Anybody see anyone who can help us on the waiver wire?

[JamesCA]

The Steelers let go of a return man - not sure if he's any better than what we have and Dre Bly from the Lions looks like he's available but the question is, does Bly have a lack of talent compared to what we have or was it that the Lions were just bad in general and he would do well in a better system? Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[SpartaChris]

I saw a couple CB's who looked pretty good on paper. No idea how they look on tape though.

 

[PackersRS]

TT didn't even made any claims. I doubt he trades for anyone, and that this roster will change, unless an incredible fit gets released.

It'll go like this till the 6th week, then Harris and Bigby come back, Bush and Peprah get released. Starks might also come back and Johnson or Hall may be released, but he hasn't played for 1 1/2 years...

 

[Forget Favre]

I think the thing that folks tend to forget is that what makes a good return is not just the running but the blocking as well.
And if the return man for the Pack, whoever he is, has excellent blocking, then someone using just a walker would be able to return for a TD.
The other thing is that not every punt return gets a chance at running back. It can go out of bounds, a fair catch or the other team may down it on the 1 yd line.

From what I saw in pre-season, we have a great ah-fence being led by one of the elite QBs in the NFL.
So as long as A-Rod stays upright, we shouldn't have to worry about the kick/punt returns.

The other thing too about kick returns is that they are hardly ever returned for great yardage.
KOR averages just 20 yards. Punt usually about 5-15.
Big yards and a TD are a miracle.
So why there are different expectations of the Pack is something I don't understand.

 

[Aaron rodgers is god]

I think the thing that folks tend to forget is that what makes a good return is not just the running but the blocking as well.
And if the return man for the Pack, whoever he is, has excellent blocking, then someone using just a walker would be able to return for a TD.
The other thing is that not every punt return gets a chance at running back. It can go out of bounds, a fair catch or the other team may down it on the 1 yd line.

From what I saw in pre-season, we have a great ah-fence being led by one of the elite QBs in the NFL.
So as long as A-Rod stays upright, we shouldn't have to worry about the kick/punt returns.

The other thing too about kick returns is that they are hardly ever returned for great yardage.
KOR averages just 20 yards. Punt usually about 5-15.
Big yards and a TD are a miracle.
So why there are different expectations of the Pack is something I don't understand.

Yah i understand your point, but we need help on special teams. A good special teams helps your offense and defense by giving them advantages. Our special teams are favoring the other team by giving their defense easier spots to work with and their offenses. Any way you can get your team better look into it. I know kick off returns should not be our main priority but we should not kick it to the side of the curb and forget about it.

 

[JoshuaRHuffman]

TT didn't even made any claims. I doubt he trades for anyone, and that this roster will change, unless an incredible fit gets released.

It'll go like this till the 6th week, then Harris and Bigby come back, Bush and Peprah get released. Starks might also come back and Johnson or Hall may be released, but he hasn't played for 1 1/2 years...

Agreed. I'm thinking they'll part ways with Lee though before Bush because Bush does more experience, has flexibility to be an emergency S, and can play special teams. Lee needs to stay healthy and show something these next 6 weeks for sure.

 

[Croak]

I think the thing that folks tend to forget is that what makes a good return is not just the running but the blocking as well.
And if the return man for the Pack, whoever he is, has excellent blocking, then someone using just a walker would be able to return for a TD.
The other thing is that not every punt return gets a chance at running back. It can go out of bounds, a fair catch or the other team may down it on the 1 yd line.

From what I saw in pre-season, we have a great ah-fence being led by one of the elite QBs in the NFL.
So as long as A-Rod stays upright, we shouldn't have to worry about the kick/punt returns.

The other thing too about kick returns is that they are hardly ever returned for great yardage.
KOR averages just 20 yards. Punt usually about 5-15.
Big yards and a TD are a miracle.
So why there are different expectations of the Pack is something I don't understand.

Let us not forget that it was a good return game that helped get the Pack to the last two Super Bowls they enjoyed. I haven't seen great returns from Jordy Nelson yet, but something in my gut tells me he *could* be a great return guy.

 

[ivo610]

Well we were last in the NFL so clearly something needs to be done differently.

Jordy might be able to catch but returning clearly isnt his thing.

 

[PackersRS]

Agreed. I'm thinking they'll part ways with Lee though before Bush because Bush does more experience, has flexibility to be an emergency S, and can play special teams. Lee needs to stay healthy and show something these next 6 weeks for sure.

You may be right. Lee was a 2nd rounder, though, and we all know what Bush has. Lee could be something.

Let us not forget that it was a good return game that helped get the Pack to the last two Super Bowls they enjoyed. I haven't seen great returns from Jordy Nelson yet, but something in my gut tells me he *could* be a great return guy.

Jordy was a terrific return guy in college, but it's another game speed.

He was a solid kick return guy, 25.4 average is solid. He was #12 amongst returners with more than 15 attempts last year.

But a terrible punt returner. An awful 5.3 average. And it seems like he's gonna be a primarily PUNT returner...

I don't like that situation AT ALL. Rather have Tramon Williams doing it.

Matter-of-factly, we have two very good return guys on our team. Greg Jennings has all the tools you look for, and Charles Woodson did it sucesfully in college and with the Raiders (and I remember him doing some with us, too). But we won't use them for that.

 

[ivo610]

I scream every time I see Charles try to run one back. I dont want to see an MVP quality player get hurt on a play like that.

 

[normsizedmidget]

I'm so bummed we didn't go after Stefan Logan (that Pitt return man). I'm incredibly biased here because I went to college at the same school at the same time as him and went and watched him play countless times. Father was one of his track coaches but..he said the Steelers return yardage record last year. The team loved him from every rumor I ever heard. Second fastest guy on the team his first year there (Willie smoked him in a 40 or 60 yard race, can't remember which it was). Profootballfocus.com that does positional grading had him as the #1 overall return specialist. Could have been our Desmond, I swear.

 

[turbo69]

I scream every time I see Charles try to run one back. I dont want to see an MVP quality player get hurt on a play like that.

I do the same thing. Return guys get hurt all the time. Its pretty obvious to me who has to go. Our special teams coach can't even teach a guy how to catch a punt or kickoff. It's not rocket science. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

 

[SpartaChris]

I'm so bummed we didn't go after Stefan Logan.

Wouldn't have mattered if we did because Detroit nabbed him off the waiver wire. Even if we put in a claim, we wouldn't have gotten him.

 

[normsizedmidget]

Wouldn't have mattered if we did because Detroit nabbed him off the waiver wire. Even if we put in a claim, we wouldn't have gotten him.

I understand how the waiver wire works but even putting in a claim would at least let me know they are smart enough to realize we need return help. What I meant though was before the cuts (trash for trash trade), there was no way Logan wasn't going to get claimed before we came up in line and TT knew that, probably why he didn't try to claim him if he was interested.

 

[PackersRS]

I understand how the waiver wire works but even putting in a claim would at least let me know they are smart enough to realize we need return help. What I meant though was before the cuts (trash for trash trade), there was no way Logan wasn't going to get claimed before we came up in line and TT knew that, probably why he didn't try to claim him if he was interested.

Tramon Williams and Greg Jennings reportedly to return punts, and Bjax and Nelson to return kicks:

Eagles week: Monday practice report, McCarthy comments - JSOnline

Nelson, Jackson are kickoff options. Tramon Williams and, yup, Greg Jennings options on punts.

 

[normsizedmidget]

Tramon Williams and Greg Jennings reportedly to return punts, and Bjax and Nelson to return kicks:

Eagles week: Monday practice report, McCarthy comments - JSOnline

Yeah I was just reading that. Scary. I said before, come playoff time or in crunch time in a game we really need, let Tramon return, or Jennings would be fine too. But a chance they might do it all season?? Seems ridiculous. All because we don't want to waste a roster spot on a specialist it seems like.

 

[SpartaChris]

Or it could be a matter of putting the best players on the field. It seems like we've gone ultra conservative in KR/PR as of late out of fear of injury. This plan seems a bit more aggressive by Thompson, which I think i'm ok with.

 

[normsizedmidget]

Or it could be a matter of putting the best players on the field. It seems like we've gone ultra conservative in KR/PR as of late out of fear of injury. This plan seems a bit more aggressive by Thompson, which I think i'm ok with.

Putting starters on ST has come back to bite us in this *** before. If Tramon goes down we are completely f***ed. It's not worth the extra 3-5 yards he will average over Jordy, or whoever to risk him getting injured. A Jennings injury would be bad too but not catastrophic. Personally, if I think you would have to be a lunatic to want to let Tramon and Jennings return kicks all year. Although I do agree we need to try something to get a return game going but signing some specialist and giving him a spot on the gameday 45 seems like a lot simpler solution to me. Even if we do go with Jordy or whoever, it seems like our offense can pick up the slack from an average return unit.

 

[SpartaChris]

I would be OK with a specialist as I agree, I don't like risking our guys either. That said, I have to trust that the guys in charge of running our team know more about what they're doing than we do. There's a reason why they are where they are and we are where we are, so I trust that they made the best decision to help us win.

 

[normsizedmidget]

^^^^^ Looks like they might be following my advice and signing a specialist. Clifton Smith is in today for a "tryout." Smart move if he's healthy and ready to do.

 

[SpartaChris]

Not so fast- Sounds like he's picking somewhere else to go:

Twitter / Clifton Smith Jr.: #greenbayfans thank you fo ...

 

[PackersRS]

Bummer. TT is, indeed, king of the so close...

 

[SpartaChris]

I might have jumped the gun on that posting, because I haven't heard or seen anything where he said no officially. Could be he was just running through his decision making process.

 

[SpartaChris]

Besides, where else would he go that has a better shot at making the playoffs than Green Bay?

Either way, you have to give Ted credit for even having him in. It's most unexpected.

 

[SpartaChris]

Ok, he just confirmed my thought. He's headed to visit Miami now.