movements on routes, great route running and catching ability, and great speed in the open field. Once again, another great pick.
Grade: B
RD 6, PK 207: Equanimeous St. Brown, WR, Notre Dame.
This was yet another big time pick from first year GM Brian Gutekunst. St. Brown is a guy that was very high on Packer fan’s radars and for good reason. He’s 6’5″ and had a current Packer QB as his starter while at Notre Dame. DeShone Kizer was his QB and was absolutely elated that Green Bay had chosen him in the sixth round. He was quoted in a statement on Twitter: “I’m so hype!” “Packers fans, you have no idea what you are about to get in EQ.” “Looking forward to watching y’all’s reactions to him this off-season.” “A special talent.” So, it seems that players and fans alike are fond of this pick. As they should be. Film watch showed me the great speed, route running, and catching ability/radius this guy has. He is an absolute FREAK athletically and will most certainly showcase that ability this upcoming season for Green Bay. Excellent pick.
Grade: A
RD 7, PK 232: James Looney, DL/DE, Cal.
Green Bay once again went the California route and drafted defensive lineman James Looney. At 6’3″ and 275lbs, Looney has very good size for his position. He’s very quick off the ball and very aggressive in his pursuit and has great pursuit angles as well. Both qualities should translate to the NFL. Green Bay needs pass rush and this was one part in getting that problem fixed. Great pick.
Green Bay has had long-snapper issues over the past few years. Brett Goode has been injury prone so getting one as a possible replacement in the later rounds wasn’t all that bad of an idea. If you’re asking yourself: “What team would draft a long-snapper in the later rounds of an NFL draft?” Answer? The same team who drafted a punter two picks earlier in the 7th round. This was a great long-term pick for Green Bay. LS was a need and they got a relatively good one in Bradley out of Mississippi State.
This was another great pick and addressed pass rush, a huge need for Green Bay. A defense that only had around 16-18 total sacks as a unit last season and desperately needed guys that can aggressively and relentlessly pursue the QB. At 6’2″ and 248 lbs, Donnerson is an athletic specimen at the edge/LB position. He had twelve sacks in his 4 year career with SEMS. This was an excellent pick by Gutekunst that addressed and fixed a glaring problem on Green Bay’s defense.
Grade: A
Final overall analysis and grade:
Overall, Brian Gutekunst did an excellent job in his first ever draft as the new GM of the Packers. Not only did he address glaring problems on defense, he also got quality playmakers at positions of need and helped out Aaron Rodgers in the process. I don’t think we would’ve seen the same type of aggressiveness in the draft under former GM Ted Thompson. I think with Gutekunst at the helm, Green Bay seems to be heading in the right direction and only trending upwards.
The Packers get their season started off with a bang as they host the Bears and Vikings in consecutive weeks. The season gets started off with four home games in the first six weeks, and then a “Bye Week” in Week 7. After the week off, they will be traveling quite a bit as they will have only four home games in the final ten weeks of the season.
Despite this, they don’t have more than two straight home games or road games. Their week off is at a decent point in the season. They have a Thursday night game in Week 11, which means they have a “mini-bye” before they hit their final stretch of the season.
Two home games vs divisional opponents gives the Packers a great opportunity to jump ahead and take control of the division and tiebreaker scenarios early. Did we expect anyone else but the Bears to open their 100th season? It’s no doubt that emotions will be riding high in the second week as the Vikings come into town. They travel to Detroit in Week 5, their first game in the Motor City before December since 2014. The 49er game will be intriguing as San Francisco has high hopes with Jimmy Garoppolo as their QB. The two weeks after the “bye” will be tough as they visit the Rams in Los Angeles, and then travel to the East Coast to play the New England Patriots. After a home game vs Miami, they travel to Seattle for a Thursday Night Game, and then have some time off before a huge game in Minnesota. Their December features three home games, all vs teams who play their home games indoors. They play Detroit to close out their regular season for the third year in a row, but they will be at home this time.
We never know how the season will play out, but what I am seeing, they had better be ready to play after the “bye week” as they play four road games in five weeks, all against potential playoff teams. Seattle is a question mark, but they are at home and still have Russell Wilson at QB, even if their defense is no longer dominant. I think they are set up to have a great finish to the season if they have their house in order in December.
We can predict this and that, but the whole Packer roster hasn’t even taken shape yet. We still have the draft, plus there will be players coming and going in training camp and during the preseason. The schedule is a fun time of the year though. Many of you will be buying tickets, and perhaps make a trip or two, like to L.A. in November for example. It’s a good time to plan your football parties. Some of you will probably plan your Sunday Mass or Service schedule around the Packer games. For your friends and relatives that are not really into football, I guess they will have to find something else to do during Packer games. Hey, there is always Saturday, and there will be some Sundays free during the season.
I know there is a long way to go before the first game kicks off, but the release of the schedule is welcome news for sure. The draft will be coming up soon, and we will see what happens. There have been some grumblings from fans and rumors about the team and whether Aaron Rodgers is frustrated with management. A lot of it is just talk. There is plenty of time to sort things out. The team will be just fine. Let’s enjoy this moment and get ready for the draft as we build this roster for their 100th NFL Season, a season in which I believe they are fully capable of ending with another Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Former Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Dez Bryant was released from the team Friday per ESPN NFL Nation reporter Todd Archer & later was confirmed by ESPN NFL Insider Adam Shefter via Twitter. This brought about questions regarding what teams could possibly use Bryant’s services. Among those teams was the Green Bay Packers. Analysts and some fans alike were thinking he could be a possible replacement for Jordy Nelson. That sounds like a great idea, right? Let’s dive a bit deeper into it.
Over the last seven years with the Cowboys, Bryant has accumulated a total of 531 receptions for 7,459 yards, and 73 touchdowns at an average of 14.0 yards per catch in 113 career games (99 starts). With Green Bay in ten years, Jordy Nelson had a total of 7,848 yards, and 69 touchdowns at an average of 14.3 yards per catch in 136 career games (88 starts). Not that much of a difference stat wise. While I definitely understand why people are saying he could be a possible replacement for Nelson, I just can’t see him and Rodgers having as good of a connection. Nelson was also 33 years old when Green Bay released him. Bryant is soon to be 30 years old and will most likely be asking a hefty price tag. With Green Bay already using 30M in cap on Jimmy Graham, I just don’t know how they’d end up signing a guy like Bryant as well to the roster. It’d be much easier just to get a wide receiver in the draft. Also, Bryant has had a bit of an attitude problem with Dallas, something I don’t want in the locker room. He has this “it’s all about me” persona that I believe won’t vibe very well in Green Bay.
Nelson never had that while with the Packers. He was a complete team player. Never cared about individual stats and greatness. He Only wanted his team to succeed and tried with all of his effort as an individual player to make that happen. The biggest moment of the “team player” mentality that Nelson had came in the 2016 NFC Championship game against Atlanta.
Nelson had fractured his ribs two games prior against the Giants in the NFC Wild Card game at Lambeau Field. Nobody thought he would end up even suiting up for the game, much less play in it. That’s exactly what he did. He actually had a pretty impressive stat line all told. Six total receptions for 67 yards and 1 touchdown. Rodgers was asked about it after the game and said: “Yeah, I mean I’m so proud of Jordy.” “It’s incredible that he was out there.” That right there epitomized the connection built between them both as players and individuals.
Nelson was Rodgers’ go-to guy on offense. Nobody will be able to replicate what they did as a QB-WR tandem on the field in Green Bay, not even Dez Bryant. Although he may be able to bring some production to Green Bay’s offense out wide as a receiver, I just don’t think he’ll mesh as well with Rodgers as Nelson did. That takes time and effort. So while it’s great to think Bryant coming to Green Bay would solve the wide receiver problem all together, in reality, it won’t — even when a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers is throwing to you. Their connection is something that cannot be duplicated nor replaced and is something that will be sorely missed in Green Bay in 2018 & beyond.
Green Bay saw a shuffle within the offense when they signed tight end Jimmy Graham and subsequently released wide receiver Jordy Nelson on March 13th. Some fans didn’t take too kindly to the moves. They were saying how much Nelson has left in the tank, the connection between him and Rodgers, etcetera, etcetera. That all may be true, but at the end of the day, the NFL is a business and sometimes you have to move on from certain star players.
That being said, Jimmy Graham will be an immense upgrade to the offense. He’s a versatile, multi-positional threat at tight end and Green Bay will use him as such. Some fans also have said Graham is washed up because of his age (he’s 33) and “lack” of explosiveness when in the open field. That’s not true at all. He’s still an elite level player at tight end. The main reasoning behind those claims are because of the way Seattle used Graham in the offense.
For the doubters thinking he’s washed up and won’t provide anything to the Packers’ offense, stop the doubt. The Seahawks didn’t use him effectively within their offense. He’s finally healthy and he just had his first 10+ touchdown season since 2014. He’s exactly the red-zone threat the Packers need. He will flourish with a guy like Aaron Rodgers throwing to him. He was used primarily as a blocker which didn’t bode well at all for him. He’s not a blocking tight end. He’s been known as an elite pass catcher, not a run or pass blocker. Even with that though, Graham finished the 2016 season for Seattle with 65 receptions for 923 yards, both franchise-best single-season marks for a tight end, per NFL Communications.
Statistically, Graham is an elite tight end. In 121 career games (89 career starts), he’s compiled a total of 556 receptions for 6,800 yards, and 69 touchdowns in seven years with two different teams (New Orleans and Seattle). For comparison, former Packer wide receiver Jordy Nelson had 550 receptions for 7,848 yards and also 69 touchdowns in 136 career games (88 career starts). In ten seasons with Green Bay, Nelson only has Graham beat by about six less receptions and 1,048 yards. Also in comparison, current New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has compiled 474 receptions for 7,176 yards, and 76 touchdowns in 102 career games (89 career starts) with the Patriots. Graham only trails him by 376 total yards & 7 touchdowns.
Despite the criticism, the addition of Jimmy Graham to the offense will make Green Bay that much more dangerous. He can play multiple positions and also stretch the field. Both of those things will cause nightmares for opposing defenses and their coordinators. Having a weapon of Graham’s caliber at Rodgers’ disposal will only make him perform better and in turn, also make Graham and the offense perform better. He will flourish with a guy like Rodgers throwing to him. I for one cannot wait to see the connection build between him and Rodgers once the 2018 season starts in September. I foresee great things this season. Go Pack!
