Packers Off-season prediction/transactions thread

Laugh if you want, but I see potential from Janis! And he has the skill set to do well. Sure he has not lived up to his potential but this may be the year. I see big changes to the offensive game plan this year and it favors someone taking off the top of the route tree. A "go route" makes up for DB's plastering our receivers at the LOS and can be a solution to defenses crowding the line. Perhaps Jordy will do that again this year but he has been transitioning to the slot. Except for Davis no other receiver has the skill set of Janis! on deep balls.

I predict a totally different look for our offense this year.

I do think there are a few things playing into this.  First is the playbook.  At SVS it was probably the size of a comic book - give or take a page or two.  In the pros it would make a set of encyclopedias look small.  His ability to comprehend it should show up on the field - for better or worse.  Then, while I think he has the physical ability, the playing skills required are coming slowly - and maybe not fast enough to stick this year.  In DII it one thing to blow by people with 4.30 speed consistently, but in the pros, while initially catching everyone off guard there can be some success, if your a one trick pony you will be defended.  Next, this year will be year 4 in GB for Janis.  If your going to shine, last year might have been it.  For sure this year will be it - I believe.  There is a reason they have brought in a couple of guys who stand more than a chance to stick.  Adams did figure it out in year 3, Jordy produced in year 4, I think Janis has one more chance.  Somehow Allison figured it out in year 1, and had ARs trust by the end of the season - and it showed on the field.  That is a big achievement given the limited reps with AR that I assume he had.  If Trevor Davis shows he has it figured out and has ARs trust, he has the speed to do what Janis could do, Janis could be gone.  At best I think Janis has an up hill battle on his hands to stick.  If it were possible to somehow merge Janis physical characteristics with Abbredarius (spell?) brain you would have one awesome receiver. 

I too was excited when GB drafted him.  I was hoping for him to be the next JN too.  But I think that light is flickering and may go out soon.  I have come to terms with the idea he has to lose his DII mentality to a degree.  We will see what happens in TC this year. 

justanotherpackerfan posted:

ammo posted:

PackerPatrick posted:

Prediction time. This is the year that Janis! finally gets it. 

Yep.   A visit from the Turk.  "Coach McCarthy wants to see you.  And bring your playbook. "  

Janis "What's a playbook?"

He might know what it is.  But finding it is another story. 

justanotherpackerfan posted:

ammo posted:

PackerPatrick posted:

Prediction time. This is the year that Janis! finally gets it. 

Yep.   A visit from the Turk.  "Coach McCarthy wants to see you.  And bring your playbook. "  

Janis "What's a playbook?"

People are just so callous.  I think he knows what a playbook is.

He grabbed his Super Friends coloring book and sprinted really fast to MM's office.  "I win! I win! I win!"

Let's clear up a few fallacies about Janis.

He is not stupid.  He is actually quite smart.  I don't think his problem is knowing or understanding the playbook.  I think it's his inability to run a convincing route tree and read DB's on the fly in the same way his QB does, hence getting himself open. 

He does not have Jordy's skills.  He has never shown the ability or skills to run any route other than a go or an end around, if you want to call that a route.  His footwork may also be a culprit in his inability to sell a route tree.  He may not have the pedal dexterity to do what guys like Adams, Nelson and Jennings could do.

While expecting any receiver to have success on a go route greatly depends on whether that receiver can set a DB up so he doesn't know it's coming, which means he has to be successful with other routes...the one advantage Gump would have is his ability to fight through a jam at the line via his gunner skills.

FACEMASK DEFLECTOR SHIELD, ACTIVATE!!!!

The thinking that GB needs Janis speed to take the top off a defense is flawed thinking. You have to know how to play the position. And you have to have personnel that helps open things up downfield. 

Chris Hogan is New England's deep threat. He had 40 receptions last year. Averaged 18 yards/reception. Had the longest reception for NE in 2016 (79 yards). Hogan runs a 4.6 40 on his best day. Hogan isn't taking the top of his defense because secondaries are concerned about his speed. He's getting over the top of defenses concerned with Amendola, Edelman, Gronk, and Bennett finding holes underneath deep coverage that's drawing safeties toward the line. 

Thats where Bennett and Kendricks help GB in 2017. So I agree that we'll see changes to the offensive game plan in 2017. But Janis isn't a factor in those plans paying off. Bennett, Kendricks, a totally piped up Ty Montgomery who should wear a bumper sticker on the back of his helmet that says "Our Running Back catches passes better than your Running Back", and one of the three rook RBs stepping in to spell Ty. Do that we'll and GB doesn't need one guy to take to the top off a defense. They'll potentially have three guys who can take the top off a defense because defenses cant just let Aaron Rodgers bleed them to death with intermediate stuff underneath. 

1) Quit ruining my jokes

2) I don't know if his gunner skills have helped him much against being jammed up on the line.  I think that's still one of the biggest issues is he can't complete or time routes consistently because he does get knocked off the routes.  That in itself is pretty much enough to derail WR production.  He's all beefed up supposedly and while that will help I don't think it will clear up his route issues.  I would defer to your pedal dexterity comment as reference.

I feel a little dirty after writing that phrase.

"Form of a gazelle"

"Shape of a Ice Brick"

This isn't quite as loopy as the time I saw a guy on the old JSO forums say that Joey Harrington (After he had already washed out with the Loins) was the perfect successor to Favre, but it's certainly an honorable mention.

PackerPatrick posted:

Laugh if you want, but I see potential from Janis! And he has the skill set to do well. Sure he has not lived up to his potential but this may be the year.

I assure you, I am not laughing.  Your right - this may be THE year. 

2017

Ghost of Lambeau posted:

PackerPatrick posted:

Laugh if you want, but I see potential from Janis! And he has the skill set to do well. Sure he has not lived up to his potential but this may be the year.

I assure you, I am not laughing.  Your right - this may be THE year. 

Yes 2017!

In fact, this is the most optimism I have had over a new playing year in some time. I liked the draft and the FA pickups. I also find myself expecting more from R&R in their 3rd year. I guess that D. Adams set the bar for improvement after a rough and injury-filled sophomore year. I am also optimistic over having 2-3 good to great TE's and the change to our offensive game plan that includes a pass catching RB out of the backfield. With the only thing left for the offense to improve on, I see potential for someone to threaten the outside on go routes. We have two veterans who can do just that. Janis! seems to be due. Now whether Janis will actually do that fits within the realm of an "off-season prediction"*. Bold but that's what offseason predictions are for.

* (For entertainment purposes only)

You can't "take the top off an offense" if you can't also do other things. 

Hey everybody, Janis is up!  Everybody move up and get ready for the pop fly!

My 2017 prediction? Ty sniffs 2,000 total yards between rushing and receiving. He's a nightmare with Bennett and Kendricks. He had 805 total yards last year on only 121 total touches (77 carries. 44 receptions) 

The only thing holding Ty back is his health.  If he plays all 16, I think we see big numbers.  

Said 3/4 of the roster

I also predict an article written on Janis! eg. "Big things expected after disappointing career". Or something along that line.

Moving on, I don't expect Ty to be the "Bell Cow"  at running back. We now have TE's that can block as well as receive. That bodes well for our run game and we have at least two more RB's that can catch out of the backfield. Perhaps I am expecting too much from our rookies but I see big improvement in that phase of our offense.

As far as team health goes, I see guys that can step in and do well. The only exception is at OLB. We are kind of thin at that position. It seems that every year the position that we are thin at is the position where injuries strike. But who knows, maybe not this year.

And seeing Matthews and Perry are the two starters at the position, you can count on a lot of games missed between those two porcelain dolls

PackerPatrick posted:

Laugh if you want, but I see potential from Janis! And he has the skill set to do well....A "go route" makes up for DB's plastering our receivers at the LOS and can be a solution to defenses crowding the line.

 

He can't catch the ball over his shoulder.

IL_Pack_Fan posted:

PackerPatrick posted:

Laugh if you want, but I see potential from Janis! And he has the skill set to do well....A "go route" makes up for DB's plastering our receivers at the LOS and can be a solution to defenses crowding the line.

 

He can't catch the ball over his shoulder.

FTFY. 

Ty doesn't need to be and probably shouldn't be used as a "bell cow" RB.  His skill set makes him more dangerous lining up in more places than just the backfield.

Don't dismiss Ty's thinking he's found a full time starting spot at RB. He's going to put a damned vice grip death hold on that spot and he's not going to let go of it easily. That guy has a crazy high level of "I've got this" to him. He ain't no WR. He's got a whole lot of scrap iron to go with his measurables. 

McCarthy doesn't use a bell cow RB anyway, even during their best seasons Ryan Grant and Eddie Lacy never averaged even 20 carries per game. When you have Brett Fart and Aaron Rodgers, why would you run more than that? Keep the ball in the hands of your best players. Ty will have chances, especially with big Jahri at RG. He will produce like a starting RB should.

I'm waiting to see what Evans can still offer at this point.  I can't believe there would be a big enough drop off to put a stiff like Barclay in but who the hell knows with this coaching staff.

Evans body hasn't shown signs of wearing down like Sittons had, which is why TT signed him. Evans seems like a sharp guy, if his body holds up think we will be fine at RG. Hopefully Ted got him a year early.

Probably get 24-28 games from Evans. So, 19 this year and about half of next season.

The question I had about Evans was the fact he was cut by Seattle, who desperately needed Oline.  Maybe Evans didn't want to deal with Seattle's drama but it is of note.  

Don't they run a pure ZBS with Cable?  Hopefully more to do with scheme than Evans himself.

What I am kind of excited about as far as Evans is him learning the inside/outside technique the oline has been using.  Who knows, maybe that alone will prolong his career by a year if he starts manhandling punks like Bak.

Based on how Seattle has put together their OL the last couple years, I chalk him being cut by Seattle up to Seattle stupidity. He went back to NO and had a fine season. Seattle keeps letting OL walk and they think they can replace them with whoever because it's the ZBS. The problem is that when their OL was good, part of the reason they were good is because they had Beast Mode running behind them. He ran through bad blocks and made something out of nothing. 

That, and Wilson still had his college legs.

That's probably why they picked up Eddie Lacy.

But the Seahawks suck anyway.

Evans will do well at pass pro. I might have read somewhere he was a left guard before or maybe that Taylor fits better at right guard. If true I wonder with Lang gone positions will be switched? Was Evans in a ZBS in NO? In any case, I expect that Campen will train them well and nobody moves. Kofi may replace Barky for backup center because I think when drafted the Packers listed him as such. I hope Lindsay gets resigned. When healthy he did well. It looks like our offensive line will be set for some time.

I worry more about Evans is pass protection than the run game. Protecting for AR is a different beast. You have to protect. Then protect. Then protect some more. Then do a little more pass protecting. Lang was really good at holding his pass block for extended time. I think Evans will be fine run blocking. 

MM and Campen decided to swap Lang and Sitton in 2013 so who knows where Evans will eventually line up. I could see LG but Taylor was playing well at the end of last year. 

Seattles OL really sucks. One of my favorite plays during RTB last year was Jayrone Elliott going around Seattles LT in 1.3 seconds and going through Russ Wilson like a tidal wave. 

I worry more about Evans is pass protection than the run game. Protecting for AR is a different beast. You have to protect. Then protect. Then protect some more.

Perhaps the Packers should get some WRs who can get open.

They have Janis. They just need to use him. 

New Orleans threw the ball 5,000 times and only gave up 27 sacks last year. I'm not worried about Evans in pass pro, even if he's slower than he was, he's a pretty savvy veteran which can make up for some loss of speed. They also rushed for 4.3 ypc and with Evans size I'm not worried about his run blocking either. Only thing holding him back will be his body holding up with 19 games. Sounds like he is smart about taking care of himself.

I do think Evans still has enough tread on the tires. He played really well last year. Smart signing by Ted. 

Let's talk Janis. In the offseason I watch old games on my DVR. Just watched the Lions game, Adams get an 18 yard gain negated by an idiot holding penalty by Janis. that fool needs to go. Really bush league.

If he were Bush league, he'd be on STs for nine years. I hope Janis! doesn't last that long...

The best 53!

YATittle posted:

Let's talk Janis. In the offseason I watch old games on my DVR. Just watched the Lions game, Adams get an 18 yard gain negated by an idiot idot holding penalty by Janis. that fool needs to go. Really bush league.

Please use proper X4 spelling.