Preseason NE game - winners and losers

AmishMafia

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Finished watching the recorded game. Was very impressed with the team as a whole - they looked improved in some key areas.

Winners
1. Quentin Rollins. It is unbelievable that this kid only played the position for a year. Either he is so amazingly physically talented that he can overcome the green or he is just a natural. Either way, the early results look very promising.
2. LaDarius Gunter: How did this guy go undrafted? Too slow too play? Looked more than fast enough last night. Very physical and focused. I think he is well on his way to making the team.
3. Ty Montgommery: Interesting player. Looked further along as a WR than I think most people thought. Very physical player, just need to learn to keep his feet in.
4. Jake Ryan: Will be starting by midpoint in the season. Aggressive and tough - what we needed at MLB for some time.
5. Edgar Bennet: I think he may be the best of the Packer assistant coaches. Offense looked ready to play.
6. TT - what a haul - 4 promising drafted players already and the #1 pick didn't even play. I know some may say this is way too soon - and they are right. But it is great this much production/talent this early in their careers.
7. Scott Tolzien - looked much improved over last season. Nice work! Seemed more confident and comfortable. Appeared to be in control and understood the plays.
8. Brent Hundley - Very talented player. Seemed more comfortable than I expected. Will need to not look at his intended target. He had a good night against marginal defenders, but I think he would have gotten his butt handed to him in a real game.

Losers
Andrew Quarless. Some good grabs but also a bad drop.
David Bahktari - Gave him some slack early in his career, but as a 3rd year layer he should not be getting schooled by a rookie. Focus!
 
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I think Don Barclay should be added to the list of losers as well. And Clinton-Dix deserves an honorable mention for messing up on Gray's TD run.
 
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AmishMafia

AmishMafia

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I think Don Barclay should be added to the list of losers as well. And Clinton-Dix deserves an honorable mention for messing up on Gray's TD run.
Yeah, I saw HHCD on that play. Too aggressive. Got too close to the play and brushed off by the blockers. Definitely needed to maintain contain.

Didn't see Barclay ******** up. Not surprised. Overall the OLine performed below expectations.

Oh, and I forgot RB Neal as a winner. He looked very good as well.
 
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Didn't see Barclay ******** up. Not surprised. Overall the OLine performed below expectations.

Oh, and I forgot RB Neal as a winner. He looked very good as well.

Barclay yielded a sack and looked completely rusty overall. IMO both Harris and Crockett looked better than Neal.
 

TeamTundra

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The biggest surprise for me was the play of RB Alonzo Harris. In addition to running
with power, he also ran with speed at times like his TD run.

Biggest disappointment was the first team offense red zone play. It's only the first
preseason game, but IMO this is one of the only weaknesses on the offense side of
The play.
 

longtimefan

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Barvlay is coming off a huge knee issue....Rust is expected..One reason why pre season IS needed

Not saying he will improve, not saying he will suck..Just that he might be reluctant to go full out right now
 

Curly Calhoun

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I think Don Barclay should be added to the list of losers as well. And Clinton-Dix deserves an honorable mention for messing up on Gray's TD run.

Agreed. The layoff seems to affected Barclay, and he has a short window to get his act together.
 

Vrill

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At this point, so far anyway, I think Alonzo Harris looks like our best 3rd string RB.

The 3rd string RB spot between Neal, Harris and Crockett will be majorly competitive as we go through the preseason. I think that spot is up for grabs between those 3.
 

Joe Nor Cal Packer

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At this point, so far anyway, I think Alonzo Harris looks like our best 3rd string RB.

The 3rd string RB spot between Neal, Harris and Crockett will be majorly competitive as we go through the preseason. I think that spot is up for grabs between those 3.
Is Crockett playing hurt? I didn't know who Alonzo Harris was! As for Starks, still thinks he keeps his pads way too high. Not really a downhill runner. Lacy is a human bowling ball.
 
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Is Crockett playing hurt? I didn't know who Alonzo Harris was! As for Starks, still thinks he keeps his pads way too high. Not really a downhill runner. Lacy is a human bowling ball.

Crockett hurt his ankle during minicamp and wasn't able to participate in several practices at the start of camp. The battle for the third spot on the depth chart will be an intriguing one to watch.

Harris played four years at Louisiana-Lafayette and rushed for 3,330 yards on 704 attempts (4.7 avg.). He never ran for 1,000 yards in a season but scored 44 rushing TDs.
 

Chris Langton

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In general I was impressed with the team. The backups on offense and defense impressed me, but the breakdown on Grey's TD run was hard to watch. The fact that Tolzien played as well as he did and Hundley was able to toss a TD to Janis was awesome to see.

http://lastwordonsports.com/2015/08...preseason-opener-win-five-negative-takeaways/

Here is an article detailing five problems the team may have to address. Obviously the Jonas Grey TD featured a full-on defensive failure. There were also a few costly incompletions on offense, and the offensive line didn't look very sharp at times.

Anyway, have a good one, GPG and on to the Steelers!
 

TJV

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McGinn has a good article today at jsonline. He begins by coming as close to gushing about a player as he ever does. The object of his affection? Quinten Rollins of course.
Rollins is really good right now, and with just one season of collegiate football on his résumé he is going to become so much better.
He predicts Rollins will be starting in the "not too distant future" and details what a good job he did vs. the Pats.

It was hard to miss the fact that Bakhtiari and Barclay played poorly. If you want details about how that’s an understatement, read this article.
Bakhtiari played as poorly in his 33-snap exposure as he has since taking over the job at left tackle a few days into his rookie season of 2013. Veterans have bad nights in exhibition games, but generally not to this extent.
Barclay hasn't missed a drill this summer despite suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament 12½ months ago. He has had good and bad days in camp, but nothing like Thursday night.
Barclay may get back to where he was, but if he can’t, the Packers have to look at other options. Josh Walker who McGinn says is in contention for the #3 OG spot, finished the game at RT. The Packers will probably have to give him snaps there against better competition to see if he can handle RT.

McGinn says Pennel had the best night of the D linemen. He ends by saying Carl Bradford “doesn’t show any more feel for playing inside” than outside. He also said he wasn’t being aggressive at ILB, rushing from inside, or on STs. IMO that’s even more damning than lacking instincts.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...e-against-patriots-b99557152z1-321944271.html
 
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It was hard to miss the fact that Bakhtiari and Barclay played poorly. If you want details about how that’s an understatement, read this article. Barclay may get back to where he was, but if he can’t, the Packers have to look at other options. Josh Walker who McGinn says is in contention for the #3 OG spot, finished the game at RT. The Packers will probably have to give him snaps there against better competition to see if he can handle RT.

I really hope Barclay is able to get back to where he was before his ACL injury. Otherwise the Packers most likely won't have a viable backup at tackle entering the season.
 

vince

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Yeah Barclay was brutal. He may need a year to get back to pre-ACL ability. That's a big concern. Lang could always move out in an emergency but that entails some serious musical chairs along the line. If Bakh went down, they'd have to move Bulaga from right to left, Lang outside and Tretter, Walker, or Taylor in at RG. Not ideal to put it mildly.

Hopefully someone steps up to back up at Tackle but they all look like they have some warts there at this point.

If Barclay isn't ready (and he don't look ready), I think I'd get Tretter as many reps as possible, get him ready to plug in at RT if necessary and make sure he has the help he needs. Fortunately with Rodgers being able to see pressure from that side and with his great mobility in and out of the pocket they hopefully could compensate.
 
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Hopefully someone steps up to back up at Tackle but they all look like they have some warts there at this point.

If Barclay isn't ready (and he don't look ready), I think I'd get Tretter as many reps as possible, get him ready to plug in at RT if necessary and make sure he has the help he needs.

Aside of Barclay the backups at offensive tackle include Jeremy Vujnovich, Fabbians Ebbele and Vince Kowalski. Nothing to get excited about. Tretter was terrible playing at OT last season and is most likely best suited to play inside.

If Barclay continues to struggle in the preseason Thompson would have to get out of his comfort zone and pick someone up from the waiver wire.
 

vince

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Aside of Barclay the backups at offensive tackle include Jeremy Vujnovich, Fabbians Ebbele and Vince Kowalski. Nothing to get excited about. Tretter was terrible playing at OT last season and is most likely best suited to play inside.

If Barclay continues to struggle in the preseason Thompson would have to get out of his comfort zone and pick someone up from the waiver wire.
Tretter got beat like a drum against Williams in Buffalo. Not good but he's not the only guy Williams has beaten to get to the QB and that's a super small sample size upon which to draw overriding conclusions. With some anticipation, preparation, some help, along with another year of work, it's possible he could develop some. It's been known to happen.

I do agree that it's entirely possible the guy could be on someone else's roster right now too though. Given that unknown, I think it's prudent to get some guys (Walker, Tretter and Vujnovich most likely) some reps out there as McGinn indicated.

All that assuming Barclay continues to labor with the knee which I think is likely at this point.
 

TJV

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If Barclay continues to struggle in the preseason Thompson would have to get out of his comfort zone and pick someone up from the waiver wire.
That's what I'm thinking as well, but that's not Thompon's MO as you mentioned. Rodney at Packers Notes doesn't think Vujnovich is strong enough to handle RT - I haven't seen enough of him to form an opinion. Tretter's athleticism may help him get position as a RT but he's better suited inside. Maybe Walker can perform better than either of them with reps at RT - hey a 4th round rookie held up at LT a couple of seasons ago. But that's asking a lot of a UDFA in his second season. If Barclay can't get back to where he was, it'd be great if Thompson can find a Howard Green-type for the OL. And better if he doesn't wait til mid-season to do so. If needed this would be a perfect spot for an OT at the end of his career.
 
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Tretter got beat like a drum against Williams in Buffalo. Not good but he's not the only guy Williams has beaten to get to the QB and that's a super small sample size upon which to draw overriding conclusions. With some anticipation, preparation, some help, along with another year of work, it's possible he could develop some. It's been known to happen.

I agree the sample size on Tretter is way too small to form an educated opinion about his ability to play any of the tackle positions. I don't see him as a natural fit there though and would prefer to keep him inside.
 

Pokerbrat2000

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Look for Harris, Neal and Crockett to get some work while the first team is out there. Would be nice to evaluate what they can do with the starters, against a starting defense. Sometimes I think what you see from players in preseason games can be a bit deceiving due to the fact that they are playing with and against guys who may never see a regular season game, except from the stands or on TV.

My other thought from the game and granted it is preseason and coaches tend to opt out of field goals, but same problem as last year....we couldn't finish drives (with starters) and get points out of long drives. When are we going to find a play(s) that picks up a yard or 2 on 3rd or 4th down? Same issue that IMO, set aside all the mistakes in the last 5 minutes of the NFC championship, contributed to us loosing that game.
 
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Look for Harris, Neal and Crockett to get some work while the first team is out there. Would be nice to evaluate what they can do with the starters, against a starting defense. Sometimes I think what you see from players in preseason games can be a bit deceiving due to the fact that they are playing with and against guys who may never see a regular season game, except from the stands or on TV.

I agree that it's tough to evaluate a player lining up mostly with and against second- or third-stringers but I don't expect any of the three RBs competing for the third spot on the depth chart to get any significant playing time with the first-team offense during the preseason.
 

Carl

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Can tell the Packers are in good shape when the most concerning issue in this thread is a backup offensive lineman.
 
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Can tell the Packers are in good shape when the most concerning issue in this thread is a backup offensive lineman.

There's no doubt the Packers are one of the if not the best team in the league. An injury to either Bakhtiari or Bulaga could result in major issues on the offensive line though. No reason to panic but it shouldn't be ignored either.
 
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If Barclay continues to struggle in the preseason Thompson would have to get out of his comfort zone and pick someone up from the waiver wire.
Consider:

(1) McCarthy recently stated this may be the best group of backup O-Linemen he's had in Green Bay.

(2) Thompson did not turn to a free agency when injuries struck in the past to a weaker starting group.

When Thompson signed Howard Green and McCarthy put him on the field a few days later, the Packers would otherwise have had only 3 healthy D-Linemen on the roster.

The injury situation would have to become dire for Thompson to go outside.

Keep in mind this past game was Barclay's first game action in about a 1 1/2 years. Rust should be expected. Getting accustomed to full-on contact, even without a injury, takes some time. Assuming the knee is reasonably sound, which we're being told it is, I suspect that Barclay will get it together by opening day...for his lead backup job and his next contract.
 
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