The All NFC-North Team: The Offense

The Task: Assemble a roster of current NFC North players to compete in the 2009-2010 NFL season. 

Quarterback

Aaron Rodgers

Kyle Orton, Dan Orlovsky and Gus Frerotte started the most games for their respective teams.

In 36 games Orton, Orlovsky and Frerotte combined for 42 TDs and 35 INTs.

In 16 games Rodgers had 32 TDs and 13 INTs.

Running Back

Adrian Peterson

Wide Receivers

Calvin Johnson, Greg Jennings, Bernard Berrian

Megatron and the Professor are the kings of the NFC North.  Who's next?  I chose Berrian over other worthy candidates like Donald Driver, Sidney Rice, Devin Hester and, not joking here, Jordy Nelson.

Tight End

Greg Olsen

Although Visanthe Shiancoe got some meaty exposure this season, Greg Olsen is the pick here.  He runs clinics on corners, safeties, linebackers and, of course, any broad that dares visit the 7th floor.

"c'mon fellas let's get weird, stick your dick up in her ear" - about 6 minutes in.  

Offensive Tackles

Bryant McKinnie, Jeff Backus

I could be way off here, but it's slim pickens at this spot.  Mount McKinnie has lost it a little over the last couple of years.  Backus is good...I think?  I don't know.  I just know I'm not impressed with Tauscher (injury), Clifton (elderly), John St. Clair (worst player in history), Chris Williams (turnstile) and Gosder Cherilus (LOL).  If John Tait wasn't retiring, I'd consider him here - especially if the year was 2001. 

Offensive Guards

Steve Hutchinson, Daryn Colledge

I'm out on a limb with Colledge, but I think he can get it done.  After struggling to find his niche along the offensive line, Colledge had a breakout season holding down a guard spot in Green Bay.  I'll take the up-and-comer Daryn Colledge over something called "Terrance Metcalf". 

Center

Olin Kreutz

This is the tough division to find offensive lineman in.  It's either old guys who were good 5 years ago and are decent today (Kreutz, Chad Clifton, Matt Birk, etc.) or young guys who haven't proven anything/I've never heard of.  So congrats Olin, you made it.  And I can tell by the picture that you're excited.

Settle Down - - Greg Will Be Here

Now, I've been reading a few articles here and there about people concerned about whether or not we will extend the four-year rookie contract of Greg Jennings. Relax. It will happen. Ted drafted him. Ted likes him. Mike likes him. Greg wants to be a Packer "for a long time."

Everyone always preaches about Ted's philosophy of drafting players and developing them; he doesn't like picking guys up for big bucks in free agency. Who knew he'd find such a stud receiver out of Western Michigan? Surely he wants to keep one of his brightest picks around to help the team, if not just to make himself look like a mastermind on draft day. Part of me hopes we sign him quickly to potentially keep the contract from making a huge impact on salary cap numbers. The other part hopes Greg gets his...he's played well, one of the best receivers in the league, definitely makes the team better, and he's never 'hot-doggin' (one of my biggest dislikes of more and more athletes).

So please, fret not. Diggs thinks we'll be seeing Greg in green and gold for years to come with plenty more of these:

Eye on the Draft

keeping you up to date on the ever-changing draft landscape

this week's episode: 8 players, 8 slots

Holding the #9 pick in this year's draft means that there are going to be exactly 8 players unavailable to the Packers.  The hope is that those 8 players are not some of the Packers' priority targets, although the reality is many of them will be.  At this point the dream for all Packer fans is that players we don't need rise, allowing our targets to fall to us at #9.  There are just too many unknowns at this point to lock down who those 8 players will be.  The ongoing NFL combine may have given us some hints however.

Inexact list of Packers' targets who are in jeopardy of going top 8: Aaron Curry, B.J. Raji, Brian Orakpo, Malcolm Jenkins and Everette Brown.

BAD NEWS:

- Michael Crabtree's stress fracture has shaken things up near the top.  Thought to be Seattle's pick at #4, Crabtree has become an injury risk and may be passed over by Seattle in favor of a defensive tackle which, of course, would be Packers' target B.J. Raji.

- The apparent Barrett Robbins-style freak-out of Alabama OT Andre Smith has escorted him out of the first 8 slots (Peter King claims he may have fallen out of the 1st round), meaning another spot up in the air.

- Teams interested in a DE were able to get a long look at workout warriors Brian Orakpo and Everette Brown, who both performed well at today's defensive line portion of the combine. 

GOOD NEWS:

- Missouri WR Jeremy Maclin is proving to be worthy of a top 8 spot (maybe Oakland or Jacksonville).  He blazed his 40 and "looked like the best WR in the field during the workouts"... remember, Crabtree did not participate.

- Andre Smith may have spazzed himself into the Packers' spot at #41.  Unlikely he'll fall that far, but if Andre the Giant is around there, you must take him.

- OTs Eugene Monroe and Jason Smith had stellar days at the combine, all but locking up top 5 spots.

- Although Brian Orakpo had a great workout, teams may be scared off by what happened to the eerily similar top DE last season, Vernon Gholston.

- Matthew Stafford continued to impress (even without throwing) and may end up with Detroit at #1.  Mark Sanchez, on the other hand, did not blow anyone away with his combine workouts but if he interviews well and has a solid pro day, he could get back into the top 8 fold.

As it stands today, I'd guess the only players unavailable to the Pack will be the following 8.

Aaron Curry

Eugene Monroe

Jeremy Maclin

Matthew Stafford

Jason Smith

Malcolm Jenkins

Michael Crabtree

B.J. Raji

Inside Ted's Head: Combine Edition

It's no secret that the primary focus of the offseason is acquiring bodies to fit the more dynamic 3-4 defense.  The defensive roster, as currently constructed, has pieces that seemingly fit into the new system but ultimately the Pack need to obtain at least two more impact starters - preferably at OLB and NT (need to upgrade Poppinga and Pickett).  

Unfortunately for the Packers, this year's free agent market is a dud.  There are no starter-worthy 3-4 NTs* and the players who fit perfectly as OLBs in Dom's defense (Julius Peppers, Terrell Suggs, Karlos Dansby, LeRoy Hill) have been franchised.  Although the franchise tag does not prohibit these players from coming to Green Bay, it is not Ted's style to give up what it takes - two first round picks or a blockbuster trade - to get a "franchise" player. 

With that said, the most likely plan of attack for Ted is to acquire mid-level free agents to fill other needs (depth at CB, OL, DE) and use the draft to fill the NT and OLB slots; and lord knows Ted loves him some draft.

Holding the #9 and #41 picks in the NFL Draft, the Packers are in a great position to get themselves starters at OLB and NT.

If Ted goes NT at #9, it will be Senior Bowl sensation B.J. Raji out of Boston College.  He's moving up draft boards and is projected by many scouts as an ideal 3-4 NT.  With Raji on board, the 41st pick would be used to select an OLB.  Most likely one of the following: Michael Johnson (G Tech), Connor Barwin ('nati), Paul Kruger (Utah), Larry English (NIU), Clay Matthews (USC), or Clint Sintim (U Va)

Alternatively, if he selects an OLB at #9 it will be either Everrette Brown (FSU) or Brian Orakpo (Texas), both stud athletes who have all the necessary versatility to play OLB in a 3-4 scheme.  With either one of those men heading to the corner of Lombardi and Oneida, the #41 pick will be spent on Raji's college teammate Ron Brace or Michigan's Terrance Taylor.  While neither are as explosive or decorated as Raji, they have the size necessary to anchor a defensive line.

This weekend's combine may provide insight as to what the Packers are thinking, but here's my best guess.

If Raji's around at #9, as is projected, the Packers will take him because they'll have more option later for an OLB.  If they pass on Raji for an OLB in the 1st round, there is chance - albeit small - that Brace and Taylor are off the board before they pick again, leaving the Packers with a gaping hole at NT.  They'll grab Raji at #9 and be happy to pick from one of the three or four OLB prospects who will be hanging around at #41. 

Pagel's Preference: Orakpo and Brace

What Ted will do: Raji and Barwin

Defensive line and linebackers work out Monday at the Combine.  Stay tuned.

* I won't even entertain the thought of Albert Haynesworth coming to GB.  First off, I don't want him because he's the ultimate candidate to get a fat contract and take the next four years off.  Second, he's going to Tampa.  They have unlimited cap space, warm weather, and no income tax - sounds like a good deal to me. 

Inside Ted's Head

This week: Necessary AND Sufficient

As any Packers fan knows (other than these guys, of course), AJ Hawk is a mediocre-to-decent NFL linebacker. He's serviceable. He certainly hasn't played like a #5 overall pick. But don't tell TT that. Here's what he had to say about Hawk (from the JS Online Packer blog):

You think he's still a Pro Bowl-caliber player?

Yeah, I do. I think he’s a very talented player. He can still run. He can still tackle. He’s a very good football player. He’s an active, energetic football player.

I knew running and tackling were necessary conditions for Pro Bowl LB's, but I had no idea they were sufficient. Remember how you used to get participation trophies in youth soccer just for showing up (I know I do; I keep a bookcase full of them right next to my Dundies)? Maybe that's how Ted sees the Pro Bowl- "Hey, you showed up! You can run and tackle. Pro Bowl! Now get out of my way so I can use another high draft pick on a quarterback."

Four

[This was originally posted by AK 26 on March 6, 2008. It was a fitting tribute then, and I think it's even more appropriate now. The numbers need to be updated, but in some ways it's better to pretend the Brett the Jet experiment never happened.]






The fate and memory of sportsmen are made and broken on the numbers they produce.

.400. 16-0. 18 majors. 61.





Incredibly rare is the performance that transcends quantitative measure, one that creates legend out of stardom, immortality from normalcy. Brett Favre crafted not one moment, not one game, not even one season, but an entire career out of doing just that, in a manner that no one ever has, and likely ever will.

His league records in touchdown passes, passing yards, completions, interceptions, wins, Most Valuable Player awards, and games started will never define him, nor will his lone Super Bowl triumph. Favre, unlike any other, was so much more.

A youngster sprinting across the Superdome turf, helmet in hand, treating the world’s biggest stage as if it were his own backyard…An emotional press conference called by a player atop the football universe, admitting his addiction to painkillers…A beaten man, seeing his franchise’s home field legacy fall to pieces in the Wisconsin snow he fashioned a career out of making his own…A tear-jerking air show under the Oakland lights, an evening after his father’s tragic passing...Tossing snowballs and administering fireman carries to his slew of young receivers in re-claiming his place as one of the league’s best.

3. 275. 160. 442. 288. 61,655. 5,377.

Those numbers mean nothing in the legend that was 4. If any quantities symbolize his career, they’d be the amount of NFL fans across the country shell-shocked at imagining a Sunday without him taking the field, the celebrations in Chicago and Minnesota for not having to deal with the constant Favre fellatio from the media, and the number of wives beaten as a result of the cold beverages absorbed statewide by Wisconsin males in lieu of their loss. Those numbers do the real talking, because what separates Favre from MJ, Tiger, Marino, Wilt, Rice, and others was not what he did on the field, but how he did it. Not necessarily in a dominating fashion, but in a humanizing style that ultimately made him otherworldly in Wisconsin, and always left us wanting more.

As the other man that defines Packer football once said, “In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.” While Favre’s shortcomings were often stunningly poor, they served to make his accomplishments all the more spectacular in the end.

Perhaps history won’t remember Brett Favre as the greatest quarterback of all time, but as sure as Favre was going to play each Sunday, no fan who ever saw him fling a touchdown and jump into a lineman’s arms will ever forget the man who played the game he loved with such unbridled passion.

In a game ridden with primadonnas and steroids, retreads and retards, system robots and pretty boys, 4 offered us something different. Something unforgettable.



We'll miss you, Brett.

Hawkward Play of the Week

I'm awarding this, the inaugural A.J. Hawk Memorial Hawkward Play of the Week, to the Green Bay Packers fans in this video, posted on youtube by fofauss.



I had a hard time picking this one, since it's from the most heartbreaking Packer's game of the past five years. Doubly hard, since Hawk actually makes a good play. But still, the recipients of this week's award are so deserving I can't deny them their rightful place in Hawkward history.

The Packer's fans in this short clip are the inaugural winners of the AJ Hawkward Memorial Hawkward Play of the Week. Why am I giving it to some clearly diehard Packers fans?

"AJ Hall of Famer!"

That's why.

Congratulations.

Non-Packer Who Will Never Be a Packer Who We Wish Was a Packer of the Week (NPWWNBPWWWWPOW)

Julius Peppers


Photo taken shortly after eating Dan Morgan’s Achilles tendon

Position: DE in 4-3; OLB in 3-4; PF in Basketball
Specs: 6’7”, 283 lbs
Age: 28
Team: Carolina Panthers (Unrestricted Free Agent as of February 20, 2009)
Notable Stat: Registered double digit sacks in 7 of 9 NFL seasons

Why He’d Fit in Green Bay: Poppinga. Hawk. Chillar. Bishop. POPPINGA!!!

Peppers is the best athlete in the NFL. Period. He’s the best pass rusher and arguably most physically intimidating player in the league, and could probably be the best tight end given his basketball background. He has said he wants the opportunity to play LB in a 3-4 defense. Despite his dominance, Julius is a total non-turd, never demanding a trade or complaining about how much Jake Delhomme sucks, and only recently, and privately, has expressed to Carolina management that he does not want to be slapped with the franchise tag. The Pack’s hiring of Mike Trgovac as d-line coach (who has been Peppers’ defensive line coach or defensive coordinator his entire career) can’t hurt.

Why He’ll Never Play in Green Bay: Carolina will probably franchise Julius as soon as they sign left tackle Jordan Gross to an extension. Also, Ted Thompson’s distinct lack of testicles precludes the Pack from making a big splash in free agency (even if it yielded him their best player in one Charles C. Woodson).

Sorry Packer fans. File Peppers’ name under the NPWWNBPWWWWPOW tab. And watch helplessly as Peppers makes this happen to Aaron Rodgers for years to come:

Rodgy's Worst Nightmare


UPDATE: Julius Peppers just picked 4 teams he'd be willing to be traded to if he got franchised. Guess who didn't make the cut? Brace yourself for the Chillar Era, my fellow Cheeseheads.

Packers Draft Prospects

My maiden voyage into the world of sports films. Color scheme and video quality leave a lot to be desired, but the point comes across loud and clear - Aaron Maybin sucks.

3-4 Is Only a Start

As much as I'm thrilled with the switch to the 3-4, the Packers have much more work to do before they can be considered a contender again. Few things frustrated me more this year than watching Ryan Grant run the football. Sure, he totaled just over 1200 rushing yards, but aggregates don't do justice to just how ineffective he was this year.

In five different games, he averaged fewer than 3 yards per carry. In all five of those games, he got at least 15 carries. That's bad. Grant had only two runs all year for more than 30 yards. I know he was injured at the beginning of the year, but he showed none of the explosive cutback ability he put on display in 2007. Watching him run was just painful. He broke fewer tackles than this blog's current namesake.

Meanwhile, a certain #32 performed pretty well. B-Jax, as his close and personal friends like to call him (we're pretty tight), averaged a solid 5.5 yards per carry. That's not great, and he often benefited from weaker run defenses since he generally played only in passing situations, but still, he often broke tackles, found cutback lanes, and ran like he cared. The same can't be said about Grant.

I don't know what it is, but McCarthy must not like something about Jackson. The week after shredding Carolina for 80 yards on just 11 carries, Jackson didn't get one carry against Houston. Granted, the Irishman did have a decent game, but come on- not one carry for Brandon Jackson? Unacceptable.

The moral here is not that Brandon Jackson is good, it's that Ryan Grant did not play well last year, and McCarthy continued to stick with him. I don't know if it's because of his contract, but if it is, that's a dumb reason. When the game starts, you make the moves that will help the team win, not the ones that cover your asses for handing out a dumb contract to a guy who played well for half a year.

Defenses will start to figure out Rodgers next year if he doesn't get some serious help from the running game. Even if the D improves, the team might be just as bad if the offense regresses due to lack of a running game.

For all their (rightful) focus on the linemen, McCarthy and Thompson can't let the RB situation carry over from last year.

Green's the New Black

I received an electronic mail on Saturday with the following introduction-

“So who the fuck do I root against?”

While I screened the e-mail since the sender is a Riversian douchebag of the highest order, as Packer fans, we should have known all along the answer to his question. Rather than nodding off with indifference through the first 3.5 quarters, we should have been cheering on the black and gold, and capped off the evening by Polamaluing into our Terrible Towels. Why?

Because we have a blueprint.

There are no excuses for Thompson, Mac, and Co. anymore. That warmth in the seat of their collective pants is either Favre slipping them laxatives, or it’s the hot seat being turned up at Lambeau. We just witnessed the true brilliance of the 3-4, and the flexibility it offers.

Yeah, Kurt Warner’s water pistol arm victimized the Blitzburgh D to the tune of 374 yards and 3 TDs - 234 and 2 in the last 8 minutes...who’s counting? - but in doing so, he only added ammunition to why the Packers should flourish in this scheme.

In Pro Bowlers Woodson, Harris, and Collins, plus Atari Bigby, Tramon Williams, and Aaron Rouse, the Pack have a secondary whose talent far surpasses that of the Steelers, even with their All-World safety in tow. Green Bay won’t be concerned with adding to the personnel of their defensive backfield unless Teddy is looking to relocate in 2010.

...All of which leads to this: the Steelers front 7 absolutely dominated Arizona. 12 carries for 33 yards, two sacks, a fumble, an interception, and a touchdown for that group last night.

Management needs to look no further than the last two seasons, in which three of the final four teams both years possessed a stout group of linemen and linebackers leading their respective 3-4 schemes. If Thompson, McCarthy and Capers fairly evaluate their squad, they’ll understand quickly how incompetent the current group is, and the additions (and subtractions- hear that, Chillar?) that need to be made.

The Steelers stirring championship performance only serves to put an exclamation point on that need. Woodley, Harrison, Hampton, Smith, Farrior…not exactly Hawk, Poppinga, Jenkins, Chillar, Jolly, and Pickett. Having watched the Super Bowl, and observing the same scheme without being at its finest, every Cheesehead now knows what it’s going to take to bring another ring to Titletown- and it’s not going to be Brady Poppinga and his multitude of wives flying through the B gap.


Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb!

Now’s the time, Teddy. We all know the power of the 3-4. Being a cheap ass is going to be more obvious than ever after Pittsburgh’s Super run, so bust out your Rodgers-emblazoned pocket book and roll the dice.

Your job depends on it.