2019 UDFA NEWS and Signings

[Pokerbrat2000]

I vew that as being marginally better than an non-zero probability. That's a roundabout way of saying "improbable" given the candidates.

Think the 2 of us are starting to come to the same conclusion in regards to:

• Bulaga
• Williams
• Daniels
• Crosby

Another guy that could have his name tossed into that list is Lane Taylor, but for many of the same reasons as the others, he will still probably be on the final 53.

 

[OldSchool101]

Think the 2 of us are starting to come to the same conclusion in regards to:

• Bulaga
• Williams
• Daniels
• Crosby

Another guy that could have his name tossed into that list is Lane Taylor, but for many of the same reasons as the others, he will still probably be on the final 53.

Yes. We’ve sent lots of veterans packing recently both in trades and FA. We should attempt to keep the roster building philosophy of getting younger and faster to a soft roar. Unless we’ve got the sure thing, we need to be prudent in how we handle seasoned veterans who still perform.
There’s a fine line in getting over zealous in our attempt to find replacements for seasoned veterans and when that threshold gets crossed, I believe it can very easily become counterproductive in nature.

Cohesiveness is an integral part of team building

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Yes. We’ve sent lots of veterans packing recently both in trades and FA. We should attempt to keep the roster building philosophy of getting younger and faster to a soft roar. Unless we’ve got the sure thing, we need to be prudent in how we handle seasoned veterans who still perform.
There’s a fine line in getting over zealous in our attempt to find replacements for seasoned veterans and when that threshold gets crossed, I believe it can very easily become counterproductive in nature.

Cohesiveness is an integral part of team building

Agreed and I think that aspect is even more important when you have a lot of new coaches. Most of the guys being mentioned for potential cap savings cut are core veterans that have been with the team for a long time. Remove them and you are possibly removing some of the glue that holds the team together in the locker room and on the field.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Think the 2 of us are starting to come to the same conclusion in regards to:

• Bulaga
• Williams
• Daniels
• Crosby

Another guy that could have his name tossed into that list is Lane Taylor, but for many of the same reasons as the others, he will still probably be on the final 53.

I see Daniels and Taylor as more vulnerable than the others.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I see Daniels and Taylor as more vulnerable than the others.

Agree. Mainly due to the amount saved and I think there is a better chance at finding their possible replacement on the current roster.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Agree. Mainly due to the amount saved and I think there is a better chance at finding their possible replacement on the current roster.

There better be a better chance of replacing them with Z. Smith, Gary, Turner and Jenkins, significant capital expended to upgrade the 3-tech rotation and OG positions. Bulaga's always an injury risk with an ongoing question of whether he can make it to opening day without a mishap.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Mike Tyson has been signed by the Packers!

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Don't get too excited, it was another Mike Tyson.

The Packers have been assigned DB Mike Tyson off of waivers from Houston, per source.

https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/11605/mike-tyson

 

[OldSchool101]

I see Daniels and Taylor as more vulnerable than the others.

Definitely Taylor. What’s happened to Big Mike, he’s been Mr reliable up until 2018. Was it his foot?

 

[Curly Calhoun]

Mike Tyson has been signed by the Packers!

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Don't get too excited, it was another Mike Tyson.

The Packers have been assigned DB Mike Tyson off of waivers from Houston, per source.

https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/11605/mike-tyson

If he plays against Holyfield's nephew, hopefully their won't be any ear-chomping......

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

The Packers safety room now features Smash, Savage and Mike Tyson. Sure sounds a lot more intimidating than Dix, Whitehead and Brice.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The point was that comparing Crosby's 12 year record of 80.4% to last year's qualifed kickers (26th. ranked) is a misrepresentation given the improving state of the art (and Crosby's record) over the years.

I never did that as I solely compared Crosby to other kickers or teams over the same period though.

Funny, though, you're ready to throw in the towel on Ficken. I'm not. On the one hand you believe the highly-paid scouting department should be able to find a replacement needle in the unproven haystack of kickers. Then when they do bring one in you're throwing in the towel before you've seen him in preseason.

Maybe it's premature to give up on Ficken but I don't have any confidence he will be able to beat out Crosby during the preseason.

I never said it was impossible. That would be stupid since it has been done. However, you have portayed it as easy. It is not easy. So, how many undrafted kickers yielded that 83.5% over those 3 years? Very few out of the hundreds of kickers coming out every year.

Once again, I guess the percentage of college kickers making it in the NFL is comparable to other positions. Teams don't have to spend early round draft picks or a ton of money to acquire one of them though.

The Bears front office has done a pretty good job at roster building with a "win now" tilt. Who knows what might have happened without the double doink. They evidently have a highly paid scouting staff earning their money. And yet they found they needed to stage a cattle call for kickers, raking in a chunck of the haystack in search of the needle. It is not easy to find a kicker out of the undrafted ranks. It's easier if you draft one, but even then it is more like a 50/50 proposition. It also helps to have somebody on the staff with some knowlege of placekicking other than by osmosis. That's uncommon. Judging from Nagy's comments and approach he's no exception depite being highly paid. I see nothing in the backgrounds of our coaches and scouts to say there is a kicking guru among them.

In my opinion people are making way too much out of several tryouts missing a kick in Bears rookie camp. I wouldn't have minded the Packers trying a similar approach to bring in a ton of undrafted kickers to find out if one of them is able to unseat Crosby.

In addition it might be smart to spend the money that would be saved by releasing Crosby on adding a kicking guru to the coaching staff.

Your numbers don’t show that. Your numbers only show that Crosby is at best an average to maybe slightly below average NFL kicker. It is entirely plausible to think that he might still be a member of an extremely small group of individuals capable of doing that job. The fact that the Bears and Vikings have had trouble finding adequate replacements is certainly not proof that the Packers can’t replace Crosby, but it does give one pause.

I'm absolutely convinced that kicker is one of the easiest positions to replace on a football team, especially when talking about a below average one. The Packers might have to sign more than one kicker to find the right one but I'm fine with taking that risk considering the cap savings could allow the team to add a veteran at inside linebacker and/or safety to add quality depth.

 

[Mondio]

I'd say it's easier only because you can go thru 2,3,4 in season. If you rip thru QB's and DB's like kickers you're not really giving them a chance to even learn a system let alone perform in it. but every year there are teams going thru kickers, it's not as easy as just saying, we need someone better and cheaper, sign that guy.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I'd say it's easier only because you can go thru 2,3,4 in season. If you rip thru QB's and DB's like kickers you're not really giving them a chance to even learn a system let alone perform in it. but every year there are teams going thru kickers, it's not as easy as just saying, we need someone better and cheaper, sign that guy.

I don't deny it might take the Packers several tries to find an adequate replacement but as I've mentioned above it might be worth the risk considering the Packers could improve a position of need either on offense or defense with the cap space saved by releasing Crosby. They don't have that chance by holding on to Crosby to start the season.

 

[gbgary]

If by "since 2012" we mean 2013 -2018, his make percentage is 84.2% which is decent, not great. He'd rank 18th. all time with most of the guys above him still active. If Crosby made his next 77 in a row he'd be at 88.9%, ranking second all time behind Justin Tucker.

If you throw his horrible 2012 season into the mix, a clear outlier 7 years in the rearview mirror, then you'd get much worse results. Which is the more egregious example of data mining, the one least predictive of future performance? Drawing the line just below his worst season 7 years past to drive down the average or looking at just the last 6 seasons?

You decide.

Has Crosby been overpaid? Yes.
Is he easy to replace with an undrafted place kicker for that cap savings? No.
Has captainWIMM overplayed his thesis? Yes.

i don't think he's been overpaid necessarily. he was a very good kicker for a long time...and as i've said he's had some great moments. yes 2012 was bad but last season wasn't good, for him, at all. after last season, and considering his age and contract, if he and the newb in camp were tied at the end of preseason i think i'd go with the newb. if the o becomes a move-the-chains machine i think there'll be fewer fg's, and shorter ones, anyway.

 

[HardRightEdge]

i don't think he's been overpaid necessarily. he was a very good kicker for a long time...and as i've said he's had some great moments. yes 2012 was bad but last season wasn't good, for him, at all. after last season, and considering his age and contract, if he and the newb in camp were tied at the end of preseason i think i'd go with the newb. if the o becomes a move-the-chains machine i think there'll be fewer fg's, and shorter ones, anyway.

I wouldn't call Ficken a "newb". This is his 5th. year trying to land a job.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I wouldn't call Ficken a "newb". This is his 5th. year trying to land a job.

Well then he must be good!

I will be interested to see exactly what the Packers see in Ficken, because if you showed me his 5 year stats, I might see if he was available to work concessions.

NFL Career:

3 of 6 FG's made, with a career long of 34 yards! His misses: 46, 28 and 35 yds.

 

[Mondio]

Sounds awesome

 

[gbgary]

I wouldn't call Ficken a "newb". This is his 5th. year trying to land a job.

new to us. there's also the try-out guy cole tracy...and anyone else who may pop up.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Well then he must be good!

I will be interested to see exactly what the Packers see in Ficken, because if you showed me his 5 year stats, I might see if he was available to work concessions.

NFL Career:

3 of 6 FG's made, with a career long of 34 yards! His misses: 46, 28 and 35 yds.

They might see him as a camp body who can push Crosby. Recall Tavecchio in camp in 2013 followed by Crosby's best season.

On the other hand, Tavecchio finally landed a job in Oakland in 2017 in his 6th. season of tying, didn't do that well, then Atlanta brought him last year after Bryant's injury and he went 5 for 5 with a couple of 50+ hits. Now in his 8th. season, Tavecchio is Atlanta's kicker for 2019 after they cut Bryant, with no competition on the roster, for the princely sum of $600.000.

So, you never know. A needle could pop out of the haystack from just about anywhere. Some very good pro golfers...er, I mean kickers...evidently don't find their true swing until well into their 20's. If Crosby pulls a hammy and Ficken is striping everything in preseason, you never know. Then again, the swing can be lost as quickly as it was briefly found.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

i don't think he's been overpaid necessarily. he was a very good kicker for a long time...and as i've said he's had some great moments. yes 2012 was bad but last season wasn't good, for him, at all.

There's absolutely no doubt Crosby is currently overpaid as he has never been a good kicker for an extended period of time and has been below average since signing the current deal in 2016.

 

[Darth Garfunkel]

Mike Tyson has been signed by the Packers!

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

Don't get too excited, it was another Mike Tyson.

The Packers have been assigned DB Mike Tyson off of waivers from Houston, per source.

https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/11605/mike-tyson

Thith ith fantasthic

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

Although he's not a UDFA, I'm a little bummed that Darron Lee got traded to the Chiefs for a 6th Rounder, I wonder if Gute got a call from them before that happened? While Lee looked like bust material in New York, his plus athleticism I felt could have found use in Pettine's system. I guess Gute probably felt he wasn't worth the gamble for the 6th if he didn't pay out though. Our UDFAs are free of charge essentially when it comes to Draft capital.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I'm just going to start things rolling and say......if he makes it through undrafted, go sign..

Greg Dortch: WR, Wake Forest

This guy could be a great punt returner and see how he does in the slot.

Haven’t heard of this guy Poker but I’ll take your word for it. I don’t think MVS, ESB, or J’mon can fill the slot position (well, maybe J’mon if he has a good training camp).

Regardless, getting an established slot guy will be critical for this offense.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Yes. We’ve sent lots of veterans packing recently both in trades and FA. We should attempt to keep the roster building philosophy of getting younger and faster to a soft roar. Unless we’ve got the sure thing, we need to be prudent in how we handle seasoned veterans who still perform.
There’s a fine line in getting over zealous in our attempt to find replacements for seasoned veterans and when that threshold gets crossed, I believe it can very easily become counterproductive in nature.

Cohesiveness is an integral part of team building

Hey OldSchool, do you think it’s time to replace Crosby? Seems like last season was defined by that horrible Detroit game. I think he still has a productive season left. In other words, I don’t prioritize replacing him. Getting him competition, most definitely.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

Haven’t heard of this guy Poker but I’ll take your word for it. I don’t think MVS, ESB, or J’mon can fill the slot position (well, maybe J’mon if he has a good training camp).

Regardless, getting an established slot guy will be critical for this offense.

Why would the WR who's shown the least on the field be the best for the slot position?