Our #1 Priority for the Offense in the Offseason.

[Southpaw]

But it's Ok for Finley to drop a bunch of passes and then celebrating after catching a TD? Gimme a break...

Who cares? Really? You call Finley and egomaniac for celebrating. Then insinuate Jimmy Graham isn't anything like Finley when he does the exact same ****. Only he doesn't drop quite as many. He scored he can do whatever the hell he wants.

Work ethic wise, Graham is going to be the go-to-guy as long as Brees has him, and Finley is on his way out. He was 2nd place in the league for most dropped passes, and you still want to keep him after he dropped a BIG 3rd down play?

Yes. Do you really think any defensive coordinator goes into the film room with his team during preparations and says, "don't worry about 88 he leads the league in drops, so we don't need to worry about him."

He stretches the field. We had a good offense last season, but it was nothing like it was this season now that Finley has been in there. Not even close.

Just last season he was leading our team in receptions before his injury. He's coming off an injury and now he's struggling. This is typical, especially with no OTA's. While all our other receivers are improving their hands and route running, he's working and rehabbing just to be able to play.

Plenty of players have injuries and have sub-par seasons. They aren't superhuman

Yes his "me me me" attitude will follow him everywhere cause he don't learn, like Vernon Davis and he probably never will. he's locker room disease, straight up T.O. style.

lol what a joke. I hope you are pretending to be stupid. Because anybody who draws comparisons to Finley who made one out of character comment to Terrell Owen who is king attention ***** should be institutionalized.

There has never been a report from anyone that Finley is a locker room disease, if a guy who celebrates and wants to make plays is a disease, then there would not be one disease free locker room in this ******** league.

BRB Chad Ochocinco wants the ball. OMG DISEASE!!!!!!!!!!

Chad is a bigger diva than Finley could ever hope to be and I've never heard him being labeled by anyone as a cancer in the locker room.

 

[JTheGreat]

Who cares? Really? You call Finley and egomaniac for celebrating. Then insinuate Jimmy Graham isn't anything like Finley when he does the exact same ****. Only he doesn't drop quite as many. He scored he can do whatever the hell he wants.




Yes. Do you really think any defensive coordinator goes into the film room with his team during preparations and says, "don't worry about 88 he leads the league in drops, so we don't need to worry about him."

He stretches the field. We had a good offense last season, but it was nothing like it was this season now that Finley has been in there. Not even close.

Just last season he was leading our team in receptions before his injury. He's coming off an injury and now he's struggling. This is typical, especially with no OTA's. While all our other receivers are improving their hands and route running, he's working and rehabbing just to be able to play.

Plenty of players have injuries and have sub-par seasons. They aren't superhuman



lol what a joke. I hope you are pretending to be stupid. Because anybody who draws comparisons to Finley who made one out of character comment to Terrell Owen who is king attention ***** should be institutionalized.

There has never been a report from anyone that Finley is a locker room disease, if a guy who celebrates and wants to make plays is a disease, then there would not be one disease free locker room in this ******** league.

BRB Chad Ochocinco wants the ball. OMG DISEASE!!!!!!!!!!

Chad is a bigger diva than Finley could ever hope to be and I've never heard him being labeled by anyone as a cancer in the locker room.

Agree with you 100%

 

[ExpatPacker]

Our #1 priority for the offense offseason is resigning Scott Wells.

After that it's dealing with Finley and beefing up the OL with a solid LT.

 

[JoshuaRHuffman]

I think OT is a very unique situation.

I read something from MJS (I think) where it showed the amount of sacks that each starting OL had given up this season. None of them had given up more than 2.5. Marshall Newhouse (who didn't start the season but filled in for Bryan Bulaga and Chad Clifton) surrendered 11.5 sacks.

Newhouse must improve next season. With that said, they already spent a first-round pick (their second in two seasons) on Derek Sherrod. We really don't know what we got in him or will get now that he broke his leg.He missed the offseason workouts last season because of the holdout. He'll probably miss them again because of his injury.

That makes me think that, at most, they'll grab a OT/OG tweener in the later rounds of the draft and just go with Clifton/Newhouse/Sherrod for another season.

 

[TJV]

He will remain the weakest link of this team for a few years then. They win a Super Bowl the year he gets hurt, will never win one with him.

… Finley is on his way out. He was 2nd place in the league for most dropped passes, and you still want to keep him after he dropped a BIG 3rd down play? Yes his "me me me" attitude will follow him everywhere cause he don't learn, like Vernon Davis and he probably never will. he's locker room disease, straight up T.O. style.

The Packers did win the Super Bowl without him but I don’t think it follows that they wouldn’t have won it if he were active for that entire season.

I’ve never been in the Packers locker room (when there were players in it) so I don’t know the interaction of Finley and his teammates. But I do know Thompson and McCarthy care a great deal about the chemistry in the locker room – IMO they care as much or more about it than any other GM/HC tandem. And while I don’t know the details of Finley’s work ethic, I do know what Mike McCarthy has said about Finley.

"See, Jermichael publicly and when he's in the building is not the same," said McCarthy. "His persona and some of the things he does with his messaging is not the guy that we work with. He's a team guy that wants the football and (will do) whatever it takes to win."

"I love that kid, man," McCarthy said. "He's so competitive, and he loves to play football. He makes us a better football team. Not just because of his ability and his uniqueness, but also his competitive spirit. We missed him from a competitive standpoint. That guy loves to perform. Every day. In everything we do."

Thos quotes are from a March, 2011 jsonline article. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/117210108.html

As recently as his season ending press conference, McCarthy said this: “Jermichael probably brings a lot of criticism on himself because of his personality, but the man that I work with, he has a great work ethic. There’s no one that’s more into the practice on a daily basis than Jermichael. He wants to be a great player and thinks he’s going to be a great player, and with his talent level, that’s half the battle. So I look for him to continue to develop and establish himself as one of the better tight ends, a Pro Bowl-type tight end in this league.” (This quote is from the Packers’ website.)

Of course I wish Finley would catch the ball more consistently and I’m “old school” enough to wish he would just shut up and play. Times change and that’s just not how it’s done by most of today’s NFL players. Even so, I don’t see Finley among the league’s worst offenders, as Bogart does.

I hope Finley gets a reasonable (by NFL standards of course) long-term contract because:

1. Although he’s been in the league four years, he’s just 24 years old. He has a chance to mature both physically and psychologically.
2. He’s a physical specimen – even his critics (usually) don’t question his potential.
3. I have heard/read more than one writer/observer of Packers training camps describe him as having the best hands on the team. Of course it didn’t look like it this year but this and his physical gifts make me believe maturity is the only missing ingredient.
4. He’s a matchup nightmare for opponents so he makes a positive difference in the passing game even when he’s not catching the ball.
5. Finally most importantly, someone who knows a heck of a lot more about football, who knows Finley very well, whose job depends directly upon the performance of the team, really wants him on the team as the quotes above indicate.

But Finley and his agent have to be reasonable. If they bargain like Finley talks about himself at times, the Packers would be foolish to overpay him to that degree. I have confidence Thompson won’t overpay him. It would involve some risk but the ideal scenario IMO would be to sign Finley to a 3 to 5-year deal with reasonable guaranteed money and lots of incentives and tag and trade Flynn like Thompson did with Corey Williams.

Having typed all that, IMO it’s more important to extend Wells or acquire his replacement – like Konz in the draft. (I try to be careful going overboard on the NFL potenital of Badgers - because I'm a fan - but it's hard not to, regarding Konz.) But I’d rather extend Wells so top picks can be spent on defense and no rookie or newcomer would know the O like Wells does. My guess is Rodgers would prefer to keep him too.

 

[ExpatPacker]

ThxJackVanisi: I agree with much of what you said. I think that unless you have a suitable replacement, letting go of Finley would be a mistake. I think the drops got to his head and he had lost his confidence. It sounds to me like he was working very hard to overcome the problem during the latter half of the season because he knew he was having problems, but it wasn't to be. He needs a whole off season, a good training camp and a successful start of next season to improve the mental aspect of his game and gain his confidence back. It's worth giving him another shot.

Regarding Konz, it would be really nice for the Packers to get him but not unless they can get him + another first rounder by a Flynn sign-and-trade, or they get a very good OLB or DE though FA. It sounds like Wells is going to command a high price tag and he is 31 years old. In my book that says he's got 2-3 more years as a starting OC and with each passing year the chance for injuries gets greater....see Clifton.

Getting Konz + a top OLB or DE in the 1st round would be the better choice in the long run rather than re-signing Wells. But only then.

 

[KCPackFan]

I know a lot of people are down on Finley with the drops this season. I was cursing his name after Sunday but this is not the kind of player that you replace easily. He was out all last season injured and didnt get any pre-season work after the lockout. The chances of landing someone of his caliber or as some people have mentioned, Jimmy Graham, is not easy. It's not like big, physical tight ends that can catch the ball and stretch the field are a dime a dozen. If we do not pay Finley, every other team in the league minus New England, New Orleans, San Fran, and a couple of others will gladly do it and if it is an NFC North team or just an NFC team, it could comeback and bite us in the ***. Give the man an incentive based contract and force him to perform. He's a good weapon to have and he helps our top tier receiving corp be just that. Even if he drops some passes, he pulls some coverage off our receivers and leads to that many more receptions for Jennings and company.

 

[Forget Favre]

I honestly am not sure you need a big ridiculous physical TE. It's all the rage now but so what.

There is always something new that is all the rage.

Then they could get a really small guy.
Dip him in oil except for his hands.
Call him the Loose End.

 

[Forget Favre]

I know a lot of people are down on Finley with the drops this season. I was cursing his name after Sunday but this is not the kind of player that you replace easily. He was out all last season injured and didnt get any pre-season work after the lockout. The chances of landing someone of his caliber or as some people have mentioned, Jimmy Graham, is not easy. It's not like big, physical tight ends that can catch the ball and stretch the field are a dime a dozen. If we do not pay Finley, every other team in the league minus New England, New Orleans, San Fran, and a couple of others will gladly do it and if it is an NFC North team or just an NFC team, it could comeback and bite us in the ***. Give the man an incentive based contract and force him to perform. He's a good weapon to have and he helps our top tier receiving corp be just that. Even if he drops some passes, he pulls some coverage off our receivers and leads to that many more receptions for Jennings and company.

Yeah, and if he is still on the team, tell him to keep his big-cocky-prima-donna-throw-me-the-ball yapping pie hole shut!
He does not deserve bragging rights or the right to complain.
Even if he starts catching the ball.
Let the ball dropping fool do his talking with his actions since those will speak louder than words.

 

[12theTruth]

Well, we did break records and overall had an excellent year on offense but we do have one good sized weakness and that is running up the middle and blocking schemes/execution of schemes for the run on obvious running downs.

At this point it is probably more a coaching philosophy rather than not having the necessary talent being as its been several years now with McCarthy calling plays and Campen coaching the line.

Why does this concern me? Because in a game like that of the Giants we sure could have used that component to control time of possession especially in the very cold weather along with other elements. A reliable running game out of "running formations" is just something that the Packers don't do that sucessfully.

One again before some start going off about the 15-1 record it is about winning championships now and in order to be a rock solid playoff team on Lambeau Field in the cold 'frozen tundra', we need to be able to get yards on the ground out of running formations.