Now You Tell Me Ted Thompson Isn’t Still Running The Packers

It’s been almost 7 months since Head Honcho, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson, who ran the operation like President Donald J. Trump runs the country by being accountable to no one, transitioned to Senior Advisor to Football Operations and Director of Player Personnel Brian Gutekunst was promoted to General Manager, but not as Executive Vice President and/or Director of Football Operations. Instead Vice President of Football Administration/Player Finance Russ Ball was promoted to Executive Vice President/Director of Football Operations.

So January 7th the 3-headed Ted Thompson monster had been cut in two and one more important thing happened when President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy’s small balls only grew 2 sizes that day instead of the 3 The Grinch’s heart grew when he finally saw the light.

The President of the “In Ted We Trust” cult and Ted Thompson’s chief ass kisser wanted his power back after 12 years of having his subordinate ignore him daily by having Gutekunst, Ball and Head Coach Mike McCarthy report directly to him instead of the previous arrangement of those men reporting to Thompson alone. However, in a sign Murphy hasn’t dealt with his Thompson man-crush issues evidently Thompson still reports to no one.

So with this new structure in place and a new man in charge of personnel decisions I was hoping the Packers, who had gone extremely stale and chaep under the Ted Thompson II Regime, were going to go a different direction after the front office shakeup. But it seems it was just cosmetic because the leadership of Gutekunst and Ball looks a whole like the leadership of King Ted the Terrible.

Position Evaluation: Linebackers

The linebackers for the Packers are average at best. Former All-World Pass Rusher Clay Matthews is a shadow of his former self and in my opinion should be cut. He is entering the final year of a 5-year, $66,000,000 contract. He began his career with 50 sacks in his first 5 seasons earning Pro Bowl berths in his first four seasons, but missing his fifth when he fell to 7.5 sacks playing with a broken thumb.

The 1st year after the signing of the contract, which was justified at the time, Matthews spend half the season at outside linebacker and the last half at inside linebacker and rebounded with 11 sacks returning to the Pro Bowl.

In his 1st 6 seasons Matthews had 61 sacks, but the last 3 seasons have been below par. In 2015 he was named to the Pro Bowl, but that was on reputation alone because he only had 6.5 sacks. In 2016 he appeared in just 12 games with 9 starts because of hamstring and a more serious shoulder injury finishing with 5 sacks. Last season he was a situational player with 7.5 sacks sitting out half the downs and key moments in the game when he would normally be playing.

Watching him play last season was pitiful. He no longer had his burst to the quarterback and routinely missed the quarterback when he got there. It’s time to move on.

"Hail Rodgers"

I took last week off because I was busy at work and I really didn't know what to think about the Packers after dismantling the Lions in the 6h must-win in as many weeks. I felt the Lions were only downslide even though the Packers had failed to win the same game last year at Lambeau Field against the Vikings with the North title on the line.

That failure stuck in my mind heading into the game against the Giants as did the other two times Eli Manning faced the Packers at Lambeau in the playoffs and beat Brett Favre the first time and Aaron Rodgers the second.

However, this is a different Packers team facing an older and not better Eli with Aaron Rodgers at the top of his game and the Aaron Rodgers who was mired in a slump when he faced the Vikings last year.

Staty Stuff

The Green Bay Packers (2-1) will host the New York Giants (2-2) at "The Shrine" LAMbeau Field on Sunday Night Football with the most insufferable color man in the business in the broadcast booth Chris "The Best in All of Football" Collinsworth.

 

Aaron Rodgers Needs To Be Back

Aaron Rodgers verses Eli "Packers Killer" Manning is the big matchup with the Odell Beckham, Jr. and his fragile psyche against the banged up Packers secondary the under-card.

Dodged a Bullet

T. J. Lang added to injury list

The Packer injury train keeps chugging along with three new players getting on boards. Right guard T. J. Lang went down on the last drive on the second quarter when he was rolled on a screen pass. Nose tackle B.J. Raji hurt his groin in the second quarter when his foot got caught in the grass and tried to play in the third quarter, but the pain was too much. These two injuries seem to be not serious and the coaching staff has to make the decision whether its worth the risk to play them against the Chargers with the bye week coming up.

My Defensive Cuts Are In

The final 35 cuts are due this week with 13 coming on Tuesday and the final 22 next Saturday. Here are my thoughts on the final defensive cuts and how the defensive roster with look going into the season opener at the Bears.

 

The defense has the biggest question marks going in and I don’t see a much different group than played last year. On the defensive line I would cut defensive end Khyri Thornton and nose tackles Bruce Gaston and Lavon Hooks.

 

That leaves Letroy Guion (suspended for the first three games) and Datone Jones (suspended for the first game) at left defensive end. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers seems to be preparing to use a two-man line early, so I wouldn’t keep one of those three until Guion comes back.

 

B.J. Raji and Mike Pennel will be at nose tackle with Pennel also available at left end. While Gaston has played well and often there is no room for him. I would try to sign him to the practice squad.

 

Right defensive end will be Mike Daniels, Josh Boyd and Christian Ringo. I am keeping Ringo and Boyd, for that matter, because both can play inside and Ringo has played well. Boyd hasn’t been as good as he was before being injured, but I think he still has an upside.

Post-Game Analysis: The Defense - Backer Report

The starting unit was (left to right) Andy Mulumba, Sam Barrington, Nate Palmer and Julius Peppers with Clay Matthews (knee soreness), Mike Neal (hernia), Nick Perry (groin), and inside linebacker Tavarus Danzler (?) sitting out.

 

The first thing I can say is on the depth chart the often injured Matthews (he is now out with an elbow injury) is listed at left outside linebacker. I hate that move, but knew it was coming. I noted a few posts back how the defense changed for the better when Matthews moved to the middle. However, some times things get stuck in your brain and you can't get past it. Dom Capers thinks in linear terms and Matthews is an outside rusher (2.5 sacks and 19 tackles in the first eight games) plain and simple, conversation over when he actually proved he was a great inside rusher (8.5 sacks with 49 tackles in the last eight games after the move). Facts can be stubborn things and so can some coaches who can't see the forest for the trees. Some people are so hard-headed.

 

Mulumba has been the talk of training camp, but in the game he had only 3 assisted tackles and a half a sack. He was also the one who got caught inside when Jonas Gray broke outside for the 55-yard touchdown run. He was very sketchy.

 

Barrington has had a silent camp and didn't do much in the game with one assisted tackle. I hope its just one of those games and not Brad Jones all over again. Speaking of Jones he led the Eagles against the Colts with six tackles and 1 assisted tackle.

 

Nate Palmer has become the starter at Matthews' inside backer spot. Palmer was converted from outside linebacker (sounds familiar). He missed all of last year after suffering a serious knee injury in the final pre-season game. He has less stats than Barrington with no tackles, solo or otherwise. The starting inside duo were invisible.

 

Old Man River Peppers

Old Man River Peppers had a good game despite also having no stats. He was always around the ball. I hope he has another good year and not fade out as the season progresses. However, I predicted he would fade and stick with it.

 

Jayrone Elliott is the Sack Master

The second unit was Adrian Hubbard, Carl Bradford, Jake Ryan and Jayrone Elliott. This group was very productive. Elliott was the leading tackler (3 solo, 4 assisted, half a sack, 1 quarterback hit), Ryan the second leading tackler (3 solo, 3 assisted, 1 sack, 2 quarterback hits), Hubbard the sixth (2 solo, 1 assisted, 1 sack) and Bradford (1 solo, 1 assisted, 1 sack).

 

Jake Ryan getting to Jimmy Garoppolo

These four guys are making camp very interesting. I didn't notice any problems with their performance unlike the starters. The only thing I can add is Elliott was the pre-season phenom last year and then never saw the field during the season. I would like to see him more in the rotation. Ryan may be pushing Palmer for the starting job.

The third string was Jermauria Rasco, Joe Thomas, Josh Francis and James Vaughters. Vaughters had 2 tackles and Rasco had 1 solo, 1 assisted and 1 sack.

 

Injuries continue to plague Matthews, but I guess its good he hasn't had a recurrence of the hamstring issues he had his first four seasons. 2013 he had a broken thumb and last year a groin issue when he was playing outside linebacker, but no injuries when he was moved inside. Now that he's outside again the injuries have returned. Is there a connection there? I say there is. But what do I know.

 

Speaking of injuries Neal and Perry continue to be injury prone. Neal seems to be able to play at a high enough level to not be in trouble, but Perry is on his last rodeo. His option was not picked up and I would guess Perry will end up being put into the bust category when he is cut this year. I guess I just made another prediction.

UNDERWHELMING TO SAY THE LEAST

Day Three of the NFL draft General Manager Ted Thompson had his own four picks plus two compensatory picks in the sixth round. After being disappointed with the first three picks (S Damarious Randall, S Quentin Rollins and kick returner Ty Montgomery) I was anxiously awaiting some third day gems taken by the master of the third day gems.

 

However, when I finally got home from a thrilling doubleheader sweep by the local college softball team I clicked on the list and couldn't believe my eyes. After my first perusal I couldn't find a gem among the clinkers. Upon further reflection maybe there was one, maybe.

 

After avoiding like the plague the most needy of positions - inside linebacker - the first two days Thompson finally drafts Jake Ryan from Michigan. At least he isn't a project like the first two picks who are moving from safety to cornerback because he moved from outside linebacker to inside linebacker his senior year.

 

Jake Ryan

The scouting report has him listed as 6-2, 240. His strengths are being a downhill tackler with a burst to the ball and the ability to go sideline to sideline. He's also good in zone coverage. His weaknesses are being a block magnet and staying tied up for too long as well as needing improvement on diagnosing and reacting to the play. He is overly aggressive (considering the Packer defense that is not a weakness), but he does tend to miss tackles (that could be a problem).