NFL Team Previews: Green Bay Packers
I will be completing a project over the next month, previewing all 32 teams individually that will hopefully be completed before the start of August. I'll start with the team I (by far) know about best, and one of the most functional teams, the Green Bay Packers. Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy have been together for a decade now, and it seems that they have a good shot at claiming their second Super Bowl together, and the Packers 5th overall.
DRAFT RECAP: Overall, my take is that I like the positions the Packers selected, but not necessarily the players themselves or how they got those players. I'm not a fan of trading up a few spots in the second round (and sacrificing two more picks) to get an offensive lineman. Ted Thompson has traditionally been a great drafter of offensive linemen in the mid-rounds (look at every current starter minus Bryan Bulaga), so I don't understand why they had to trade up. He just must be that good. I also would've liked the Packers taking a gamble on Myles Jack or Jaylon Smith, and Kyler Fackrell might be a bit too old (and please, parents, just choose Kyle or Tyler). But the main thing with the draft is, you never truly know how any of these guys will turn out until a few years after, which is why I think the Packers did well by selecting the right positions of need.
FREE AGENCY: It's the Packers, so not much happened. They brought in a tight end for Aaron Rodgers in Jared Cook, and usually when Ted Thompson does pull out the checkbook for a free agent, it works out well. Maybe he should do it more often. Cook will provide an athletic tight end to complement Richard Rodgers, and hopefully he will be able to prove that his talent is indeed there, he just never had a real quarterback. The Packers also brought in backup LB Lerentee McCray from Denver, and that's probably what he will be doing here. They also signed DE Ray Drew for a few weeks, then released him, which was weird. Moving on.
PLAYERS LOST: Casey Hayward, Scott Tolzien, BJ Raji, Andy Mulumba, Mike Neal. I'm not too worried about losing Casey Hayward, and I don't know how he was ranked the #29 CB in football, because whenever I saw him on the field after his rookie season he was screwing up somehow. Plus, you have Quinten Rollins, Damarious Randall and LaDarius Gunter all ready to take his place. Losing Scott Tolzien is tough for the local Badger fans, but all I keep hearing is that Brett Hundley is the real deal. The only real loss is BJ Raji, but even with him, the Packers were not a great team at stopping the run. And there is a possibility he will return after training camp or maybe come back for the 2017 season.
STRONGEST POSITION (BESIDES QB): I think it's the secondary, because anytime you can throw out six reliable defensive backs, you have a shot at stopping some of the elite quarterbacks. Sam Shields is one of the best CB in the game, and Randall and Rollins are only getting better. Micah Hyde is a utility tool in the secondary, where he backs up arguably the best safety duo this side of Seattle (which is the entire country).
WEAKEST POSITION: It's the defensive line, because outside of Mike Daniels there is no proven, starting caliber players. Letroy Guion is a nice rotational piece, and so is Mike Pennel. Datone Jones is no longer on the defensive line, and Christian Ringo has no experience yet. Hopefully Kenny Clark or Dean Lowry will turn into an immediate BJ Raji replacement. This is why having six reliable members of the secondary is important, because even staying in nickel most of the time will remove one of the defensive linemen from the equation.
FIVE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYERS TO THE PACKERS SUCCESS: QB Aaron Rodgers, OLB Clay Matthews, DE Mike Daniels, WR Jordy Nelson and RB Eddie Lacy.
PREDICTION: I'm a biased optimist for the Packers at this stage, so I'm going to predict a 14-2 season where they get the number 1 NFC Seed and roll through to being Super Bowl champions.
