Packer Roster Ranking

AmishMafia

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http://www.packersnews.com/story/sp.../mcginn-ranking-packers-roster-1-53/90044874/

Couple of surprises/controversial rankings. Blake Martinez an #12 already better than Julius Peppers? McGinn has some pretty high expectations based off of some preseason games.

I'm glad Daniels is getting the recognition. His biggest contribution? Leadership. We finally have a mean nasty guy who will get in his teammates face if they need to hear it.
 

Vrill

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I think Blake has the potential to be our best player on defense soon down the road.
 

Vrill

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Martinez will wear the radio helmet receiving the calls from Capers and set up the defense. I don't think it's surprising he's ranked that high.

Me either, the kid seems highly intelligent and has good Football IQ.
 

Mondio

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I think Blake has the potential to be our best player on defense soon down the road.
I'm excited to find out. He didn't play a ton, but every week you could see the growth. He obviously has physical skills. If he matures like that mentally every week, by mid season he has the potential to be very good. But I am prepared for the bumps along the way.
 

longtimefan

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Perhaps. But he hasn't played a single down yet and the rating seems a little premature.

True--but there are things behind the scenes that maybe adding to his grade. Coaches love the kid, from day one he studies, studies , studies. That is why he gets the green dot helmet
 
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HardRightEdge

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http://www.packersnews.com/story/sp.../mcginn-ranking-packers-roster-1-53/90044874/

Couple of surprises/controversial rankings. Blake Martinez an #12 already better than Julius Peppers? McGinn has some pretty high expectations based off of some preseason games.
It's worth noting these are rankings of "value to the team", or one might say "importance" given their role together with expected abilities, not just a ranking of "best" to worst players relative to league peers at their positions, though that clearly factors in. These are subtle but important distinctions. It's unfortunate that McGinn did not define the factors he took into account, but we can read between the lines; it seems to be a mix of expectations of how much and how well he expects each player to play together with how important it is that the guy play well and often.

Martinez is important value-wise in McGinn's assessment because he expects Martinez to play up to 100% of the snaps. Obviously he expects him to be a good 3-down player. Whether that will be the case remains to be seen, but it may start out that way in an "until proven otherwise" scenario. Though McGinn did not mention it, Martinez will be calling the defense. He is also important in keeping Matthews back out on the edge. The 100% snap expectation is probably not far out of line with the coaches' given only 3 ILBs are on the roster. The fact the ILB group has been as Achilles heel in recent years would add to Martinez' importance.

As for Peppers, McGinn assigns him a marginal role. In essence, he's pegged him as the #4 OLB, primarily a nickle tackle in rotation, while being lukewarm as to how he'll play at DT. Again, that's the way it may look in week 1, in which case the assessment seems fair. But a lot of things need to go right with Perry and Jones for that to be realized throughout the season.

Peppers may well be the second best edge rusher on this team, but the opportunity to demonstrate that, or Perry/Jones "un-demonstrate" it as it were, may not be present in the early games. McGinn can reverse field at week 3 if Perry/Jones don't quite pan out, at which point nobody will remember this list.
 
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HardRightEdge

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A further note on Peppers:

It seems unreasonable that he will be assigned the marginal role with expected minimal production throughout the season that McGinn has indicated. Peppers accounts for a $10.5 million cap hit and would have yielded $8 million in cap savings had he been released.

That's an awful lot for an insurance policy against both Perry and Jones with some rotational work at DT.

As I said, it would not surprise me if it started that way. But at 36 years of age, they'll likely want to keep him fresh for the stretch run and the playoffs. I expect his importance will be evident as the season wears on. Or maybe sooner if Perry and Jones continue their inconsistent ways.
 

rodell330

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A further note on Peppers:

It seems unreasonable that he will be assigned the marginal role with expected minimal production throughout the season that McGinn has indicated. Peppers accounts for a $10.5 million cap hit and would have yielded $8 million in cap savings had he been released.

That's an awful lot for an insurance policy against both Perry and Jones with some rotational work at DT.

As I said, it would not surprise me if it started that way. But at 36 years of age, they'll likely want to keep him fresh for the stretch run and the playoffs. I expect his importance will be evident as the season wears on. Or maybe sooner if Perry and Jones continue their inconsistent ways.


Boy, would it be nice if either of the two played like 1st rounders.
 

PikeBadger

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I think Blake has the potential to be our best player on defense soon down the road.
I'm not quite THAT high on Martinez yet. I think he's got some excellent traits, but I'll be surprised if he's ever considered to be the best player on our defense. Maybe the most important at some point. I really like some of our young CB's.
 
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HardRightEdge

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I have a pet peeve that goes to this comment under "45. Perillo":

"His blocking remains marginal, but the Packers don’t ask tight ends to do a lot of heavy lifting in the run game."

Two years running McCarthy has had to drag Kuhn off the bench to block in short yardage. And still the short yardage run game performance was pretty bad over the course of last season, and worse without Kuhn. McCarthy prefers single-back, that is evident, but given the failed attempts to implement the H-back concept makes it look like a concession rather than a core preference.

Getting that one or two yards keeps the offense on the field. You get maybe 12 possessions per game. Failing to get 3rd. and 1 in your own territory is a forfeiture of one of those precious opportunities; failing in the opponents territory forfeits the opportunity for 7 vs. 3 points; or a missed FG after getting stuffed is very costly in points and field position. Goal line...not running it in and taking the FG is a serious failure. This is all obvious.

I think McGinn has the chicken and egg in the wrong order. If the Packers don't expect much in the way of their TE run blocking, it's because they've not developed the skill and are poor at it, so they try to work around it. Maybe Cook will prove adequate...Quarless was better than Rodgers or Perillo, and that's not saying much.

Sorry, Bob, but if you put a 7 man line out there to get 1 or 2 yards, with 2 TEs who are sub-standard blockers, you limit yourself to the 1-4 holes. The defense knows this and loads up from OG-to-OG. Things get predictable. The Packers rarely run on 3rd. and 2. Defenses know that as well.

Further, McCarthy has tried a variety of TEs at H-back over the last few years and largely abandoned it. The concept is that these guys are multi-tool players who can at least catch and block, which keeps the defense guessing, as opposed to using a slow footed fullback who doesn't have TE skills. Of course the best of the H-backs, such as Hernandez before he became a murderer, can run the ball as well, really keeping the defense guessing, but that's too much to ask (the performance, not the murder part). McCarthy doesn't use it much, despite some considerable effort, because these guys have not been good run blockers and he's had to turn to Plan B (single back, with conventional in-line TEs or Plan C with his FB.

At least a poor blocking TE is less likely to whiff on his guy than an H-back who has to read the hole and find the right guy to hit which is what an accomplished FB can do, but the FB's presence makes things more predictable.

I don't think we can assess the Packers O-Line as ordinary or less in the run game without attributing some part of that to lousy TE blocking and some of the aforementioned predictability that comes with it.
 
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Patriotplayer90

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Outside of the trenches, I'd say the roster is solid. But I don't trust that O-Line. If they perform like they did in 2014, it could be a special season. But if they allow Rodgers to get pounded all year, it won't.
 

Vrill

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That Cobb writeup is trash.

I don't know about that. When Jordy is on the field stretching the defense, it allows Cobb to roam underneath with less coverage around him. There is a certain synergy going on between Cobb and Jordy. Both compliment the other nicely. Some players need help around them to shine, nothing wrong with that. Cobb isn't a superstar WR, never will be. Hes a good WR. It would be like taking Gronk out of the Pat's offense. Those under routes that Edelman and crew run won't be so open anymore without Gronk busting the seam.
 

NelsonsLongCatch

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The more I read about Bahk, his one-on-one record, and his rank on the team, the more the Sitton release seems to make sense. I wouldn't be surprised if he was given an extension sooner rather than later.
 
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The more I read about Bahk, his one-on-one record, and his rank on the team, the more the Sitton release seems to make sense. I wouldn't be surprised if he was given an extension sooner rather than later.

Having an above average left tackle doesn't negate the need for a decent left guard though.
 

NelsonsLongCatch

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There's still a lot of football to be played before next season but I highly doubt the team plans on moving Bulaga to guard.

Looks like I'm 24 hours ahead of the news cycle! Maybe TT wanted to use Sitton's current year salary to offset some of Bak's signing bonus?

Packers have Bak, Bulaga, and Spriggs all under contract for the next few years. Teams typically don't play three tackles at the same time. Let's see where Bulaga lines up next year.
 
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Packers have Bak, Bulaga, and Spriggs all under contract for the next few years. Teams typically don't play three tackles at the same time. Let's see where Bulaga lines up next year.

Teams need to have backup tackles though. Kyle Murphy is under contract through 2019 as well.
 

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