Eddie Lacy was very productive when he was in the lineup, and was hyped as a p-90 story last year, I wouldn't say they're better there now.

DB probably looked stronger at this time last year with Shields still in the lineup. 

If Evans (or Murphy/Patrick) win the RG spot, Barclay will be the swing lineman and backup at center. 

Cook for Bennett/Kendricks? Oh. Hell. Yes. 

Have we really reached the point where we are speculating how this team might stack up vs. how we speculated last years team might stack up in May 2016? 

They will need more than 2 RB...my guess is Jones and Mays battle out for #3. Kerridge is gone. 

Janis and Allison will need to step up to justify their roster spots...Yancey and Dupre would have to stink it up pretty badly to get cut. Davis has the one thing you can't coach...speed.

My hope is Vogel unseats Schum. His hang time at the U was crazy at times.

Hopefully Meech Goodson isn't the new Jarrett Bush and finds his way off the squad.

MichiganPacker posted:

Here's the depth chart for next year. There might be another street free agent signing or two, but it's likely the team roster is pretty set. Locks for the roster (barring injury) are in bold. I would predict 42 locks for the roster, leaving 11 spots for the final roster.

At least 2 (and probably 3) spots will go to WRs. 1 spot is likely going to be Callahan and 2 spots will go the two later round RB picks. I would also bet on Murphy and Amichia making the roster on the OL. I'd then go with Ringo, Gunther, and Murphy.

They look improved relative to last year at RB, TE, DL, and in the secondary. They look even at QB, WR, FB, and OT. They look a little weaker at LB (Peppers, Jones > Biegel). They look a lot weaker in the OL.

QB: Rodgers, Hundley, Callahan

RB: Montgomery, Williams, A. Jones, Mays

FB: Ripkowski, Kerridge

TE: Bennett, R. Rodgers, Kendricks

WR: Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison, T. Davis, Janis, Yancey, Dupre

OT: Bakhtiari, Bulaga, Spriggs, Murphy

OG: Taylor, Evans, Barclay, Patrick

C: Linsley, Amichia

P: Schum

K: Crosby

LS: Someone

DL: Clark, Daniels, Jean-Francois, Lowry, Adams, Ringo, Price, Guion

LB: Matthews, Perry, Ryan, Martinez, Fackrell, Biegel, Elliott, Thomas

DB: King, House, Randall, Rollins, J. Jones, Dix, Burnett, Brice, Gunther, Hawkins, Goodson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tend to disagree about the OL. I don't think they will be weaker.

i think that Evans will provide a status quo..

Allison is fine based on how his 2016 ended. He just needs to keep on keeping on, Janis and Davis on the other hand.....

Looks like round 2 of the annual WR roster spot derby.  Gee, I hope they don't cut Adams again.  Allison has the most capital built up among last year's bottom 3.  But all 5 on the list above will be fighting for 3 spots.

Significantly weaker at OL. disagree. Keep in mind this is also a team who has often went with just 7 OL on their 53.  This was a lousy draft for OL, period. 

Evans should be a good stop gap. And Murphy is better suited at guard, not tackle. 

Putting together a 53 man roster in May, is well, silly  

Yes there are much more important things to discuss on a packers forum the week after the draft.

Like where in the world is iowacheez?

ChilliJon posted:

Have we really reached the point where we are speculating how this team might stack up vs. how we speculated last years team might stack up in May 2016? 

It all hits home when you see Schum's name in bold. This is serious. 

Really good thread topic.

I completely agree with MichiganPacker that, if we are going from the end of the season when Lacy, Shields, etc. were not on the active roster, the Pack is much improved at CB and RB. Also, agree the team is better/deeper at TE and Safety.

I am excited about improvement along the DLine as well. instead of counting on a pothead & 2 rookies, we head into 2017 with a solid vet in Francois, 2 second year players who should only get better in Clark and Lowry, and another promising rookie in Adams to go along with Daniels.

RB is an interesting one, but I can certainly see Monty & the 3 rookies being better than Monty & Starks, Don Jackson, and Michael were last year once Lacy went down. 

Even at WR, with the additions of Yancey & Dupre and with Davis a year older, the talent should be at least be deeper. 

ILB remains status quo. While this is not a very exciting group it should not be any worse than last year. 

Losing Lang & Tretter does weaken the OL, but perhaps the addition of Evans and the growth & development of others will offset their departures enough to make the OL remain a strength rather than becoming a weakness.

I think the real roster concern heading into 2017 has to be at OLB. Peppers and Datone Jones played a lot of snaps in 2016. They combined for 8.5 sacks and a large chunk of the "pressures" on the QB.

Their departures mean that Perry will probably need to play more snaps. Will Perry be as effective playing more downs? Will he be more susceptible to injury? He has had a lot of injuries that forced him to miss games or play hurt.

Clay has also played injured quite a bit and missed games. Do we expect him to get better with an increased workload?

As far as the backups, no one should really expect Biegel to produce much as a 4th round rookie. And Fackrell is mostly unknown. He could come in and make us all forget Peppers or he could be the next Zombo. Elliott has been on the team for three seasons and hardly been allowed to play on defense. He could not get on the field ahead of Datone Jones last season even though Jones had never played OLB before.

The risk of injury to our OLB starters is very real and there is no experienced depth behind them, so in my mind the OLB position, which featured Clay, Perry, Peppers, Datone Jones, Fackrell, and Elliott last season, is the one that is most significantly weaker now.  

"Their departures mean that Perry will probably need to play more snaps. Will Perry be as effective playing more downs? Will he be more susceptible to injury? He has had a lot of injuries that forced him to miss games or play hurt."

I'll bet on Biegel. Wait for it.

Doomed. Move on to the 2018 season.

OL has one Starter missing from last year.  They also have a starter that has played a year as a starter vs bench player.  Taylor should be a better player.  TJ Lang missed several games that we really didn't miss him.  We have a vet in Evans but 3 kids going into their second year, Spriggs, Murphy, and Patrick.  I like our line compared to a year ago.

I don't think ILB has remained status quo.  I think Josh Jones was drafted specifically for his ability to be the dime LB.  It could be the biggest change to the D.

I agree on Jones. If Capers can use him properly, he could surprise us as a rookie.

DH13 posted:

I don't think ILB has remained status quo.  I think Josh Jones was drafted specifically for his ability to be the dime LB.  It could be the biggest change to the D.

If Jones plays inside linebacker in the dime, then I completely agree that the position has been upgraded. 

Fackrell was picked in the third at #88 overall and if he's another Zombo TT missed badly. Need production from the second year players and not a repeat of what we saw from Rollins and Randall last year.

OL should be fine, barring any significant injuries.

Fackrell better not injure his Fackrell or everyone will be disappointed.

I think now would be a good time to mention Fackrell played 15% of the total defensive snaps in 2016. 160 of 1,030 total defensive snaps. 

Zombo comparisons. 

This thread is already sliding into the abyss. 

DH13 posted:

Yes there are much more important things to discuss on a packers forum the week after the draft.

Like where in the world is iowacheez?

He's working on his chakra.

He was only in on 18 tackles, had 2 sacks and a forced fumble playing 15% of the snaps. If it was 160 snaps, you would think he would be able to do more than that. Maybe teams were running away from him.

If he played 75% of the snaps, it would be 90 tackles and 10 sacks.

Or maybe not.

SteveLuke posted:

 

I completely agree with MichiganPacker that, if we are going from the end of the season when Lacy, Shields, etc. were not on the active roster, the Pack is much improved at CB and RB. Also, agree the team is better/deeper at TE and Safety.

 

I should hope anyone feels a fully healthy team before a season-long series of injuries and attrition is in better shape than one at the end of that grind. 

Was the O line good or did #12 make it look good with his extending plays?  Some of each? 

Always easier for a rookie with nothing on tape to surprise guys coming off the bench in spot duty.  Bigger challenge will be how they progress in year 2 vs opponents who know how to attack their weaknesses.

Herschel posted:

Eddie Lacy was very productive when he was in the lineup, and was hyped as a p-90 story last year, I wouldn't say they're better there now.

And since he was so seldom in the line up, of course we are better off now.  Anyone think he is going to play 16 out west?

I was not sad to see Eddie go.  

ChilliJon posted:

Allison is fine based on how his 2016 ended. He just needs to keep on keeping on, Janis and Davis on the other hand.....

Geronimo made some big plays in big situations down the stretch. I was pleased with his progress as an UDFA Rookie. He and AR actually seemed to have a pretty good connection/chemistry considering the lack of snaps he probably takes with AR in practices. Especially once the season starts. I think he can end up being a decent possession receiver and I'm looking forward to his progress this year. He had 12 receptions on only 22 targets for 202 yds. and 2 TD's with a long of 39 yds. and an avg. of just under 17 yds. per catch. That's not too bad in a limited role when the Pack needed to win those games. 

I think the success of Geronimo lead to picking the guys we saw last week, tall with a large catch radius.  

I suspect if Davis can't separate himself as a punt returner, he'll be looking for work.  

Janis! is traded for Joe Thomas

ChilliJon posted:

I think now would be a good time to mention Fackrell played 15% of the total defensive snaps in 2016. 160 of 1,030 total defensive snaps. 

Zombo comparisons. 

This thread is already sliding into the abyss. 

Well to be accurate, I wrote that "Fackrell is mostly unknown. He could come in and make us all forget Peppers or he could be the next Zombo."

I hope he is more like Peppers, but who really knows at this point?

And by the by, Zombo actually started 8 games and had 4 sacks during the regular season in 2010 as well as a big sack in the Super Bowl, so he wasn't the worst rookie outside linebacker to ever play the position. He just did nothing nothing of consequence the following two years.

El-Kofi-Amichia posted:

I think the success of Geronimo lead to picking the guys we saw last week, tall with a large catch radius.  

I suspect if Davis can't separate himself as a punt returner, he'll be looking for work.  

Janis! is traded for Joe Thomas

And Cleveland's first round pick

Janis will get cut, but will get picked up by the Vikes. Speed is always attractive.

Isn't the roster always significantly improved right after the draft?

Not if your first round pick rapes someone

other than that, it's better

Well, just the cost of doing business in the NFL.  Rapist picks.

Henry posted:

Isn't the roster always significantly improved right after the draft?

Henry posted:

DH13 posted:

Yes there are much more important things to discuss on a packers forum the week after the draft.

Like where in the world is iowacheez?

He's working on his chakra.

Chakra Khan?

Pikes Peak posted:

Was the O line good or did #12 make it look good with his extending plays?  Some of each? 

Our OL is good to very good, but ARod covers a lot of their sins.
However, the last 4-5 games or so, including the playoffs, they were breaking down more and more. I don't know if it was due to fatigue or injury (or again, some of each), but it was concerning nonetheless. 
In any case, barring significant injury, I don't expect any drop-off in their play this year.

I don't think he had the stones to work Chakra Khan.