Surviving Sunday: Packers News, Notes and Links for the Football Deprived
Surviving Sundays with no Packers football
As training camp approaches, I feel really good about the Packers cornerbacks this season.
It’s a deep group, and the depth includes a nice mix of players. There are proven players (Tramon Williams), good players still on the upswing (Sam Shields) and talented players who have yet to establish themselves, but have still achieved some type of success in their short careers (Casey Hayward and Micah Hyde).
There’s also players like Davon House and Demetri Goodson who could come out of nowhere and exceed expectations.
I wish I could say the same about the rest of the defense. No, I’m not predicting another season of doom and gloom when the other team has the ball, but the depth mix isn’t there with the other defensive position groups like it is at cornerback.
I realize that every position group can’t be stacked, especially with the salary cap. And I get that there will be questions in many spots when you’re a team like the Packers who rely so heavily on young talent. I just wish the depth mix was different at linebacker, safety and defensive line.
If you look at the offensive side of the ball, every position group (except maybe for tight end) has a good depth mix of proven veterans, players who are already good but could be great, and youngsters with potential.
If A.J. Hawk gets hurt or Brad Jones flounders again, there’s not much to be excited about beyond Jamari Lattimore. If Ha Ha Clinton-Dix doesn’t pan out, we’re looking at another season of crossing our fingers that Morgan Burnett turns into a player. If Julius Peppers is past his prime, we have to hope that Nick Perry stays healthy or some other player we’ve never heard of breaks out. If B.J. Raji is useless again, who’s going to anchor the middle in the base package?
Hopefully players like Datone Jones, Sam Barrington, Sean Richardson, Josh Boyd and Carl Bradford shine in the preseason and put some of these concerns rest. Back in 2010, I thought the cornerback group would struggle with depth. Then a guy named Sam Shields emerged and helped the Packers win the Super Bowl.
Here’s hoping something like that happens again.
Packers News, Notes and Links
- The Packers report to training camp in less than a week. That high-pitched noise you just hear coming from outside your house? That’s me screaming “WOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!” Here is the full Packers training camp schedule in case you planned to check out a practice or 12.
- If you’re coming in early for training camp, be sure to check out this awesome tailgate party organized by Mayfield Sports Marketing on July 23 about 30 minutes south of Milwaukee. Get autographs and pictures with current and former players and take part in all kinds of other Packers-related activities. The best part? All of the proceeds go to charity.
- Dan at Lombardi Ave. breaks down the Packers cornerbacks. It’s a deep group, that’s for sure.
- With K Mason Crosby no longer on an incentive-based contract, will he revert to his old, inconsistent and unreliable ways? I don’t think so, but I have no idea how kickers operate, so who knows. Brian Carriveau wonders if the guaranteed contract might impact Crosby’s motivation. I don’t see how a kicker could lack motivation. Does he go out there and not swing his leg as hard as he should because he’s feeling lazy on a particular day? Does he not put in the reps he should during practice and the offseason? It’s easy for position players to dog it and not do what they need to do in order to stay motivated. With a kicker, it seems tougher to slack because it would be painfully obvious.
- The ‘Ol Bag of Donuts crew is back from summer vacation with another podcast over at PackersTalk.com.
- Here’s an interesting look from Acme Packing Co. about Packers undrafted free agents who will fight for a roster spot at inside linebacker. Joe Thomas seems intriguing. But I’ve said it before and I’ll remind you all again: Don’t forget about Sam Barrington. I think he’s a player.
- A.J. Hawk tackling fans at the golf course > A.J. Hawk tacking ballcarriers on the football field.
Non Packers links and other nonsense
- Malaysia Airlines flight 17 gets shot down and the fighting continues in the Gaza strip. All of this fighting and killing accomplishes nothing. Enough already.
- Amazon has rolled out a Netflix-style monthly subscription service for books. Why would people pay for this when they can get something similar, plus a lot more, for free at a local library?
- DirecTV will be offering is Sunday Ticket package to non-DirecTV subscribers this season. In my opinion, if DirecTV really wanted to make a fortune, they create a special channel on Sunday Ticket that just showed this play over and over again.
Recent Comments