I think Green will help out a lot in the backfield and not just on third down plays. I see they have Green listed as #1 now. Plus, Franklin should get better with more experience and there's Starks, assuming they keep him. They'll be fine at RB barring another injury.
Originally Posted by Packy:
I feel bad for Harris but I think we'll be fine at RB. I think Lacy would have eventually started over a healthy Harris later this season anyway. This just changes the time table a little.
Harris gave the option of being able to mix things up a little bit, using both backs without losing that punch. Harris, being shorter than Lacy, makes a nice change-up. It would have been nice but maybe Starks can bring something similar.
Starks and Harris are two very different runners, in almost every way. MM himself has said Harris was going to be a big part of the offense this year and we simply don't have another back like him unless Franklin finds his way very soon. I still think he has the skills, just needs to start seeing the game better when he has the ball. Nonetheless, somebody else in the rb committee is going to need to step up.
Good point. Starks is still the square peg but he's got a chance to get the bulk of the carries along with Lacy if Green or Franklin don't show something tomorrow night.
I think Green is the guy that fit's best into the comments MM made yesterday about his plans for Harris this year. But he's got to step up starting with KC.
Franklin, Starks and Green seem to think to much when they get the ball. Lacy and Harris know where they're supposed to go and they just go there. They run where they're supposed to whether it's open or not and if the linemen are doing their job then the play will work. The other 3 seem to hesitate for opportunities to open and they end up going nowhere. Defensive players are so fast that if you hesitate for even a second then you're done. That's what those guys struggle with IMO, they need to just run. Stop thinking and run.
Harris & especially Lacy have better vision on the field to exploit a hole from what I've seen so far.
Pittsburgh @ Denver are going to be pissed off they didn't draft Lacy.
Pittsburgh @ Denver are going to be pissed off they didn't draft Lacy.
Starks has shown the ability. He runs hard and has decent vision. What he hasn't shown is the ability to stay healthy, hold onto the ball, and block effectively when asked. Not exactly things you can gloss over. But he's still breathing and has a chance to contribute if Green and Franklin don't.
Green Bay – In the off-season, Mike McCarthy declared war on injuries. This war was lost. Another season is in jeopardy.
Year after year, the Packers fail August. As usual, the flood of injuries was the story of the summer. Another training camp has been disrupted.
Obviously, McCarthy and his many advisers inside and outside the organization have not found an answer. Buzzard's luck is not an excuse, not after this much time.
Before they wave the white flag, the Packers ought to think outside the box. McCarthy and his people have nothing to lose a year from now. It can't get any worse than this.
If it were me, I'd put the players in pads more often. And then many of the practices, at least in the first two weeks of camp, would feature 11-on-11 periods of live tackling in which everyone except the quarterback could and would be brought to the ground.
If serial worrywart Ted Thompson can't bear to watch, so be it. Packers smacking Packers is the way to harden their football team.
Certainly, some players will get hurt. It's inevitable. Risk lurks around every drill.
But the human body must be conditioned to play this violent game. It becomes conditioned best by real football, and that means the man with the ball being put on the ground.
The Packers have been living in mortal fear of injury since Thompson and McCarthy took over. It's time they confront those fears and begin developing a team that doesn't start coming apart in late July.
Look at the participation numbers in exhibition games since 2006. If you're a Packers fan, they should make you sick.
Of the 31 summer games that McCarthy has coached, the Packers have had more scratched, or injured, players in 26.
This is the eighth straight pre-season in which Green Bay has had more players declared unavailable than its opponents. The increase in roster size from 80 to 90 in 2011 is one reason their injury rate has climbed steadily over the years, but not the only one.
Continued...http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/for-packers-more-tackling-in-camp-could-be-best-medicine-for-rash-of-injuries-b9985208z1-221490581.html
Originally Posted by ChilliJon:
I think Green is the guy that fit's best into the comments MM made yesterday about his plans for Harris this year. But he's got to step up starting with KC.
If this means in that Green is the only other back to show some success running the ball then yes. Otherwise, Green does not have the quick-twitch small-space acceleration Harris had. He needs more space to be effective...like the O he played in at Hawaii. He could be a good 3rd down guy but based on MM's comments, he had Harris penciled in for a much bigger role than just 3rd down. I still think Franklin is more that guy if he ever figures out how to run behind and NFL OL.
This week, the Tampa Bay Times had a story with the headline that Nicks and Tynes are "responding well" to treatment. ESPN quoted Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano as saying, "They’re responding well" as the team puts a happy face on the story.
Amanda Tynes didn't appear too thrilled about the message being put out by the team.
Amanda Tynes, Lawrence's wife, tweeted a picture of her obviously unhappy husband hooked up to what appears to be his PICC line as he continues to be treated as the NFL season is almost ready to start without him.
I hear my husband is responding "well" to treatment. LOL! He's NOT responding at all yet. This is our #bucslife pic.twitter.com/Gy4z4OcAXA
If it wasn't obvious, the "This is our #buclife" line certainly drips with sarcasm and dissatisfaction. It's not surprising the Tynes family isn't very happy over the situation, especially when the Buccaneers made the cold but understandable move of signing kicker Rian Lindell the same day Tynes was having surgery
should've made more kicks in NY, loser.
MRSA sucks though. Got it in HS football.
Looks a little like Brody from homeland.
Apparently, so does this cowboy.
TT has a SB ring under his belt. He also has shown the ability to pick WR's (for example) under the radar that no other GM could figure out. His rep with picking RB's has been less than stellar. Starks has shown promise, but he can't stay on the field.
Harris was undrafted and dropped by Pittsburg. He showed promise last season, but did we really expect him to be the next Emmit Smith?...and let's be honest, Emmit didn't have to run behind the Green Bay OL. It sucks that we lost Harris for the year, but I don't believe he'd end up being a game changer.
Lacy, I believe, is the real deal. He wasn't a reach for TT...He's a highly rated pick that has proven himself at the collegiate level. He's not some shot in the dark that we're all hoping works out.
We don't need another AP. We need a legitimate RB who can convert a 3rd and 1 while taking some pressure off of the passing game...and maybe make a block or two. I think Lacy will be that guy...if he can work his way through a Packers practice without losing a limb.....which would be quite a feat nowadays.
http://profootballtalk.nbcspor...rt-of-packers-plans/
MM says D Harris was a big part of the Packers plans for this season. Ok. maybe, but I have trouble believing this on many levels. What I have the most trouble with is believing that MM would be that truthful about his plans.
quote:MM says D Harris was a big part of the Packers plans for this season. Ok. maybe, but I have trouble believing this on many levels.
Perhaps MM should have come out in the press conference and said he was so glad that Harris got injured because Harris is a loser, wasn't part of their plans, and this way he doesn't face the dificulty of cutting such a person?
If Craig "heimy" heimberger the road grader was blocking for him this never would have happenes
I think MM thinks Lacy is the big part of the plans but isn't going to come out and say it. Since Harris did a good job late last season and has more experience MM named him the starter but Lacy would have and will have more carries.
Originally Posted by turnip blood:
Saw this... last time McCarthy made 1 player (Finley) a big part of the offense they suffered for quite a while trying to find their "new" identity when he went down for the year. I'm sure McCarthy was planning things for Harris and his unique skill-set, but I don't believe he was going to be as big a part of the O that this implies. Not with Rodgers, Cobb, Nelson, Jones, and Finley... not to mention Lacy.
Lacy will be the difference maker. But let's face it, he's still a rookie and is likely to take a beating. Harris gave the option to still have a real threat in the backfield when Lacy's not in. He has that "waterbug" quality that is hard to replace. So, of course he will be missed. That being said, Starks, although not the same in running style and body type, brings his own brand of running hard and the ability to gain yards after initial contact. They will need to continue to develop Franklin and Green in order to have depth. I can't think of too many players at any position, outside of kickers, where injury isn't a continual threat.
watched Training Camp Report out of GB TV last nite.
they were showing all the RBs catching swing passes.
out of all the RBs, Lacy was the only one who makes his turn move and snaps his head around at the same time on a dime to locate and catch the ball. I couldn't believe what the coaches were allowing the rest to do without harping on that small point of snapping your head around quickly. Lacy looked like the seasoned pro compared to the rest.
I don't really have a point.
I don't really have a point.
Yes you do. The point is Lacy is a REAL RB not the garbage they've been trotting out there the last 5 years or so (sans Ryan Grant)
Originally Posted by Ubetcha:
Lacy will be the difference maker. But let's face it, he's still a rookie and is likely to take a beating.
Rookie RB's however can do just fine despite their "rookie" status. There is not the learning curve like there is for positions like CB, DT, T, WR, etc. RB's as rookies do well all around the league and we see this year in and out. His blocking may be trying at times but I think he'll be ok.
Run blocking by the OL however may be a different story.....
Originally Posted by Boris:
...not the garbage they've been trotting out there the last 5 years or so (sans Ryan Grant)
It would be fun to dig up the defense of some of that garbage that finally led to TT finally making the position a priority.
Agree with PBoi that sans special teams, RB is the one position in the NFL where kids can walk off of a campus and into the starting lineup.
The one question I have with Lacy is how many touches will they give him/can he handle over the course of 16+ games? At ALA he always shared the snaps to varying degrees - with Ingram, Richardson, and even last year with Yeldon.
His career touches at ALA
2010 - 56 rush, 2 rcvg
2011 - 95 rush, 11 rcvg
2012 - 204 rush, 22 rcvg
They will now need to find a way to distribute the 1st/2nd down snaps between Lacy and the other guys, that is where they will miss Harris - not in the passing game.
** edit **
In McCarthy's offense, Grant's two big years he had touches of:
2008 - 312 rush, 18 rcvg
2009 - 282rush , 25 rcvg
Will they expect that kind of involvement from Lacy now with Harris gone?
"It would be fun to dig up the defense of some of that garbage that finally led to TT finally making the position a priority."
Have at it Scooter!
Originally Posted by Hungry5:
Saw this... last time McCarthy made 1 player (Finley) a big part of the offense they suffered for quite a while trying to find their "new" identity when he went down for the year. I'm sure McCarthy was planning things for Harris and his unique skill-set, but I don't believe he was going to be as big a part of the O that this implies. Not with Rodgers, Cobb, Nelson, Jones, and Finley... not to mention Lacy.
Wasn't that also the year they won the SB? 
Originally Posted by packerboi:
Run blocking by the OL however may be a different story.....
THIS. Watching our starters try to open up holes against a really good defense like the Seahawks is painful. But I have faith in Jimmy Campen. He'll figure it out.
I wouldn't use the Seattle preseason game as a measure of GB's OL or run blocking prowess. It takes time to all come together, and if Rodgers ever sees 8 in the box, he'll destroy it in the flash of an eye
Lots of work to be done, plenty of room for improvement; but that Seattle preseason contest is a pretty useless barometer imo.
That being said, if Packer fans want a strong running game, they are going to have to accept that its going to be a struggle early on. You don't just flip a switch. They have to get in sync by December and have 3 months to fine tune it
I agree for the most part, Satori. I would just add that it's incredibly frustrating to watch the same crappy run blocking year after year. You'd think they'd get it right by now. They've got good players. I guess we'll see how things play out, but I agree that if they want to see an improved run game, MM is going to have to stick with it and be patient. Really patient.
I can change my screen name, but I can't change my love for SAMMICH. Duff Gardens, here I come!
Originally Posted by Winnebago Warrior:
I agree for the most part, Satori. I would just add that it's incredibly frustrating to watch the same crappy run blocking year after year. You'd think they'd get it right by now. They've got good players. I guess we'll see how things play out, but I agree that if they want to see an improved run game, MM is going to have to stick with it and be patient. Really patient.
How good are the players? A rookie fourth-round pick at left tackle, former undrafted free agents at center and right tackle. Throw in a mediocre at best O-line coach and I don't know how much we can really expect.
True dat. For all the resources and draft picks TT has thrown at the offensive line they sure don't have much to show for it these days.
Whitacker, Klemm, Coston, Colledge, Spitz, Moll, Giacomini, Barbre, Moll, Saturday, Newhouse, Bulaga, Sherrod, etc. all not contributing much.
Seattle was wanting Green Bay to pass so they could judge their secondary. Thats why the Packers saw an 8 man front, even the Steeler line of the 70s would have problems with that.
Originally Posted by Hungry5:
** edit **
In McCarthy's offense, Grant's two big years he had touches of:
2008 - 312 rush, 18 rcvg
2009 - 282rush , 25 rcvg
Will they expect that kind of involvement from Lacy now with Harris gone?
I think they will. Green and Franklin will get their looks and McCarthy's offense will obviously always flow through Rodgers, but I get the feeling they're ready to roll with Lacy and let him be the workhorse, per se.
Any news on what made Bakhtari leave the game in the first quarter?
