Keep Your Friends Close But Your Enemies Closer, Green Bay Edition

Why not try Green again, he should be more dependable with health and seemed to have something left in his tank.

Though some of the sacks are due to him holding onto the ball too long. They did get better as the season went along and if any team wants to beat them this season it will come down to getting pressure on Mr. Rodgers. So its fair to say I still like the Vikings chance against them.

Good, experienced QBs can still pick their defence apart so with the old man the Vikes will prevail again.

As for Westbrook your spot on. One more good hit to the head and he is done. If Chilly thought otherwise he would already be a Viking by now.

The Packers interested in a free agent!? Are you sure?

All joking aside, I would be really happy if we possibly signed Westbrook. Like you mentioned, it’s not talent that is the question but rather health. It seems like a stretch for him to stay healthy but I know if I were TT I’d be more than willing to give him a contract to see.

If he plays he adds a new dimension to our offense that we haven’t had in a long, long time. Grant isn’t a 3rd down back whatsoever. He specializes in “ole” blitz pick-ups, and has stone hands. Jackson is good at picking up blitzes but he presents no threats as far as receiving and running go.

Westbrook is obviously a pretty dynamic threat out of the backfield, and can hold his own picking up blitzes. Having him to dump the ball off to could be a great outlet. Kind of like AP and Chester have done for you guys. When everything is covered downfield Favre could throw a little pass to either of them, and they could both turn nothing into something. Westbrook has that ability as well, and he could be a great weapon for Rodgers.

He still would have to stay healthy though, and until I see it, I don’t know that I should think he can do so.

Westbrook a chance. Incentive laden (health clauses) Just makes another area of need.
Let’s see??? QB of the future, Cornerback, Guard or Tackle and a RB.
So this means we must make a move up in the 2nd.
Again I say this Vikings pick is anyones guess.
Pick #1 McCoy (maybe Tebow), Pouncy for sure if he drops that far or Kyle Wilson.
If we move up and miss on Pouncy and then take a Mccoy/Tebow, we then shoot for Toby G in the 3rd and a sleeper O-lineman in the 4th.
Hold on, this is gonna be a wild draft for the Vikes.
PS Those picks are not exactly what I beliesve will happen. I am hoping McCoy falls low into the 2nd. take Pouncey at #1 or Wilson if he is gone. Shoot for a QBin the 2nd. LePue, MCcoy ow or Pike will be somewhere in there. Gerhart would be a ball buster as # 3 pick. Blocks and runs. Sure makes sense

Ted Thompson does not sign FA’s unless no one else wants them 2 weeks into the season.
Also The Packs draft will be heavy on O-line than D-secondary players than a running back. That is how Ted builds in the draft than will hang on to them if they don’t cost to much.

The day Brian Westbrook plays 10+ games with the Packers injury free, is the day I’ll root for UNLV.

link It’s a lengthy piece written in the context of evaluating Ted Thompson’s record, but in doing so it gives a history and describes trends in how the Packers have recently approached personnel moves — which is kind of what is the basis for this post, the Westbrook rumours. It is one of the fairest and most balanced evaluations of TT I have seen in a long time (unfortunately there are few of those).

At the end of that long evaluation, the writer projects forward what the expectations should be for the Packers, from a Packer fan perspective. I have quoted that final portion of the article below:

2009 Review and 2010 Outlook: This is the last area to look at, because the most important part of the evaluation is what the Packers did last year and what they should be expected to do this year. While 2005-2008 should be taken into account when grading his overall job performance, the most important part of the evaluation process is where are the Packers right now. Even though I have been very critical and given Thompson a C plus grade, I did not think he should be fired after the 2009 team went 11-5. You do not fire a GM that helped transition the defense from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and had the Packers ranked second in the league. Thompson rebounded from two horrible drafts to make some nice picks, especially LB Clay Matthews III. Rookie LB Brad Jones also recorded four sacks and the ninth overall pick, DT B.J. Raji should have more of an impact in his second season. He also made the right call purging the Packers of their defensive staff and bringing in defensive coordinator Dom Kapers to head that defensive transition. Last year was the first good off-season Thompson had since 2006 and it showed in the Packers improvement. I was wrong about last off-season and their transition to the 3-4 defense and I am willing to admit that and say that Thompson should be given another year to reclaim the NFC North for the Packers.

What makes me upset is that there is a group of Packer fans that want to tout Ted Thompson as a top five GM and want the Packers to build a statue of him outside Lambeau Field. I want the Packers to have the goal of winning the division and competing in the playoffs every season, not being 42-38 for five years. I want Packer fans to be as critical of Thompson as they were of Sherman. I do not want the Packers to become the Chicago Cubs, where they blindly support the franchise and its management, regardless of the results on the field. I think Thompson’s good find of Rodgers is clouding some people’s ability to objectively grade the franchise. Anyone that criticizes Thompson is labeled a Favre fan and does not have the Packer’s best interests at heart. Somehow, the wins and losses no longer matter to many Thompson supporters.

Here is where the Packers are at heading into the draft. By not being in the Final Eight, they had no free agency restrictions placed upon them. They decided to use their free agency dollars to resign four key pieces from the 2008 team: Clifton, Tauscher, Pickett and Collins. To date, they have not added any free agent pieces, yet again. Restricted free agency has taken some of the luster out of free agency, so I am not as upset as I was in 2008 and 2009, but it still would have been nice to add a mid level veteran or two, especially to the offensive line or secondary. The New York Jets added CB Antonio Cromartie to their defense for a third round pick; it is the failure to make these types of moves that have held the Packers back in recent years.

I think in the upcoming draft, the Packers have a few areas they need to address. First and most importantly, they need to address the offensive line. It is the major failing of the Ted Thompson era and the Packers gave up 51 sacks in 2009, which led the NFL. They have to improve their line and so far, they have not added anyone new to the mix. Second, they need to address the secondary. In their four losses to Arizona, Pittsburgh and Minnesota (twice), the Packers gave up 1,397 yards passing, 15 touchdown passes and no picks. They have to be able to stop elite passing offenses. Third, they need to address the pass rush, as they failed to record a single sack against Favre and recorded one against Warner in the playoff game. Their secondary weaknesses really affected their ability to blitz, but they could still use another weapon there. Finally, they need to address special teams; both their coverage units and their punting game were terrible in 2009.

My expectation is that in the sixth year of any GM’s tenure that a Super Bowl should be on the horizon. When Ron Wolf joined the Packers in 1992, they were a team that had won 10 or more games twice since 1968. The Packers were in the NFC Championship Game by 1995 and won the Super Bowl in 1996. The New Orleans Saints were a disaster after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Region. They committed themselves to winning a Super Bowl in 2006 by hiring head coach Sean Payton (Thompson passed on him for Mike McCarthy); by 2009, they won a Super Bowl. When the 49ers went with Steve Young over Joe Montana following Montana’s injury in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, the 49ers were back in the Championship Game by 1992 and won a Super Bowl in 1994.

No matter what you think of Sherman’s impact on the roster or you think of the Favre controversy, six years is enough time to bring a Super Bowl to Green Bay. Thompson had those expectations when he was hired in 2005; he sold the Packers organization and their fans on his five-year plan. Five years later, the Packers have one playoff win to show for his vision. For this season to be a success and the five year wait to have been worth it, the Packers need to win the NFC North and they need to win a playoff game, preferably after a first round bye. That would put them in the NFC Championship Game for the second time in four years and signal this team is headed in the right direction. If the Vikings win the division for a third consecutive year, it is a clear sign that the Packers are not headed in the right direction and that the Packers need to upgrade their front office to keep up with the Vikings.

Everyone recognizes the potential this team has with its young franchise quarterback, talented skill position players and new 3-4 defense that ranked second in the NFL in yards allowed. Everyone recognizes the problems that are holding them back as the offensive line and the secondary players not named Woodson and Collins. If Thompson is truly a top five GM, he will be able to fix those problems, this year. If the Packers lose the division to the Vikings in 2010, the season will be a failure. If they only qualify for the wild card and lose in the first round again or if they miss the playoffs all together; Thompson needs to be held accountable, not given another year to prove his five year plan will take shape in Year Seven. This is a make or break year for Ted Thompson and the Packers. It is time this team become the contender that Ted Thompson promised back in 2005.

Finally!

…other than re-signing the guys who were the ones nearly responsible for Aaron Rodgers being separated from his head through the first 7 weeks of the season.

Uh, Mark Tauscher was not even on the team those first seven weeks; his return for the second half of the season did much to help stabilize the line for the 7-1 run in the second half!
As for Chad Clifton, his absences due to injury had a helluva lot to do with the Packers starting a different combination of linemen each week during those first seven weeks and his return to health was the other major reason for the stabilization of the line’s play during the second half.
Our line’s poor play came at those two positions, not from the interior of the line (Daryn Colledge’s poor play was mostly when he was trying to fill in for Clifton while he was out, rather than when he was at his natural position of guard.)!
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So, which players are you referring to who were re-signed in spite of being “the ones nearly responsible for Aaron Rodgers being separated from his head…,”, if not Cliffy and Tausch, who were not responsible for it?

I believe the price rather than the health is the issue. BW for cheap would be great for the Packers if he lasted the season. That’s a big “IF”.

The Vikings bought into the same thing with Percy Harvin – except he’s a lot younger than Westbrook. Percy is as brittle as any player (sick, migraines) coming into the league, but he paid off. You just never know without trying…