TOP HAT: With minicamp and training camps coming, the Packer nation is asking, "Who will be the starting RB for the Pack in the coming season?"
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/index.php?ntid=132600&ntpid=2
Packers: Starting RB job stirs six-pack JASON WILDE
The way Mike McCarthy sees it, the Green Bay Packers' lack of experience and proven depth at running back isn't a problem. "I'm not concerned, I've just got work to do," McCarthy said Sunday afternoon after the final practice of the team's three-day rookie orientation camp. "That's the way I view it. It's my responsibility to get them ready to play, and that's our focus." That work will begin in earnest when the team reconvenes for its three-day, full-squad mandatory minicamp May 18.
That's when the six-pack of possible starters - holdovers Vernand Morency, Noah Herron, P.J. Pope and Arliss Beach and rookie draft picks Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn - should all be on the field together, kicking off a competition that will continue through the organized team activity workouts in June and training camp, which starts in late July.
"Obviously, everybody will be watching. But I think that it'll sort itself out," said McCarthy, whose team lost four-time Pro Bowl halfback Ahman Green, who signed a four-year, $23 million free agent deal ($6.5 million in guaranteed money and about $8 million in 2007 pay) with the Houston Texans in March. "No one in that group has been 'The Guy' before at this level. And you never know until you put those guys in that position. I think it's going to be a very competitive group."
Morency, who carried 96 times for 434 yards and two touchdowns last season after coming over from the Texans in the Samkon Gado trade, is the leading candidate to replace the franchise's second-leading, all-time rusher. But Jackson took a small step toward competing with Morency with a solid rookie orientation camp.
"It's very exciting for me to come in here and even have the chance to compete with these guys to start. I would love to be the starter here, but I know there's a lot of hard work (ahead)," Jackson said. "I know what I have to do to get on the field and play, but it's going to take a lot more to get out there and be the starter." A second-round pick from Nebraska, the 5-foot-10, 212-pound Jackson rushed for 989 yards and eight TDs on 188 carries as a junior last season while also catching 33 passes for 313 yards and two more TDs. He made a good first impression on McCarthy with his quickness. "He definitely has the quick feet and the explosiveness that we saw on film," McCarthy said. "I think he has the ability to be a playmaker from that position."
Wynn, a seventh-round pick from Florida, didn't make the same good impression, suffering a strained left calf during Friday's practice and sitting out the final two workouts. While McCarthy didn't think the missed time was catastrophic for Wynn - he still got quality classroom time and took part in walk-throughs inside the gym - it certainly didn't help him. "He didn't have the opportunity to progress as much as everybody else," said McCarthy, who expects Wynn to return for the minicamp. "The minicamp that's coming up, there's only so many reps for the young guys. (And) you just had three days of reps that were clearly for the young guys. So any young guy misses those reps, he obviously did not take advantage of his opportunity." There's also the matter of character risk associated with Wynn, who despite rushing for 630 yards in 10 starts for the national champion Gators last season fell to the seventh round of the draft because of his reputation for being lazy and undisciplined.
"I think it's important to give an individual a clean slate, regardless of what you heard or you think you know about that individual," McCarthy said. "Unfortunately, he suffered the injury. But there's obviously a lot of positives we saw about the young man. That's why he's here. That's what we'll focus on." For his part, Wynn used the same term - "clean slate" - and claimed his problems at Florida were exaggerated. "'Troublemaker' is (one) knock I had on me. 'Not a hard worker,' (is another)," Wynn said. "I'm here on a clean slate. I'm looking forward to making my own name here in Green Bay. "I see it as a great opportunity, with there being so many young backs on the depth chart. Just a lot of competition. It's going to be interesting."
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/index.php?ntid=132600&ntpid=2
Packers: Starting RB job stirs six-pack JASON WILDE
The way Mike McCarthy sees it, the Green Bay Packers' lack of experience and proven depth at running back isn't a problem. "I'm not concerned, I've just got work to do," McCarthy said Sunday afternoon after the final practice of the team's three-day rookie orientation camp. "That's the way I view it. It's my responsibility to get them ready to play, and that's our focus." That work will begin in earnest when the team reconvenes for its three-day, full-squad mandatory minicamp May 18.
That's when the six-pack of possible starters - holdovers Vernand Morency, Noah Herron, P.J. Pope and Arliss Beach and rookie draft picks Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn - should all be on the field together, kicking off a competition that will continue through the organized team activity workouts in June and training camp, which starts in late July.
"Obviously, everybody will be watching. But I think that it'll sort itself out," said McCarthy, whose team lost four-time Pro Bowl halfback Ahman Green, who signed a four-year, $23 million free agent deal ($6.5 million in guaranteed money and about $8 million in 2007 pay) with the Houston Texans in March. "No one in that group has been 'The Guy' before at this level. And you never know until you put those guys in that position. I think it's going to be a very competitive group."
Morency, who carried 96 times for 434 yards and two touchdowns last season after coming over from the Texans in the Samkon Gado trade, is the leading candidate to replace the franchise's second-leading, all-time rusher. But Jackson took a small step toward competing with Morency with a solid rookie orientation camp.
"It's very exciting for me to come in here and even have the chance to compete with these guys to start. I would love to be the starter here, but I know there's a lot of hard work (ahead)," Jackson said. "I know what I have to do to get on the field and play, but it's going to take a lot more to get out there and be the starter." A second-round pick from Nebraska, the 5-foot-10, 212-pound Jackson rushed for 989 yards and eight TDs on 188 carries as a junior last season while also catching 33 passes for 313 yards and two more TDs. He made a good first impression on McCarthy with his quickness. "He definitely has the quick feet and the explosiveness that we saw on film," McCarthy said. "I think he has the ability to be a playmaker from that position."
Wynn, a seventh-round pick from Florida, didn't make the same good impression, suffering a strained left calf during Friday's practice and sitting out the final two workouts. While McCarthy didn't think the missed time was catastrophic for Wynn - he still got quality classroom time and took part in walk-throughs inside the gym - it certainly didn't help him. "He didn't have the opportunity to progress as much as everybody else," said McCarthy, who expects Wynn to return for the minicamp. "The minicamp that's coming up, there's only so many reps for the young guys. (And) you just had three days of reps that were clearly for the young guys. So any young guy misses those reps, he obviously did not take advantage of his opportunity." There's also the matter of character risk associated with Wynn, who despite rushing for 630 yards in 10 starts for the national champion Gators last season fell to the seventh round of the draft because of his reputation for being lazy and undisciplined.
"I think it's important to give an individual a clean slate, regardless of what you heard or you think you know about that individual," McCarthy said. "Unfortunately, he suffered the injury. But there's obviously a lot of positives we saw about the young man. That's why he's here. That's what we'll focus on." For his part, Wynn used the same term - "clean slate" - and claimed his problems at Florida were exaggerated. "'Troublemaker' is (one) knock I had on me. 'Not a hard worker,' (is another)," Wynn said. "I'm here on a clean slate. I'm looking forward to making my own name here in Green Bay. "I see it as a great opportunity, with there being so many young backs on the depth chart. Just a lot of competition. It's going to be interesting."
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
