Saturday, July 31, 2010
Packers Training Camp Is On...
Just rolling some obvious thoughts out on the Green Bay Packers roster as they begin their Training Camp today. Not many positions are available to potential new starters, and the same faces are in the mix for the backup roles. What contributions can the new rookies make, especially T Bryan Bulaga, DT Mike Neal and S Morgan Burnett, who should certainly be in the rotations for playing time. Questions abound and only a Packers Training Camp can answer them. Wide Receivers: What's going to happen at Wide Receiver during Training Camp - not much, Greg Jennings and Donald Driver are the clear starters, so it's down to who's going to be #3 - Jordy Nelson or James Jones. Some think that Nelson is ascending, while others point to Jones' drops. #5 doesn't matter so much, as on the field that position is taken by TE Jermichael Finley. Tight Ends: Jermichael Finley is the clear starter over backups Donald Lee, Spencer Havner and rookie Andrew Quarless. Is Donald Lee's days done in Green Bay? I'm not sure that's the case but the Packers front office may think differently as camp progresses. O-Line: It seems that barring injury, left OT Chad Clifton, C Scott Wells, and right OT Mark Tauscher are locked in as starters. You don't hear much about RG Josh Sitton, so his starting position is probably secure. The action seems to be at LG, where last years starter Daryn Colledge played well, played left OT, played poorly when returned to LG. Jason Spitz is the primary challenger, unless the Packers decide to let TJ Lang or recently signed rookie Bryan Bulaga tryout. Considering the health of Clifton and Tauscher, it might be wise to keep those two as backup Tackles. Running Backs: Expected starters are HB Ryan Grant and FB Quinn Johnson. Will the Packers let one of the other FB's Korey Hall or John Kuhn go? Is Brandon Jackson a competent backup? Is rookie James Starks going to claim a spot? Can Kregg Lumpkin show something more than vague potential? Should the Pack go after Brian Westbrook? Too many big questions at the backup running back spots. Quarterbacks: The Packers are solid with starting QB Aaron Rodgers, who knows if he's competent Matt Flynn as the backup, and whomever is delegated to the Practice Squad - Graham Harrell for now. D-Backs: CB Charles Woodson and FS Nick Collins are the healthy lock-in's as starters. CB Tramon Williams is holding the other CB position for the return of Al Harris, with a battle for SS between oft-injured Atari Bigby and rookie Morgan Burnett. Brandon Underwood, Will Blackmon, Jarett Bush, Derek Martin and a handful of others are vie-ing for the remaining backup positions. Linebackers: The returning four starting linebackers are right OLB Clay Matthews, ILB's AJ Hawk and Nick Barnett, with left OLB Brad Jones. That leaves above average for backups Brandon Chillar, Desmond Bishop and Brady Poppinga positioning themselves amongst any newcomers brought to camp. Packers may be short a quality backup LB on the roster. D-Line: The Packers plan is left DE Ryan Pickett, NT BJ Raji, and right DE Cullen Jenkins. Johnny Jolly is gone for the year, leaving newly arrived rookies Mike Neal and CJ Wilson to go with hold-overs Jarius Wynn and Justin Harrell. One potential problem, backup NT is starting DE Ryan Pickett.  Special Teams: K Mason Crosby along with LS Brett Goode, have their positions secure. The battle is for the Packers new Punter this year, between Chris Bryan and Tim Masthay. Speedster DB Sam Shields is expected to handle some return duties. Coaching Staff: Same basic coaching staff that took last years Packers to a 11-5 finish and a playoff loss in Arizona to the Cardinals. Led by head coach Mike McCarthy, d-coordinator Dom Capers and o-coordinator Joe Philbin. So 4 positions are really in play - SS, LG, P, FB - barring training camp injuries. At Strong Safety, one would think that a healthy Atari Bigby is going to start over rookie Morgan Burnett, a healthy Al Harris is going to start over Tramon Williams at Cornerback. Health issues aside, the Packers have a strong defensive backfield this year, something that teams like Pittsburgh and Arizona can't easily exploit this year as what happened last year to the weakest DB in the Packers backfield. At Left Guard, it would appear that Daryn Colledge will keep his starting job, without worrying about taking rep's at Tackle, he should do well. The Packers carried 3 fullbacks last year, you can't imagine that would happen again this year, so will Quinn Johnson step in as a starter, forcing the Packers to choose over John Kuhn who makes more plays, or Korey Hall who comes off as more athletic. A possible hard decision for GM Ted Thompson and HC Mike McCarthy to make. The punting situation last year was dismal, so one hopes that Chris Bryan or Tim Masthay are NFL quality punters, otherwise the punting situation will be dismal again this year. So it comes down to that the Packers are a strong team, returning almost every starter from last years 11-5 roster, a couple breaks with the timing of their schedule, and the Packers may find themselves playing deep into the Playoffs, and into the biggest game of the year, Super Bowl XLV. BeerKid - Always Pack 4 Life! |
