Surviving Sunday: Packers News, Notes and Links for the Football Deprived

ALLGBP.com All Green Bay Packers All the Time
Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football
Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football

Adam Czech usually puts together this post on Sunday, but he had other commitments this week, so I’ll do my best to pick up the slack.

Last Sunday, Adam called into attention the injury woes of the Packers’ recent first-round picks. Bryan Bulaga, Derek Sherrod and Nick Perry missed a combined 33 regular-season games last year. It’s a concern to a certain degree, but at the same time, all three players will be expected to compete for a major role with the team in 2013.

On the flip side, the Packers have struck gold recently in round two. This past week, the team decided not to place the franchise tag on wide receiver Greg Jennings, a second-round pick in 2006. Jennings played seven years with the Packers, made two Pro Bowls and helped the team to Super Bowl XLV.

This year’s draft may lack elite talent in the top-half of the first round, but it’s an extremely deep class in the first few rounds. The NFL went to a three-day format in 2010, featuring round one on Thursday and rounds two and three on Friday.

Let’s take a look at the Day 2 gems Ted Thompson has brought to Green Bay:

  • 2012: Casey Hayward (2nd, No. 62)
  • 2011: Randall Cobb (2nd, No. 64)
  • 2010: Mike Neal (2nd, No. 56) and Morgan Burnett (3rd, No. 71)
  • 2008: Jordy Nelson (2nd, No. 34) and Jermichael Finley (3rd, No. 91)
  • 2007: James Jones (3rd, No. 78)
  • 2006: Greg Jennings (2nd, No. 52)
  • 2005: Nick Collins (2nd, No. 51)

Every year since taking over as Packers GM in 2005, Thompson has found a starter in either the second or third round. Now, guys like Brian Brohm, Aaron Rouse and Abdul Hodge may not have lived up to their expectations, but Thompson’s track record is impressive nonetheless.

With Jennings on his way out, perhaps wide receiver is a position to consider on Day 2 this year. There will be receivers galore available on in rounds two and three.

Packers News, Notes and Links

  • Here’s a piece I wrote on Bleacher Report focusing on the depth of the wide receiver position in this year’s draft. They come in all shapes in sizes, and value will certainly be there on Day 2.
  • Bob McGinn, of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, wrote about something that will make Jersey Al very happy. An ex-Division III kicker, Michael Barnard, is being considered by the team to be brought to provide competition to Mason Crosby.
  • Evan Western, of Acme Packing Company, goes over the possibility of the Packers making a play for free agent safety Dashon Goldson. Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji are in line for contract extensions, so it’s unlikely the team could afford to take on Goldson’s contract demands. But it’s interesting, nonetheless.
  • As always, there’s some great stuff over at PackersTalk.com: Jason Perone, Thomas Hobbes and I cover the current state of the offensive line with our latest ALLGBP podcast, while John Rehor suggests the Packers should pass on Steven Jackson. I’m with John 100 percent on this one. I think the Packers would be better off finding a long-term answer in the draft, rather than rent a 30-year-old free agent running back. Jackson would help the Packers in 2013, but beyond that, I’m not sure he’s worth the investment.
  • Here’s a well-deserved plug for the CheeseheadTV.com NFL draft guide. We’re (only) about a month and a half away from the first round of the draft, and the crew does a great job with their guide. Order it here.
  • Pete Dougherty, of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, did a great job with his piece regarding Ted Thompson’s philosophy in free agency. It’s fun to hear about the team’s interest in Chris Canty and/or Ricky Jean-Francois, but Thompson is always cautious in pursuing free agents.
  • Chris Canty was in Green Bay on Thursday for a visit, but he left without a contract. Jason Wilde writes about this, and Cullen Jenkins’ interest in returning to Green Bay. Jenkins’ agent says, “The best person to replace (Jenkins) with is him.” Mind-blowing.

Non-Packers Links and Other Nonsense

  • WWE legend Paul Bearer died. Bearer was The Undertaker’s longtime manager and, as the USA Today puts it, the “WWE’s resident mortician.”
  • Baseball season is getting started again, and Ryan Braun’s credibility has been called into question once again as more performance-enhancing drug allegations have surfaced. Amid the accusations, Braun is now focusing on representing Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
  • North Korea is such a thing. Dennis Rodman, former basketball star turned ambassador, now considers Kim Jong Un a “friend” after his recent trip. Ellen Kim and Carolyn DuMond put together a great Opinion piece about Rodman’s visit to Korea over at CNN.com.
  • This week on First Take–a show that I refuse to watch–Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith were joined by Seahawks All-Pro cornerback (and Stanford graduate) Richard Sherman. It was an entertaining segment to say the least. But as Bill Simmons tweeted about the debate, “Nobody won. Everyone lost. Including ESPN.” In my opinion, the Richard Sherman-Darrelle Revis debate is worthwhile, but every debate involving Bayless needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Here’s the video:

——————

Follow @MJEversoll

Marques is a Journalism student, serving as the Sports Editor of UW-Green Bay\'s campus newspaper The Fourth Estate and a Packers writer at Jersey Al\'s AllGBP.com. Follow Marques on Twitter @MJEversoll.

——————

18 thoughts on “Surviving Sunday: Packers News, Notes and Links for the Football Deprived

  1. “This week on First Take–a show that I refuse to watch”

    Did you watch this before using it in your article and posting?

    1. I don’t watch the show, ever. In today’s day and age, it is physically possible to watch a 3:00 cut of the exchange on something called YouTube.

      1. If the video is from the show and you’re..watching the video…you’re watching the show no matter if it’s ‘live or memorex’.
        I refuse to watch Mike and Mike and that my friend includes never watching clips,podcasts etc from the show on TV,Youtube etc…hence,”I refuse to watch the show”.
        Have a nice day!

        1. By watching a clip on youtube, he is not giving the show a rating point, he is not supporting the program with his viewership, so corporate sponsors (advertisers) are not more inclined to put their advertising dollars into the show…

          1. Perhaps if you have ad blocker,but there are plenty of clips from ESPN-1stTake with Ads attached on YouTube.
            Besides,I was only busting chops because of the way he wrote it….geez.

            1. I also “never watch” First Take, but couldn’t stop myself from watching the Sherman/Bayless clip.

              It is god-awful. Both come across as complete bafoons and it’s going to take months before I regenerate the brain cells I lost watching that clip.

              1. You dont regenerate brain cells. They’re lost to you forever. Consider yourself dumber for the experience.

  2. I question whether Neal, Hayward or Cobb would make a lot of NFL teams. The others have done well but so have number two picks at other teams as well.

    I for one am not impressed with TT’s picks. The Vikes drafted 3 guys who made the pro bowl last year as rookies. That’s drafting play makers versus quality players who can make plays but not all the time.
    Jordy Nelson, once in a while catches a break away pass but most of the time is out of the play. Hayward got a lot of inteceptions being out of position, not covering anyone and having the ball tipped to him by accident. A tackler he ain’t.
    Neal is a straight out bust. He’s spent more time on the bench than on the field and hasn’t shown up when he is on the field.
    Jones had a great year last year but before that it was a mixed bag.
    Jennings and Collins could have been a 1 pick’s and were playmakers. That’s 2.

      1. They sound like the same broken record! Wait… Maybe they ARE the same broken record!

    1. I figured I would attract some heat for my post as to the authors self contradiction in his own writing above(in a joking manner) but I must wonder what film are you watching that goes under the guise of Green Bay Packer football.

      It would take eons of time to locate any such film that would come close to your summation.

    2. Neal is a question mark. But Cobb and Hayward would be successful in most schemes, in my opinion. And either way, Thompson’s job is to find players to fit the Packers – not any of the other 31 teams.

      And both guys are great for what the Packers are trying to do schematically.

    3. I’m not a huge T.T., fan myself but I call BS on this one. Cobb is only going to get better. One only needs to remember he’s coming into season 3 but only 2nd full off season. This guy will be the best slot receiver in football this year. Hayward is a gem and is going to be in the top 5 in picks for years to come. You do understand that QB’s throwing at Hayward had like the lowest or 2nd lowest QB rating in the NFL. The kid was amazing as a rookie and only getting better. As far as Neal, well you may be right about Neal but last year in 12 games he did very well. Why? Healthy for 1st time. Nelson was hurt off and on all last season. Did you watch the 2010 Superbowl? Did you fall asleep for the entire 2011 season? THAT’S IT, you fell asleep because clearly your a Vikings fan doing what all Vikings fans do. Troll the sites of teams that actually win! Now go say your prayers that Adrian Peterson has another year like last year or it’s back to 3-13 for the Queens!

  3. Regarding the salary cap, value, free agents, and player retention: at some point a GM must start deciding what positions are overpaid for their value. And even more, what a serviceable player costs at a given position versus what a playmaker at the same position costs. It seems to me that safeties are underpaid for their level of importance. Maybe there is greater value in having a great safety and serviceable WRs. If we have two pretty-good-but-not-outstanding WRs like Jones and Nelson, plus Cobb on his rookie contract, we’re getting a lot of value for our money at the WR position. I’m thinking this idea out as I write, so please don’t expect an answer to where I’m going with this. I guess it seems an interesting topic for debate, whether it’s specifically related to this post or not.
    Certainly this debate would be more rewarding than replying to imma.fubared’s comment. That’s just playing in to his child’s game (because that’s what cries for attention essentially are, a game for attention-starved children who aren’t creative enough to entertain themselves).

  4. Imagine how many Super Bowls the Packers would have won with Paul Bearer as the team’s trainer?

    Players would never miss a game with an injury. Whenever someone got hurt, Bearer would hold up his urn and the injured player would sit right back up and resume playing.

Comments are closed.