A Marathon of Analysis and Speculation

[YoHoChecko]

A Marathon of Analysis and Speculation:

A Must-Read Guide to the 2006 Green Bay Packers (maybe)
Well, the NFL Draft has come and gone and the Packers were incredibly active over the weekend. Now it’s time to try to figure out how well the team did, and what it means for the team moving forward into the 2006 season.

Grading the Picks...
, then discuss here (-:

[SquirrelDroppings4]

Hmmm, i like this article YoHo, but i disagree that the packers will only carry 5 recievers, id say its safe to say that they will carry 6 guys, MAYBE 7 and and dump a DT. I really think Lucas has a good chance of making the team, as well. I also would believe they would like a 7th LB on the roster as well.. but cutting Thomas makes you wonder who will be worthy of a spot, just becasuse he is a guy TT drafted himself i kinda get a feeling if he performs decent in camp Tracy White has an inside shot at a spot. Man, those roster spots sure are valuable... in this day and age, when are they going to start training kickers to punt and kick? seriuosly, can you imagine how valuable, just for the roster spot, a kicker would be if they did both? (or how about a backup QB who is your starting punter as well, anyone?)

[YoHoChecko]

Hmmm, i like this article YoHo, but i disagree that the packers will only carry 5 recievers, id say its safe to say that they will carry 6 guys, MAYBE 7 and and dump a DT. I really think Lucas has a good chance of making the team, as well. I also would believe they would like a 7th LB on the roster as well.. but cutting Thomas makes you wonder who will be worthy of a spot, just becasuse he is a guy TT drafted himself i kinda get a feeling if he performs decent in camp Tracy White has an inside shot at a spot. Man, those roster spots sure are valuable... in this day and age, when are they going to start training kickers to punt and kick? seriuosly, can you imagine how valuable, just for the roster spot, a kicker would be if they did both? (or how about a backup QB who is your starting punter as well, anyone?)
I think, given the increased specialization of players, and the vastly increased slary cap, that two additional roster spots should be added... it's something I've thought for a couple years. Two more would be perfect.

However, barring that, here are some places I'd like to see roster spots saved:
-The Long-Snapper should be a third-dtring TE, and possibly a back-up FB.
there are plenty of TE/LS, plenty of TE/FB; combine them, and you save two roster spots. I don't understand why players like this don't seem to exist. It seems so obvious.

-Like you said, the K and P could be the same guy... it used to be very often, but again, the level of specialization has reduced that frequency. Weatherford, who came out this year and went undrafted, did both, but was a better P than K. As obvious as it seems to be, very few guys are actually really good at both of these things.

-Versatile Offensive linemen... I think we have this covered. But the back-ups need to be multi-faceted players. A C/G, a G/T, that sort of thing.

-Return men that actually play offense and defense. For years, Rossum was the Packers' return man, and while he was listed on the depth chart as the 5th or 6th CB, he was useless on D. I hate having return men who only return. That's why I'm glad we got some guys who can play and develop, but ALSO return kicks.

As far as WR/LB... you may be right about WR; we could keep six and drop a DT. I just know that we have a lot of youth and talent and like to rotate defensive linemen a lot to keep them fresh... so it was hard for me to cut too much more off the DTs. Keeping six would make sense, and it was a really tough call to make; that's the part of the "marathon" that's strictly speculation, but it'll be interesting to see how that works itself out.

As far as LB, I don't know that we keep 7. I know it's a new staff, but the Packers have only had 6 for several years now, and given that our LBs have a lot of versatility, it doesn't seem necessary to keep 7. Almost all of our LBers are going to be able to play multiple LB positions by the end of camp, I'd bet. The LB coach seemed to indicate that they'd be moving some people around and finding the best fits, and that the positions in this defense are more interchangable than most. I have heard that they like last year's 7th rounder, Kurt Campbell, though... so who knows.

[YoHoChecko]

Well written Yoho, I like how this year's team is sizing up so far.

And a question for you...Under the WR's did you intentionally leave out Vince Butler or just miss him? It's understandable to leave him out, because I don't see him becoming a true playmaker for the Packers or in the NFL for that matter (no TD's in 7 weeks in NFL Europe for him, compared to Chad Lucas' team-leading 8.) Just curious...smashing article again!
I left Butler out on purpose, yes. I just don't envision any way he could make the team ahead of Boerichter, Jennings, Rodgers and Lucas. Perhaps they'll keep him on the practice squad again, but I felt there was no way he would make the roster.

And thanks for the compliments.

Also, I chose to respond here instead of in the Packers forum... dunno why. Just seemed like the place to be