PFF Elite players

[Ace]

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Pointing out the obvious but far too much orange over on the defensive side of the ball. If MD, AJ, and Jones were all gone next year I wouldn't lose any sleep. I've said before that I think Perry will be a very nice role player which is how they've slotted him here. Not what you want from a 1st Rd pick but he will have a role. Nothing earth shattering here but interesting to see how our starters are perceived from an outside source.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

how in the hell is AJ hawk rated "below average stater"? He is both a solid starter and a solid role player.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I would argue that safety and ILB are the top two priorities going into the offseason.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

D LINE, ILB, FS = all top priority. TT is going to HAVE TO address this in free agency some how..... because we aint getting that many gems in the draft.

 

[Ace]

D LINE, ILB, FS = all top priority. TT is going to HAVE TO address this in free agency some how..... because we aint getting that many gems in the draft.

This!

 

[Carl]

Whoever didn't identify safety and ILB as key needs does not know much about the Packers.

And why are House and Heyward included, but not Hyde?

 

[Ace]

Whoever didn't identify safety and ILB as key needs does not know much about the Packers.

And why are House and Heyward included, but not Hyde?

Or Shields for that matter. I realize he's a FA but I would think he should have been included in this

 

[BorderRivals.com]

It's interesting to see that PFF has already guessed that we'll lose EDS, Raji, Pickett, Shields, JJ, and JMike in FA. And, of course, it adds no FA to the team - which would make sense for any team since it would be pure speculation. I can't imagine we will lose all of those FA's without signing someone to replace at least some. But, nonetheless, this is an interesting take on the state of the Packers known starters/players.

 

[HardRightEdge]

It's interesting to see that PFF has already guessed that we'll lose EDS, Raji, Pickett, Shields, JJ, and JMike in FA. And, of course, it adds no FA to the team - which would make sense for any team since it would be pure speculation. I can't imagine we will lose all of those FA's without signing someone to replace at least some. But, nonetheless, this is an interesting take on the state of the Packers known starters/players.

I don't think they guessed at which free agents we'd lose. They chose to omit ALL of them. In addition to the one's you listed, note Ryan Taylor in place of Quarless.

This approach has merit. Our unrestricted free agents are no more our players than anybody else's at this point. This approach provides a baseline to assess needs going into free agency and the draft. That approach makes sense to me.

The thing I don't necessarily agree with is that these ratings seem to be based on last year only. I say this because they rated Brad Jones highly for 2012 (go figure) but poorly for 2013 (that's more like it). You'd like to think they'd apply a little historical, body-of-work perspective. Or maybe they did, but concluded in retrospect that the guy doing the 2012 ratings was all wet, which actually would make sense.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Whoever didn't identify safety and ILB as key needs does not know much about the Packers.

And why are House and Heyward included, but not Hyde?

Because Hyde played nickel corner, the same position as Heyward. They rated Heyward the best nickel corner in the league in 2012, so they probably figured the spot is his when healthy.

House gets the nod over Hyde or Heyward at the cover corner spot because, well, House is a cover corner while Hyde and Heyward are not. Both Hyde and Heyward are a little light on speed to be playing on the island in man D.

Hyde could go to safety, but he hasn't played there in the NFL and nobody with the Packers has yet suggested he'll be tried there.

 

[Royal Pain]

how in the hell is AJ hawk rated "below average stater"? He is both a solid starter and a solid role player.

I agree. It seems Hawk is the Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL.

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[Carl]

Or Shields for that matter. I realize he's a FA but I would think he should have been included in this

I don't understand that either. It didn't include EDS, Jolly, and Pickett either, yet included Jennings who is also a free agent.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Or Shields for that matter. I realize he's a FA but I would think he should have been included in this

They state in the article I believe but PFF is projecting next year's lineup based on players under contract...so no free agents or re-signings...otherwise it would be an exercise in futility since you'd have to project every free agent as well.

 

[ivo610]

Hawk isn't very good. He's had stretches where he steps it up but he really struggles more often than not

 

[Ace]

Hawk isn't very good. He's had stretches where he steps it up but he really struggles more often than not

I agree 100% with this. He's just a guy IMO. Assignment sure, doesn't do anything overly well, not very athletic but he is someone who you can guarantee will be out there on Sundays FWIW.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I don't understand that either. It didn't include EDS, Jolly, and Pickett either, yet included Jennings who is also a free agent.

Jennings is a restricted free agent. An RFA's current team has certain retention preferences granted to the them, not the least among them a "right of first refusal". PFF probably figured they'd include RFAs because of the quasi-ownership status of the player, and the fact these players are rarely signed away even if the existing team has only moderate interest in keeping them.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Though I frequently disagree with PFF on the subjective elements of their ratings, this analysis serves as one illustration of why somebody might have been saying, going back to last preseason, that this is not a very good football team.

The PFF projected starting lineups are in the context of $108 mil (including dead cap) charged against the $126 mil league cap ($136 mil including carryover) under the "Rule of 51"current roster, excluding ANY free agent signings, either our own or anybody else's.

There's not a lot of bang for buck in those starting lineups; Thompson has his work cut out for him.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

On the plus side, Heyward and Matthews have a blue outline which I'm assuming means "borderline elite". I agree that the linebackers, defensive line and tight end position need upgrading. It also looks more and more like Sam Shields is a must resign. House is extremely below-average.

 

[Royal Pain]

I agree 100% with this. He's just a guy IMO. Assignment sure, doesn't do anything overly well, not very athletic but he is someone who you can guarantee will be out there on Sundays FWIW.

That alone makes him more valuable than half our defensive starters, including Matthews and Hayward, who are worthless if they can't stay on the field. It might be splitting hairs, but I would bump Hawk up to a yellow grade and downgrade Burnett to at most a yellow and perhaps an orange.

 

[HyponGrey]

How the hell has nobody pointed out that Boykin isn't a slot WR? He and Cobb should be switched. Bostick and his non-blocking at FB instead of Taylor's non-catching who has actually lined up there before? Also, lol at Datone.

 

[HyponGrey]

Because Hyde played nickel corner, the same position as Heyward. They rated Heyward the best nickel corner in the league in 2012, so they probably figured the spot is his when healthy.

They might as well have lined him up as the Dime and just not listed a FS.

 

[HardRightEdge]

How the hell has nobody pointed out that Boykin isn't a slot WR? He and Cobb should be switched. Bostick and his non-blocking at FB instead of Taylor's non-catching who has actually lined up there before? Also, lol at Datone.

Actually, PFF named Nelson their All-Pro slot receiver for 2013. They say they counted 1/2 his targets were out of the slot.

I think they're projecting here, perhaps influenced by comments coming from McCarthy that there's no reason Cobb won't run the entire route tree, yielding enough snaps at wide out to consider him such. It makes sense. Cobb being so dangerous in space and awfully speedy up through 4th. gear, it might be a good idea to give him more air to work with. Boykin's bigger and slower, good hands, decent routes...fits for the slot...while being more expendable. Slot is tough duty; so many of those guys have trouble getting through a year without getting hurt.

I agree with Bostick and Taylor...they should be flipped. I guess they gave Taylor the nod based on seniority. In any case, Taylor's starting to look like a career special teamer / spot player...just a place holder in this chart until 20 guys get added to the 53 man roster.

 

[HardRightEdge]

They might as well have lined him up as the Dime and just not listed a FS.

If we play dime without the FS, maybe nobody will notice it's actually nickel with Hyde playing safety.

 

[HyponGrey]

Actually, PFF named Nelson their All-Pro slot receiver for 2013. They say they counted 1/2 his targets were out of the slot.

I think they're projecting here, perhaps influenced by comments coming from McCarthy that there's no reason Cobb won't run the entire route tree, yielding enough snaps at wide out to consider him such. It makes sense. Cobb being so dangerous in space and awfully speedy up through 4th. gear, it might be a good idea to give him more air to work with. Boykin's bigger and slower, good hands, decent routes...fits for the slot...while being more expendable. Slot is tough duty; so many of those guys have trouble getting through a year without getting hurt.

I agree with Bostick and Taylor...they should be flipped. I guess they gave Taylor the nod based on seniority. In any case, Taylor's starting to look like a career special teamer / spot player...just a place holder in this chart until 20 guys get added to the 53 man roster.

Nothing against Cobb on the outside, just Boykin inside. Boykin can't run the slot effectively. Actually wonder if they didn't "Madden" it and just slide the next guy on the DC regardless of set.

I already think Taylor is a better FB than he is TE, and I'd probably be comfortable with him taking over personal protection duties if Kuhn leaves. We drafted him to play ST anyway.

If we play dime without the FS, maybe nobody will notice it's actually nickel with Hyde playing safety.

Technically it's Burnett playing the FS at that point since he'll be the one failing to cover the back end with Hyde playing SS, but that's the basic idea.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

BTW did I miss something and the Packers applied to play in the CFL as there are 12 starters on each side of the ball???