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| Who Would Have Thought Little Joe Callahan Would Be In The NFL As A Packer |
Both Eddie Lacy and James Starks looked good, but the third running back is interesting. I thought by John Crocket and Brandon Burke played well and had no problem with Burke making the team. However, Thompson evidently didn't like him because he was cut immediately when Thompson picked up one of his few waiver acquisitions over his tenure Jhurell Pressley from the Vikings. Usually it works the other way around with the Vikings picking up Packer garbage.
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| Jhurell Pressley |
Here's the scouting report on Pressley: Pressley (5'10/206) was a human highlight reel in the New Mexico Lobos' ground attack, wrapping his career with a 394-2,725-35 rushing line on an absurd 6.92 yards per carry. Snubbed by the Combine, Pressley put his speed on display at the Lobos' Pro Day, clocking 4.4-flat and pumping 25 bench-press reps. Pressley played in an option offense at New Mexico and only had 18 career catches, but he's an intriguing flyer based on his big-play running ability. He has a lot of similarities to new teammate Jerick McKinnon.
I guess it was his speed that attracted Thompson. I hope he turns out to be a good third back. I liked Burke's ability to break tackles and run up the gut, but with Taylor now in the gut maybe the Packers won't be running between the tackles much anymore.
I hope Jordy Nelson is ready to play. Davante Adams is beginning to look like Javon Walker. I hope he makes that third-year jump after scratching on his second-year jump.
Randall Cobb looked good in his infrequent outings and Jared Abbrederis and Ty Montgomery also looked good mostly as did rookie Trevor Davis (before he got hurt). My favorite receiver not named Jordy Jeff Janis had a terrible camp and preseason. He may be cut sometime this season. Otherwise I think the wide receiver crew is fine.
Street free agent tight end Jared Cook looked good and may have taken the starting spot from Richie "Hail Mary" Rodgers. Justin Perillo also looked good. I think tight end is a strong position.
David Bakhtiari, Lane Taylor, J.C. Tretter, T.J. Lang and Bryan Bulaga is the starting line. Except for Taylor and Tretter the others didn't play much. Don Barclay played well at center after crapping out at both right and left tackle last year, but that might have something to do with being only one year out of a serious knee injury Barclay is now the only backup at center and both guards.
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| Jason Spriggs and Girlfriend |
Rookies Jason Spriggs and Kyle Murphy are the only backups at tackle. I find Thompson's fetish on cheap offensive line backups to be malfeasance of duty.
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| Kyle Murphy |
Center Corey Linsley is on the PUP list and what might happen when he returns in nine weeks is Tretter moving over to left guard to replace Taylor and Linsley returns to center. That might have been the plan all along, but Linsley's balky hamstring got in the way.
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| Jacob Schum |
The cutting of punter Tim Masthay was needed. I hope you all noticed he has not been picked up by anybody. Jacob Schum is a journeyman who was cut by the Jets and the Bucs, but he seemed to me to do well in the fourth preseason game. I hope he continues to do well.
The cutting of long snapper Rick Lovato in the final cut was interesting. There had been no word about former starter Brett Goode's recovering from knee surgery. Well, we'll find out now. Placekicker Mason Crosby is solid. He just needs to develop a rapport with Schum as his new holder.
The defensive line is the red-headed stepchild of the Packers. Either by design or necessity Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers used just a two-man line during the preseason. I hate that, but nobody listens to me.
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| Dean Lowry at Halloween at Northwestern |
Defensive end/tackle Mike Daniels and nose tackle Letroy Guion didn't play much. Mike Pennel played a lot, but didn't seem to make much of an impact. He is suspended for the first four games. Rookie Dean Lowry played well at defensive end.
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| Christian Ringo And His New Best Bud |
Second-year man Christian Ringo, who spent last year on the practice squad, also played well at defensive tackle.
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| Kenny Clark And Family Getting The News He Was A Packer |
First round pick defensive tackle Kenny Clark is beginning to look like a bust ala Justin Harrell. He has a back injury and when he did play prior to the injury he was lost. The speed of the game was too much for him. Let's hope he develops because there are only five defensive linemen on the roster. I think this is a mistake.
Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers didn't play much during the preseason, so we don't know how the old/new scheme of Matthews on the outside will work out.
Datone Jones looked good behind Peppers while Nick Perry (on his last chance) looked, I don't know actually. I thought Jones made more of an impact as a pass rusher. The plan is for Perry to start in the base and bring Peppers and Jones in as pass rushers. I'm not sure how that will work.
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| Nick Fackrell and Family |
Jayrone Elliott (hamstring) and rookie Nick Fackrell are the other outside backers. Fackrell looked good in spots, but I was surprised Elliott made the team. I'm thinking he might be cut when Pennel and Demetri Goodson return from their four-game suspensions.
Inside linebacker is a serious issue. The starters are Jake Ryan , who didn't play much because of a hamstring injury during the preseason. I also thought he was a liability last year in both coverage and at the point of attack.
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| Blake Martinez and Family |
Rookie Blake Martinez is the other starter and while I thought he did fine However, I thought Carl Bradford, who was cut and re-signed to the practice squad, did better. I would have preferred Bradford and Martinez in the middle.
Joe Thomas made the team and Sam Barrington didn't. I thought Thomas played better with the added weight, but supposedly his forte in pass coverage and the added weight took that away.
Barrington didn't look like the thumper he was before the foot injury. He may be another Desmond Bishop. He was picked up the Chiefs who love ex-Packer linebackers. He joined Frank Zombo and Dezman Moses as ex-Packers on the Chiefs linebacking corps. Andy Mulumba was also on the Chiefs, but he got cut.
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| Josh Hawkins |
Cornerbacks (Damarious Randall, Sam Shields, Quinten Rollins, LaDarius Gunter) look good. Not much change there. Josh Hawkins beat out Robertson Daniel and I thought Daniel looked good, but so did Hawkins. Daniel is a taller, but Hawkins is faster.
Safety is interesting. Morgan Burnett has a back injury and didn't play after the first preseason game. Let's hope he is ready. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix played well as did Micah Hyde and Chris Banjo. Banjo is suffering from a hamstring injury.
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| Kentrell Brice |
Two undrafted rookies made the team Kentrell Brice and Marwin Evans. Brice was the talk of the camp and played well in the preseason as did Evans in the last two games. I'm also guessing Evans might be cut when Goodson returns.
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| Marwin Evans |
The practice squad has two wide receivers (Geronimo Allison-another talk of the camp-and Herb Waters), two guards (Lucas Patrick-I thought looked good-and Blake Muir-an interesting Australian cut by the 49ers), a running back (Don Jackson), a tight end (Devon Cajuste-another cut by the 49ers), a defensive tackle (Brian Price-also talk of the camp), two linebackers (Bradford on the inside and Reggie Gilbert on the outside) and a safety (Jermaine Whitehead). All are rookies except Bradford and Whitehead and except for the two from the 49ers are all were Packers cuts.
Overall, the lack of veteran linemen on both sides of the ball bothers me. The Packers seem set at the skill positions, but we still have question marks from Jordy Nelson, Eddie Lacy and Aaron Rodgers. Jordy because he hasn't played for over a year and both Lacy and Rodgers are coming off subpar seasons.
Inside linebacker is also an iffy spot and the injury to Burnett could be a problem since he was slated to play closer to the line to help in run support in the middle. The middle has been a weak spot for many years.
Pass rush is key, so Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Datone Jones will have to show up in the opposition's backfield. Without pressure the defense will be a liability.
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