CaliforniaCheez
Cheesehead
The opening day roster will have 53 players. The average player in the NFL is on a roster 4 years. One would expect a team to have approximately 25% turnover each year or about 13 "new" or "different" players/year. With a change in GM and head coach, we should expect a higher rate of player turnover on the Packers.
A glance at the Packer roster reveals:
The Packers still have 9 players acquired by GM Ron Wolf. These are quality players to remain on the roster so long. They all are likely to be on the opening day roster.
There are 18 players on the roster acquired by GM Sherman. Of these, 7 may not be on the roster opening day (Washington, Davenport, Sander, Barry, Horton, Ferguson, Martin).
The remaining 26 to 33 players on the opening day roster will be or have been acquired by GM Thompson. That number is within expectations.
However, turnover among starting players is a bit different. Quality starting players should last on the team for an above average amount of time. Yet the Packers should have 7 or 8 (plus 1 or 2 if you include PK+P) new starters this fall. Yes, 1/3 of the starters are different than last year's starters. That above average number is where turnover and rebuilding are most apparent.
Yes, we will have to live with some rookie mistakes as we did last year with Collins and Whitticker. On the whole, I think the team has more talent than when Thompson became GM. Though it does need a little more experience. The only positions not improved over last year is WR, QB(experience and not talent are needed) and possibly RB where the youth and talent of Gado and Herron make up for the age of Green and loss of Fisher.
Looking ahead, Gardner, Taylor, Klemm, Lee, Kenderick, and Boerigter become free agents after the 06 season. Will they earn new contracts?
Depending on the injury situation (the big if), I believe the Packers are a playoff team. They have the players to compete with any NFC team as demonstated last year against Seattle, Carolina, Atlanta.
The Packers success now depends greatly on the new coaching staff. They too are relatively new and will make some mistakes. Their mistakes will be the difference between making the playoffs or not making the playoffs.
We won't know how well coached the team is until August.
A glance at the Packer roster reveals:
The Packers still have 9 players acquired by GM Ron Wolf. These are quality players to remain on the roster so long. They all are likely to be on the opening day roster.
There are 18 players on the roster acquired by GM Sherman. Of these, 7 may not be on the roster opening day (Washington, Davenport, Sander, Barry, Horton, Ferguson, Martin).
The remaining 26 to 33 players on the opening day roster will be or have been acquired by GM Thompson. That number is within expectations.
However, turnover among starting players is a bit different. Quality starting players should last on the team for an above average amount of time. Yet the Packers should have 7 or 8 (plus 1 or 2 if you include PK+P) new starters this fall. Yes, 1/3 of the starters are different than last year's starters. That above average number is where turnover and rebuilding are most apparent.
Yes, we will have to live with some rookie mistakes as we did last year with Collins and Whitticker. On the whole, I think the team has more talent than when Thompson became GM. Though it does need a little more experience. The only positions not improved over last year is WR, QB(experience and not talent are needed) and possibly RB where the youth and talent of Gado and Herron make up for the age of Green and loss of Fisher.
Looking ahead, Gardner, Taylor, Klemm, Lee, Kenderick, and Boerigter become free agents after the 06 season. Will they earn new contracts?
Depending on the injury situation (the big if), I believe the Packers are a playoff team. They have the players to compete with any NFC team as demonstated last year against Seattle, Carolina, Atlanta.
The Packers success now depends greatly on the new coaching staff. They too are relatively new and will make some mistakes. Their mistakes will be the difference between making the playoffs or not making the playoffs.
We won't know how well coached the team is until August.
