pyledriver80
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Article on CBS Sportsline.
Orlando, Fla. Three weeks into free agency, all the Green Bay Packers have added to their offense is a wide receiver who had eight receptions last year.
It's hardly enough to inspire anyone to think the Packers will be the team they were two years ago when they ranked third overall in total offense. Though they'll have many of the same pieces back from that unit after a year in which injury decimated their ranks, they have done next to nothing to account for defections and age.
Is it any wonder quarterback Brett Favre is struggling with a decision on whether to return?
"Everybody keeps talking about lack of talent," countered Packers coach Mike McCarthy during a break at the NFL owners meetings. "I've been around less, I'll say that. The quarterback (Favre) has been to the Pro Bowl, the running back (Ahman Green) has been to the Pro Bowl, the fullback (William Henderson) has been to the Pro Bowl, the tight end (Bubba Franks) has been to the Pro Bowl, your receiver (Donald Driver or Javon Walker) has been to the Pro Bowl. That's five, right? That's pretty damn good."
None of those players went to the Pro Bowl last year, however, and of that group, only Walker (27), Franks (28) and Green (29) is under 31 years old. Considering Walker has made it clear that he won't play for the Packers again, there's serious question marks about whether this group can produce the way it did before last season.
Why exactly the Packers who started free agency with more than $25 million in salary cap room haven't been more aggressive in obtaining offensive players is uncertain. It's no secret general manager Ted Thompson isn't a big fan of free agency, but he has done almost nothing to tap that resource for offensive improvement.
So far, the only outsider he has brought to the offense is Kansas City wide receiver Marc Boerigter, who last year caught eight passes for 119 yards. He did re-sign Green, Henderson, halfback Najeh Davenport and tackle Kevin Barry, but Green and Davenport are coming off serious injuries, Henderson is a part-time player and Barry has been a backup his entire career.
Thompson insisted that his work was not complete and that he would continue to monitor developments in free agency and the waiver system to see if there were players he could add to the offense. But he reiterated that he wasn't going to sign players just to sign them.
Inside the NFC North, only the Chicago Bears have come close to doing as little as the Packers. They're only signing of note was Tampa Bay quarterback Brian Griese, who is expected to be Rex Grossman's backup.
It's true that many more mistakes are made in free agency than anywhere else in the personnel field, but Thompson's reluctance to dip his toe into the waters could leave McCarthy high and dry when the season starts. It will be up to the first-year coach to develop running back Samkon Gado as a possible alternative to Green and Davenport, rebuild the interior of an offensive line that lost veteran center Mike Flanagan in free agency and find someone other than Driver who can make an impact catching the ball.
McCarthy said the improvement in the 2006 offense will be mostly needed in the running game. Last year, the Packers fell from 10th to 30th in the league in rushing offense, in part because their offensive line played poorly and in part because they were decimated with injuries at the running back position.
However the Packers fare this season, McCarthy wants the running game to be the emphasis of their attack.
"I'm a big believer in the run game just because if you don't establish that, you lose the efficiency of the play-action pass game," he said. "So that'll be our starting point on offense. We'll run a lot of the base West Coast offense pass principles that they've gotten away from the last couple years. That'll be the face of our offense."
But how exactly can he do it with an offensive line that was a mess in the middle last year and doesn't appear to be significantly different three months after the end of the season?
Losing Flanagan to the Houston Texans means Scott Wells and Chris White will battle for the starting center position. Wells started two games at center and eight at guard last season and will be the leading candidate to take over for Flanagan. White, a rookie free agent who impressed coaches and scouts in training camp last year, isn't out of the mix if he can build up his modest 6-2, 285-pound frame.
Cleveland center Jeff Faine, who is on the trading block, has expressed an interest in joining the Packers, but it would take at least a fourth-round pick for the Packers to get him and it's unclear whether they would be willing to do that. So for now, it's Wells and White.
"I haven't seen White," McCarthy said. "I know a lot of people are fired up about him. We've got Wells and from what I've seen I think he's a more natural center than guard. I think it's a great opportunity. I like the way he works, just watching him go through the off-season program. He has that hard-core wrestler approach."
Even if the center position gets settled, the guard spot isn't. Adrian Klemm, signed last year to replace Mike Wahle, will be used exclusively at tackle now, backing up starter Chad Clifton. Seventh- round pick Will Whitticker and fifth-round pick Junius Coston are penciled in at the guard positions, but if the Packers are counting on either being a starter, they could be sorely disappointed come the start of the season.
Barry remains an option to move inside, but he has yet to show he can play guard. At this point, there aren't many other options available in the free agent market.
"It's about opportunity," McCarthy said. "You had the staples in there that played a long time, I understand there's not a comfort level moving on to new players, but that is the norm in our business.
"But those guys were young, too, at one time. We're looking for our young guys to establish themselves as front line players and that's the direction we're going. I look at that as opportunity. And we have to play to their strengths too. We can't put them in a position where we're asking them to do things they're not ready to do."
The possibility exists the Packers will draft Virginia offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson with the fifth overall pick, which would greatly improve their chances of fielding a competitive offensive line. It would require putting Ferguson at right tackle and moving Mark Tauscher to right guard, which McCarthy isn't opposed to doing.
As for the ability of Green and Davenport to regain the form they had before suffering major injuries last season, McCarthy said all the medical reports he had been given were positive. The Packers certainly could have taken a different approach to their backfield and taken a run at Indianapolis' Edgerrin James or even Taylor, but they decided to stay in-house and spend less.
"You have to trust your medical evaluation," McCarthy said. "Everything was positive with Ahman and Najeh. On film (Davenport) has been a productive player when he's been given an opportunity. Gado's a young aspiring (talent).
"There's not a lot of teams that have three guys who you can go out and run the football with and win. I feel we've got that. We've got some young guys too that have a chance. We still have a draft, free agency isn't over, we're just trying to stack as many good players as possible."
What the hell are we supposed to do
Maybe we should have signed T.O., Randy Moss, Torry Holt, Edgerrin James, Shaun Alexander, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Steve Hutchinson, Orlando Pace, Ray Lewis, Javon Kearse, Troy Paulomala, Rodney Harrison, etc, etc.
There are only so many players available. We have been active in signing free-agents. We chose young guys with upside as opposed to the Big-Name guys who want money based on what they did a few years ago. We resigned some key componets. McCarthy is right when he states we have Former Pro-Bowlers at almost all skill positions.
They say we are an old team but insinuate that we should have been more active signing free-agents like Law, who is entrering his 12th year.
It just completely is contradicting. We will get youth in the Draft and brought in some potential in Pickett,Manual, and Taylor.
Does this make sense to anybody? If so please explain.
Orlando, Fla. Three weeks into free agency, all the Green Bay Packers have added to their offense is a wide receiver who had eight receptions last year.
It's hardly enough to inspire anyone to think the Packers will be the team they were two years ago when they ranked third overall in total offense. Though they'll have many of the same pieces back from that unit after a year in which injury decimated their ranks, they have done next to nothing to account for defections and age.
Is it any wonder quarterback Brett Favre is struggling with a decision on whether to return?
"Everybody keeps talking about lack of talent," countered Packers coach Mike McCarthy during a break at the NFL owners meetings. "I've been around less, I'll say that. The quarterback (Favre) has been to the Pro Bowl, the running back (Ahman Green) has been to the Pro Bowl, the fullback (William Henderson) has been to the Pro Bowl, the tight end (Bubba Franks) has been to the Pro Bowl, your receiver (Donald Driver or Javon Walker) has been to the Pro Bowl. That's five, right? That's pretty damn good."
None of those players went to the Pro Bowl last year, however, and of that group, only Walker (27), Franks (28) and Green (29) is under 31 years old. Considering Walker has made it clear that he won't play for the Packers again, there's serious question marks about whether this group can produce the way it did before last season.
Why exactly the Packers who started free agency with more than $25 million in salary cap room haven't been more aggressive in obtaining offensive players is uncertain. It's no secret general manager Ted Thompson isn't a big fan of free agency, but he has done almost nothing to tap that resource for offensive improvement.
So far, the only outsider he has brought to the offense is Kansas City wide receiver Marc Boerigter, who last year caught eight passes for 119 yards. He did re-sign Green, Henderson, halfback Najeh Davenport and tackle Kevin Barry, but Green and Davenport are coming off serious injuries, Henderson is a part-time player and Barry has been a backup his entire career.
Thompson insisted that his work was not complete and that he would continue to monitor developments in free agency and the waiver system to see if there were players he could add to the offense. But he reiterated that he wasn't going to sign players just to sign them.
Inside the NFC North, only the Chicago Bears have come close to doing as little as the Packers. They're only signing of note was Tampa Bay quarterback Brian Griese, who is expected to be Rex Grossman's backup.
It's true that many more mistakes are made in free agency than anywhere else in the personnel field, but Thompson's reluctance to dip his toe into the waters could leave McCarthy high and dry when the season starts. It will be up to the first-year coach to develop running back Samkon Gado as a possible alternative to Green and Davenport, rebuild the interior of an offensive line that lost veteran center Mike Flanagan in free agency and find someone other than Driver who can make an impact catching the ball.
McCarthy said the improvement in the 2006 offense will be mostly needed in the running game. Last year, the Packers fell from 10th to 30th in the league in rushing offense, in part because their offensive line played poorly and in part because they were decimated with injuries at the running back position.
However the Packers fare this season, McCarthy wants the running game to be the emphasis of their attack.
"I'm a big believer in the run game just because if you don't establish that, you lose the efficiency of the play-action pass game," he said. "So that'll be our starting point on offense. We'll run a lot of the base West Coast offense pass principles that they've gotten away from the last couple years. That'll be the face of our offense."
But how exactly can he do it with an offensive line that was a mess in the middle last year and doesn't appear to be significantly different three months after the end of the season?
Losing Flanagan to the Houston Texans means Scott Wells and Chris White will battle for the starting center position. Wells started two games at center and eight at guard last season and will be the leading candidate to take over for Flanagan. White, a rookie free agent who impressed coaches and scouts in training camp last year, isn't out of the mix if he can build up his modest 6-2, 285-pound frame.
Cleveland center Jeff Faine, who is on the trading block, has expressed an interest in joining the Packers, but it would take at least a fourth-round pick for the Packers to get him and it's unclear whether they would be willing to do that. So for now, it's Wells and White.
"I haven't seen White," McCarthy said. "I know a lot of people are fired up about him. We've got Wells and from what I've seen I think he's a more natural center than guard. I think it's a great opportunity. I like the way he works, just watching him go through the off-season program. He has that hard-core wrestler approach."
Even if the center position gets settled, the guard spot isn't. Adrian Klemm, signed last year to replace Mike Wahle, will be used exclusively at tackle now, backing up starter Chad Clifton. Seventh- round pick Will Whitticker and fifth-round pick Junius Coston are penciled in at the guard positions, but if the Packers are counting on either being a starter, they could be sorely disappointed come the start of the season.
Barry remains an option to move inside, but he has yet to show he can play guard. At this point, there aren't many other options available in the free agent market.
"It's about opportunity," McCarthy said. "You had the staples in there that played a long time, I understand there's not a comfort level moving on to new players, but that is the norm in our business.
"But those guys were young, too, at one time. We're looking for our young guys to establish themselves as front line players and that's the direction we're going. I look at that as opportunity. And we have to play to their strengths too. We can't put them in a position where we're asking them to do things they're not ready to do."
The possibility exists the Packers will draft Virginia offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson with the fifth overall pick, which would greatly improve their chances of fielding a competitive offensive line. It would require putting Ferguson at right tackle and moving Mark Tauscher to right guard, which McCarthy isn't opposed to doing.
As for the ability of Green and Davenport to regain the form they had before suffering major injuries last season, McCarthy said all the medical reports he had been given were positive. The Packers certainly could have taken a different approach to their backfield and taken a run at Indianapolis' Edgerrin James or even Taylor, but they decided to stay in-house and spend less.
"You have to trust your medical evaluation," McCarthy said. "Everything was positive with Ahman and Najeh. On film (Davenport) has been a productive player when he's been given an opportunity. Gado's a young aspiring (talent).
"There's not a lot of teams that have three guys who you can go out and run the football with and win. I feel we've got that. We've got some young guys too that have a chance. We still have a draft, free agency isn't over, we're just trying to stack as many good players as possible."
What the hell are we supposed to do
Maybe we should have signed T.O., Randy Moss, Torry Holt, Edgerrin James, Shaun Alexander, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Steve Hutchinson, Orlando Pace, Ray Lewis, Javon Kearse, Troy Paulomala, Rodney Harrison, etc, etc.
There are only so many players available. We have been active in signing free-agents. We chose young guys with upside as opposed to the Big-Name guys who want money based on what they did a few years ago. We resigned some key componets. McCarthy is right when he states we have Former Pro-Bowlers at almost all skill positions.
They say we are an old team but insinuate that we should have been more active signing free-agents like Law, who is entrering his 12th year.
It just completely is contradicting. We will get youth in the Draft and brought in some potential in Pickett,Manual, and Taylor.
Does this make sense to anybody? If so please explain.
